Second-seed GM Arjun Erigaisi is the only official top-10 player remaining in the 2025 FIDE World Cup after beating GM Peter Leko 2-0 in round-four tiebreaks. GM Daniil Dubov took down 2023 runner-up GM Praggnanandhaa Rameshbabu, while GM Andrey Esipenko overcame GM Vincent Keymer, whose FIDE Candidates hopes lie in tatters. GMs Maxime Vachier-Lagrave and Richard Rapport also fell to GMs Alexey Grebnev and Sam Shankland respectively, as seven 2700-players departed the event.
Of the remaining players only GM Levon Aronian has played the Candidates before, but he faces Arjun next.
Game one of round five is on Friday, November 14, 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 all the day’s action!
Round 4 Results
The 11 round-four tiebreaks saw top seeds dropping like flies.
| Fed | Player 1 | Rating | – | Fed | Player 2 | Rating | G1 | G2 | TB |
| Frederik SVANE (64) | 2640 | – | Shant Sargsyan (33) | 2664 | ½-½ | ½-½ | 1.5-0.5 | ||
| Peter Leko (34) | 2660 | – | ARJUN Erigaisi (2) | 2769 | ½-½ | ½-½ | 0-2 | ||
| Praggnanandhaa (3) | 2768 | – | Daniil DUBOV (30) | 2674 | ½-½ | ½-½ | 0.5-1.5 | ||
| Matthias Bluebaum (29) | 2680 | – | Alexander DONCHENKO (61) | 2641 | ½-½ | 0-1 | |||
| Pranav V (60) | 2641 | – | Nodirbek YAKUBBOEV (28) | 2689 | ½-½ | 0-1 | |||
| Andrey ESIPENKO (27) | 2681 | – | Vincent Keymer (6) | 2773 | ½-½ | ½-½ | 3-1 | ||
| WEI Yi (7) | 2753 | – | Parham Maghsoodloo (26) | 2701 | ½-½ | ½-½ | 4-2 | ||
| Alexey Sarana (40) | 2675 | – | Jose MARTINEZ (57) | 2644 | 0-1 | ½-½ | |||
| Nils Grandelius (56) | 2661 | – | Pentala HARIKRISHNA (24) | 2690 | ½-½ | ½-½ | 0.5-1.5 | ||
| Samuel SEVIAN (23) | 2701 | – | Lorenzo Lodici (119) | 2572 | ½-½ | ½-½ | 5-4 | ||
| Vachier-Lagrave (11) | 2740 | – | Aleksey GREBNEV (86) | 2617 | ½-½ | ½-½ | 0.5-1.5 | ||
| Awonder Liang (21) | 2701 | – | Gabriel SARGISSIAN (76) | 2616 | ½-½ | ½-½ | 0.5-1.5 | ||
| Liem LE (13) | 2729 |    – | Karthik Venkataraman (109) | 2576 | ½-½ | 1-0 | |||
| Sam SHANKLAND (46) | 2649 | – | Richard Rapport (14) | 2740 | ½-½ | ½-½ | 2-0 | ||
| Levon ARONIAN (15) | 2728 | – | Radoslaw Wojtaszek (47) | 2660 | 1-0 | ½-½ | |||
| Yu Yangyi (17) | 2726 | – | Javokhir SINDAROV (16) | 2721 | ½-½ | ½-½ | 0.5-1.5 |
Dubov’s strategy of taking a 12-move draw with White against Praggnanandhaa raised eyebrows, but he struck with the black pieces in the next game to knock out the number-three seed. That’s our Game of the Day, which GM Rafael Leitao will analyze below.Â
Of the top-10 seeds at the start of the event, only Arjun and GM Wei Yi are still in the running, while none of the bottom half remains after 119th seed GM Lorenzo Lodici only bowed out in armageddon against GM Sam Sevian.
The bracket is complete for the Last 16, with three places up for grabs in the 2026 FIDE Candidates Tournament.Â
2025 FIDE World Cup Bracket: Round 5 Onward
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 2: Donchenko, Martinez Continue Giant-Killing As 11 Matches Go To TiebreaksÂ
- 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
