 "Arjun Erigaisi could not force a win with white in first game of round 5. Image: FIDE")
Arjun Erigaisi had to settle for a draw with white against Levon Aronian while P Harikrishna got an easy stalement with black over Jose Eduardo Martinez Alcantara in the opening game of the two Indian stars in Round 5 of the FIDE World Cup 2025 on Friday.
Playing white, Arjun could not convert his slight advantage in the double rook end game as the two players split points after 41 moves.
Arjun was keen on grabbing the advantage against two-time champion Aronian with white pieces. It looked like the Armenian-born Aronian was in trouble when he took almost 30 minutes to play his 21st move.
To his credit, the two-time World Cup winner found a way to get out of trouble and then played solid chess to ensure that he goes into the second game with a theoretical advantage as he plays white.
Harikrishna gets easy draw with black
Earlier in the day, Harikrishna played a solid game with black to ensure that giant killer GM Alcantara had no opportunities to win with white.
There was no such trouble for Harikrishna as he was well prepared for Alcantara’s plan as both the players raced to a rook-pawn endgame quickly and then opted for a draw in 41 moves.
Other games also saw draws with players not willing to take undue risk. All six games whose results were out by the time of writing had ended in stalemates.
The second game will take place on Saturday and the tiebreakers, if needed, are scheduled for Sunday.
A total of 24 Indian players started the competition that saw 206 players from 82 countries vying for the Viswanathan Anand Trophy. After four rounds, only two Indians are still in the fray in the Round of 16. The top three players from the World Cup will qualify for the Candidates tournament whose winner will get a chance to challenge D Gukesh for his world championship.
Chess World Cup India results (Round 5, Game 1)
GM Arjun Erigaisi drew with GM Levon Aronian 0.5:0.5
GM Jose Eduardo Martinez Alcantara drew with GM P Harikrishna 0.5:0.5