 "R Praggnanandhaa experienced a narrow escape against Daniil Dubov in Game 1 of Round 4 at the FIDE World Cup 2025 on Tuesday. Image: PTI")
It was a drab draw day as Round 4 of the FIDE World Cup 2025 got underway at the Resort Rio in Goa on Tuesday. 14 out of 16 encounters in Game 1 of Round 4 ended in a draw, including all five matches for the Indians, including Arjun Erigaisi and R Praggnanandhaa.
While India’s No 1 Erigaisi clinched a quick-fire draw against legendary Peter Leko as the game lasted just 20 moves and ended in a threefold repetition, Praggnanandhaa survived a massive scare against Russian Grandmaster Daniil Dubov.
The two players settled for a draw after 41 moves as Indian Grandmaster Praggnanandhaa breathed a sigh of relief after falling behind early on in the encounter. The 2023 World Cup runner-up Praggnanandhaa held the white pieces advantage, but the d4?! move on the 14th, put him behind the eight ball.
He committed another blunder when he played 39.Qd3?, giving Dubov a clear sight at the win. But the Russian missed 39…Nf5! as squandered the chance before accepting a draw after 41 moves despite being in a better position.
How Praggnanandhaa escaped vs Dubov:
Meanwhile, world junior champion Pranav Venkatesh settled for a draw against Uzbek prodigy Nodirbek Yakubboev after 82 moves. Pentala Harikrishna (vs Nils Grandelius) and Karthik Venkataraman (vs Le Quang Leim) also secured draws in their respective matches.
Erigaisi, Harikrishna and Venkataraman would have white pieces in Game 2 of Round 4 on Wednesday.
The only two winners on the day were legendary Levon Aronian and Jose Martinez. While Aronian defeated Radoslaw Wojtaszek, Martinez downed Alexey Sarana.
Aronia stuns experts with opening moves
Aronian not only grabbed the headlines with a victory but also with some weird opening moves that got the experts talking. Playing with white pieces, he went 1.e4 e5. 2. Nc3 Nf6. 3.a3 d5 4.exd5 Nxd5 5.Qh5.
While explaining his odd choices, Aronian said that it was desperation to avoid a draw.
“It’s just it’s kind of desperation—you want to try all stupid ideas because regular ideas lead to a draw,” Aronian said after winning the game in 37 moves.
The longest match of the day was between Gabriel Sargissian and Awonder Liang, who played out a 110-move draw.