Arjun Erigaisi Extends Winning Streak at World Cup, Indian Players Dominate

Goa: Indian chess players continued to shine at the ongoing Chess World Cup, with Arjun Erigaisi extending his winning streak to three matches. The 22-year-old from Warangal, ranked world No. 4, received a bye in the first round and then defeated Bulgarian GM Martin Petrov in the second round. On Friday, he secured a 30-move win over Uzbeki GM Shamsiddin Vokhidov, using the white pieces. Erigaisi was not the only Indian to notch a win on Friday. Veteran Pentala Harikrishna, ranked 39, played a clinical game, using the white pieces to beat Belgium's Daniel Dardha in 25 moves. Harikrishna attributed his win to a new opening preparation, which he had been working on. Other Indian players also made progress in the tournament. Pranav V played a marathon match against Lithuanian GM Titas Stremavicius, lasting 102 moves, and emerged victorious. However, top contenders Gukesh D and Praggnanandhaa were held to draws, using black pieces. The Indian contingent still has 10 players active in the tournament, with no home player losing on Friday. Pranesh M impressed with a draw against sixth seed Vincent Keymer of Germany, while Diptayan Ghosh drew against Gabriel Sargissian of Armenia. Vidit Gujrathi, Karthik Venkataraman, and Narayan S also played out draws in their respective matches.