Pragg, who was stopped only by Carlsen in previous edition, knocked out in Round 4

R Praggnanandhaa's run in the FIDE Chess World Cup in Goa came to an end in the fourth round, while his compatriots Arjun Erigaisi and Pentala Harikrishna advanced.

Praggnanandhaa lost 1.5-2.5 to Daniil Dubov in the tiebreakers. After a draw with black pieces in his first Rapid game, Praggnanandhaa was outwitted by the Russian in their second tiebreaker game.

Praggnanandhaa had been the runner-up in the last edition, which was the best finish by an Indian in the World Cup. He was outsmarted by World No 1 Magnus Carlsen in the 2023 edition held in Baku.

Meanwhile, India's No. 1 Erigaisi had no trouble in his match-up with veteran GM Peter Leko. The Hungarian lost both his tiebreaker games and was eliminated by the score 1-3. Erigaisi will take on two-time World Cup winner Levon Aronian in Round 5, which is scheduled to begin on Friday.

Harikrishna got the better of Swedish GM Nils Grandelius, 2.5-1.5, with the decisive result arriving in their second Rapid tiebreaker.

With World Champion D Gukesh knocked out in Round 3, only two Indians remain in the race for the World Cup that began on November 1 with 206 players. No Indian has won the World Cup in its present knockout format, introduced in 2005. Carlsen, who has been World No 1 since 2011, is not participating in the current edition.