Second-seed GM Arjun Erigaisi is through to the Quarterfinals of the 2025 FIDE World Cup after finding a beautiful finish to eliminate GM Levon Aronian. He’ll play seventh-seed GM Wei Yi, who eventually punished an early mistake by GM Sam Sevian. They’re joined by Uzbek GMs Nodirbek Yakubboev and Javokhir Sindarov, who overcame GMs Gabriel Sargissian and Frederik Svane. Four spots will be decided in tiebreaks, after three quiet draws and a heartbreaking rook-endgame miss by GM Alexander Donchenko against GM Liem Le.
The round-five tiebreaks are on Sunday, November 16, 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 5 Results
Three games were decisive on Saturday, and it could easily have been four, while the draw in Svane-Sindarov was also all Sindarov required after winning game one.
| Fed | Player 1 | Rating | – | Fed | Player 2 | Rating | G1 | G2 | TB |
| Javokhir SINDAROV (16) | 2721 | – | Frederik Svane (64) | 2640 | 1-0 | ½-½ | |||
| Jose Martinez (57) | 2644 | – | Pentala Harikrishna (24) | 2690 | ½-½ | ½-½ | . | ||
| Gabriel Sargissian (76) | 2616 | – | Nodirbek YAKUBBOEV (28) | 2689 | ½-½ | 0-1 | |||
| Alexander Donchenko (61) | 2641 | – | Liem Le (13) | 2729 | ½-½ | ½-½ | . | ||
| Sam Shankland (46) | 2649 | – | Daniil Dubov (30) | 2674 | ½-½ | ½-½ | . | ||
| Andrey Esipenko (27) | 2681 | – | Aleksey Grebnev (86) | 2617 | ½-½ | ½-½ | . | ||
| Samuel Sevian (23) | 2701 | – | WEI Yi (7) | 2753 | ½-½ | 0-1 | |||
| ARJUN Erigaisi (2) | 2769 | – | Levon Aronian (15) | 2728 | ½-½ | 1-0 |
Our Game of the Day is Arjun’s win over Aronian, which GM Rafael Leitao will analyze below.
Arjun is through to the Quarterfinals of the FIDE World Cup after pouncing on Aronian’s blunder 38.Re1? with 38…Nh3!! https://t.co/p0OUHKcz0P pic.twitter.com/BYawELmD5o
— chess24 (@chess24com) November 15, 2025
So far we know one quarterfinal pairing, Wei vs. Arjun, which, in a sea of upsets, is the one matchup which is exactly as predicted by the pre-tournament seedings.
2025 FIDE World Cup Bracket: Round 5 Onward
How to watch?
You can watch the event on Chess.com/TV. You can also enjoy the show on Chess24 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 5 Game 1: 19-Year-Old Sindarov Grabs Only Win
- Round 4 Tiebreaks: Arjun Strides On As Pragg, Keymer, MVL, Rapport Lead World Cup Exodus
- Round 4 Game 2: Donchenko, Martinez Continue Giant-Killing As 11 Matches Go To Tiebreaks
- 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
