World champion D Gukesh and R Praggnanandhaa drew their opening games of FIDE Chess World Cup while India No 1 Arjun Erigaisi made a winning start to his campaign in Goa on Tuesday.

Gukesh, who received a bye in Round 1, drew with white pieces against Kazakh GM Kazybek Nogerbek, and Praggnanandhaa was held by Temur Kuybokarov, an Uzbekistani-Australian.

The opponents of both Gukesh and Praggnanandhaa had at least 200 Elo points fewer than them. Erigaisi defeated Bulgarian Martin Petrov, another 2500+-rated GM. 

Erigaisi can advance with a draw in the second game of his match-up with Petrov, while Gukesh and Praggnanandhaa will have to win their respective games to reach Round 3.

ADVERTISEMENT

Meanwhile, Kerala GMs S L Narayanan and Nihal Sarin also drew their first games of Round 2, against GMs Nikita Vitiugov and Stamatis Kourkoulos-Arditis, respectively. The Malayali stars will also need to find a win in their second games tomorrow. If the match-up ends level after two games, tie-breakers will be played.

The FIDE Chess World Cup is an eight-round knockout event featuring some of the best players in the world. However, World No 1 Magnus Carlsen is not participating.

ADVERTISEMENT

TAGS

Google News Add as a preferred source on Google
The comments posted here/below/in the given space are not on behalf of Onmanorama. The person posting the comment will be in sole ownership of its responsibility. According to the central government's IT rules, obscene or offensive statement made against a person, religion, community or nation is a punishable offense, and legal action would be taken against people who indulge in such activities.