FIDE World Cup 2025: Vidit ends 12-year-old Faustino Oro’s dream run; Pranav, Pranesh and Praggnanandhaa also advance
&imwidth=600&imheight=450&format=webp&quality=medium "FIDE World Cup 2025: Vidit ends 12-year-old Faustino Oro’s dream run; Pranav, Pranesh and Praggnanandhaa also advance")
Vidit Gujrathi in action Photograph: (Michal Walusza | FIDE)
Vidit, Pranav, Pranesh, Praggnanandhaa, and Narayanan sailed to Round 3 of the FIDE World Cup 2025 after strong rapid and blitz performances
Indian GM Vidit, Pranav, and Pranesh marched to Round 3 of the ongoing FIDE World Cup 2025. Praggnanandhaa, Narayanan also progressed after thrilling tiebreaks on Thursday (November 6). Indian Grandmaster Vidit Gujrathi finally broke through the defences of Argentina’s 12-year-old prodigy Faustino Oro, winning their second rapid tiebreak game in 52 moves with the black pieces to secure his place in Round 3. Oro, who had pushed Vidit to the limit in the classical stage, impressed with his maturity, but Vidit’s composure and experience proved decisive. “It feels great to qualify. He’s an extraordinary talent — playing like a seasoned professional at 12,” Vidit was quoted as saying, who next faces Sam Shankland of the USA.
Meanwhile, GM Pranav V and GM Pranesh M also secured their place in the next round after defeating Aryan Tari of Norway and Dimitrij Kollars of Germany, respectively. Pranav came back strongly after his earlier classical loss, sealing victory in a 44-move endgame before holding Tari to a draw. His next opponent is Titas Stremavicius of Lithuania, who upset Wesley So.
Pranesh, playing black, seized control on move 24 of his second rapid encounter against Kollars and converted the advantage in 48 moves. He now meets German GM Vincent Keymer in Round 3. In other matches, Hans Niemann suffered a shock exit after a grueling 77-move defeat to Lorenzo Lodici of Italy, joining several top seeds who bowed out early. R Praggnanandhaa displayed trademark resilience, overturning a deficit against Temur Kuybokarov by winning the final two blitz games after losing one of the rapid tiebreaks. SL Narayanan also advanced, sweeping his blitz series against Nikita Vitiugov following four drawn games.
India results (Round 2, Tiebreak)
GM Vidit Gujrathi bt IM Faustino Oro (ARG) (2.5:1.5 aggregate); GM Pranav V bt GM Aryan Tari (NOR) (2.5:1.5 aggregate); GM Raunak Sadhwani lost GM Robert Hovhannisyan (ARM) (1:3 aggregate); GM Pranesh M beat GM Dmitrij Kollars (GER) (3:1 aggregate); GM Nihal Sarin lost to GM Stamatis Kourkoulos-Arditis (GRE) (1.5:2.5 aggregate)
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