PANAJI
GM Karthik Venkataraman continued his dream run in the FIDE World Cup 2025 as he defeated GM Bogdan-Daniel Deac (ROU) in the second game of the tiebreaker with black pieces to advance to the fourth round on Sunday.
Karthik, who had drawn the first rapid game with white, pinned Deac’s king in one corner and made the most of the additional bishop on the board to win in 43 moves.
“Classical game against Deac. It was not going too well, but I somehow managed to defend. But in both the rapid games, I played well. I don’t know if I was objectively winning in the first game, but I was clearly better. Second game also, it was smooth,” said Karthik, who will next face Le Quang Liem of Vietnam.
Speaking about the pressure of playing the World Cup, the two-time national champion, who had defeated compatriot Aravindh Chithambaram in the second round, said, “Chess players are not used to playing this kind of format. Normally, it is Swiss or round robin, and one can relax a bit. But here you are always under pressure that you can be eliminated, and that pressure is a lot to handle.”
With Karthik’s victory, five Indian players will be in action in the fourth round as the competition of the Viswanathan Anand Cup and three candidate spots heads towards the business end after a rest day on Monday.
Gujrathi blunders
However, it was heartbreak for Vidit Gujrathi and Narayanan SL.
Vidit started the tiebreaker with a full point in the opening rapid game against Shankland, beating the American in 75 moves. But in the second game, Vidit made a mistake with queen exchanges under time pressure and lost the second game in 49 moves, taking the match into a second set of rapid games. He then lost the sixth game with white pieces in 61 moves and was knocked out.
Narayanan, playing black, suffered a reversal in another marathon game that lasted 125 moves as his efforts to stave off Chinese GM Yu Yangyi’s attack ultimately failed. With the second game ending in a draw, the Indian was knocked out.
Indian results (Round 3, Tiebreaker): GM Karthik Venkataraman bt GM Bogdan-Daniel Deac (ROU) 2.5-1.5, GM Narayanan SL lost to GM Yu Yangyi (CHN) 1.5:2.5, GM Vidit Gujrathi lost to GM Sam Shankland (USA) 2.5:3.5
