Arjun Erigaisi’s FIDE World Cup Run Ends in Quarterfinal Tiebreak Against Wei Yi

India's challenge in the FIDE World Cup 2025 concluded on Wednesday as grandmaster Arjun Erigaisi was defeated by China’s GM Wei Yi in the quarterfinal tiebreaks. Arjun had been India’s last remaining player at this stage of the tournament.

Both classical games in the quarterfinal ended in draws, and the tiebreaks were closely contested. In the first tiebreak game, played with black pieces using the French Defence, Arjun faced difficulties in the middle game. However, Wei Yi made a critical error on the 27th move, allowing Arjun to recover and the game was eventually drawn after 66 moves.

In the second tiebreak game, Arjun, playing with white against Wei Yi’s Petrov Defence, attempted to secure a win. Wei Yi maintained his strategy and gained a winning advantage by move 28. Despite Arjun’s continued efforts, Wei Yi promoted his C-pawn to a queen by move 79, forcing Arjun to resign and ending India’s hopes in the tournament.

After the match, Wei Yi stated, “I am happy and excited that I could beat such a strong structure. In the first game, there were many chances, but I could not find a way. In the second game, some risky moves were played, and I realised I had chances to win.”

Elsewhere in the tiebreaks, GM Andrey Esipenko defeated GM Sam Shankland in the second set to advance to the semifinals. Esipenko had first won with black and then capitalised on his advantage with white. GM Javokhir Sindarov also secured a semifinal berth by defeating Martinez Alcantara Jose Eduardo in the second set of tiebreaks. The upcoming semifinals are set to feature Wei Yi versus Esipenko, while Sindarov versus Yekubbeov.