GM Alexander Donchenko followed up his win over GM Anish Giri by knocking out German teammate GM Matthias Bluebaum to reach the Last 16 of the 2025 FIDE World Cup. He’s joined by GMs Jose Martinez and Levon Aronian, who gave GMs Alexey Sarana and Radoslaw Wojtaszek little chance of a comeback, and GMs Liem Le and Nodirbek Yakubboev, who knocked out GMs Karthik Venkataraman and Pranav Venkatesh respectively. No less than 11 matches go to tiebreaks.
The tiebreaks of round four are on Thursday, November 13, starting at 4:30 a.m. ET / 10:30 CET / 3 p.m. IST.
This is a flash report—come back later for full coverage of the day’s action!
Round 4 Results
There were three wins in game two of round four, while draws were also enough for Martinez and Aronian to advance.
Our Game of the Day is Donchenko’s smooth win over Bluebaum, which GM Rafael Leitao will analyze below.
So far only one pairing is known for round five, Le vs. Donchenko.
2025 FIDE World Cup Bracket: Round 5 Onwards
You can watch the event on Chess.com/TV. You can also enjoy the show on Chess24, on Twitch, or YouTube. Games from the event can be viewed on our events page.
The 2025 FIDE World Cup, which takes place from November 1 to 26 in Goa, India, determines three spots in the 2026 FIDE Candidates Tournament. It is a 206-player single-elimination knockout tournament with eight rounds. Each match consists of two classical games followed by rapid and blitz tiebreaks if needed. The prize fund is $2 million.
Previous reports:
- Round 4 Game 1: Aronian, Martinez Strike As Praggnanandhaa Escapes Vs. Dubov
- Round 3 Tiebreaks: Vachier-Lagrave Wins Marathon Match In Armageddon
- Round 3 Game 2: World Champion Gukesh Eliminated By Frederik Svane; Giri, Abdusattorov Also Out
- Round 3 Game 1: Martinez Upsets Abdusattorov With Black Pieces
- Round 2 Tiebreaks: Lodici Knocks Out Niemann, Rasmus Svane Wins In Armageddon
- Round 2 Game 2: Harikrishna Sacs Queen; Nepomniachtchi, Wesley So, Aravindh Eliminated
- Round 2 Game 1: Arjun, Keymer, Wei, Mamedyarov, Vachier-Lagrave Among Early Leaders
- Round 1 Tiebreaks: 12-Year-Old Oro Among 20 Winners In Tiebreaks
- Round 1 Game 2: IM Shixu Wang Pulls Upset, 20 Matches Go To Tiebreaks
- Round 1 Game 1: Saleh Plays Attack Of The Day, Favorites Prevail In Game 1
- 2025 FIDE World Cup Pairings, Venue Revealed
- Divya Among 6 Players Awarded World Cup Wildcard Spots; Firouzja Not In
