Indian Grandmaster Vidit Gujrathi knocked out of World Chess Cup

Panaji, November 9 – Indian Grandmaster Vidit Gujrathi was eliminated from the World Chess Cup on Sunday after losing to American player Sam Shankland 2.5–3.5 in the second set of the third-round tie-break games.

As per agency report, another Indian player, S L Narayanan, also suffered defeat in the first set of the tie-break games against China’s Yangyi Yu. However, V Kartik continued his impressive run in the tournament by defeating Romania’s Deac Bogdan-Daniel 1.5–0.5, advancing to the fourth round.

Kartik’s progress means that after the completion of the first three rounds, five Indian players remain in contention for the championship title. Among them are strong contenders Arjun Erigaisi, R Praggnanandhaa, P Harikrishna, and world junior champion V Pranav, who have already qualified for the fourth round.

With his exit, Gujrathi became the third major Indian player to bow out of the tournament. Earlier, world champion D Gukesh had lost to Germany’s Frederik Svane, while Aravindh Chithambaram was defeated by Kartik in the second round.