Duda’s costly mouse slip
The second day of the 2025 Esports World Cup chess tournament concluded the group stage, with four more players joining the quarterfinals. The day was reserved for the lower bracket in each of the four groups, where players who had lost on day one were given one final opportunity to qualify. As on the previous day, the format involved two rapid games at a time control of 10 minutes with no increment. If the match ended 1β1, a bidding Armageddon game determined the winner.
At the end of a dramatic day that featured multiple time scrambles, mouse slips, and missed opportunities, four players advanced: Ian Nepomniachtchi, Nihal Sarin, Hikaru Nakamura and Nodirbek Abdusattorov. They joined Levon Aronian, Arjun Erigaisi, Alireza Firouzja and Magnus Carlsen in the knockout stage. The eight eliminated players – Vladislav Artemiev, Andrey Esipenko, Anish Giri, Maxime Vachier-Lagrave, Javokhir Sindarov, Wei Yi, Fabiano CaruanaΒ and Jan-Krzysztof Duda – each leave with $50,000 in prize money.
Duda’s resignation on move five in the Armageddon game against Abdusattorov marked the most abrupt and costly mistake of the day, denying him a place in the quarterfinals.
A shock ending to the decider match- Jan-Krzysztof Duda mouseslips and blunders a piece, Nodirbek Abdusattorov of Team NAVI is through to the Quarterfinals of Esports World Cup 2025! pic.twitter.com/DIUF7rPcfi
β ChessBase India (@ChessbaseIndia) July 30, 2025
Group A: Ian Nepomniachtchi (Aurora Gaming)
Ian Nepomniachtchi began his day with a match against Vladislav Artemiev. Nepomniachtchi won the first game with the white pieces and comfortably drew the second, securing a 1Β½βΒ½ victory to advance to the group’s final lower bracket match. Artemiev failed to create serious winning chances in either game and was thus the first player eliminated from Group A.
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Nepomniachtchi then faced Andrey Esipenko, who had earlier lost to Levon Aronian in the winners bracket. Esipenko struck first with a win in the opening game and looked on track to qualify. However, he could not hold his advantage in game two, as Nepomniachtchi turned things around to level the score. The match went to Armageddon, where Nepomniachtchi bid to play with the black pieces and managed to hold a draw, which was enough to progress to the quarterfinals.
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Group B: Nihal Sarin (S8UL Esports)
Nihal Sarin produced one of the most convincing performances of the day in Group B. His first opponent was Anish Giri, who had lost to Arjun Erigaisi on day one. Despite entering both games with heavy time pressure, Nihal stayed composed. In game two, Giri even won a queen, but was unable to convert the advantage into a win. Nihal remained resourceful and punished errors to win the match 2β0.
The final lower bracket match of the group saw Nihal face Maxime Vachier-Lagrave. The French grandmaster had reached this stage after narrowly losing to Arjun in Armageddon. In the first game, Vachier-Lagrave maintained pressure and held a slight edge, but Nihal defended accurately to draw. The second game saw Nihal gradually outplay his experienced opponent, taking the full point and the match 1Β½βΒ½. With that win, the 21-year-old Indian grandmaster secured his place in the quarterfinals.
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Group C: Hikaru NakamuraΒ (Team Falcons)
The Group C lower bracket opened with a match between Wei Yi and Javokhir Sindarov. The Chinese grandmaster won both games to eliminate Sindarov in convincing fashion. Wei showed strong form and seemed well-prepared for his next challenge: a match against Hikaru Nakamura. Nakamura, having lost to Alireza Firouzja in Armageddon on day one, needed to win to stay in the tournament.
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The match between Nakamura and Wei Yi turned into one of the most dramatic of the day. In both games, Wei Yi held the advantage but failed to convert. Game one saw Nakamura survive a lost endgame after Wei misplayed a winning combination. In game two, Wei again let a promising position slip after a series of mutual inaccuracies. With both games drawn, the match proceeded to Armageddon. Nakamura played black and outlasted Wei to win the game and claim the group’s second quarterfinal spot.
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Group D: Nodirbek Abdusattorov (Natus Vincere)
Nodirbek Abdusattorov’s path to the quarterfinals began with a match against Fabiano Caruana. Playing black in the first game, Abdusattorov employed a strong positional approach and gradually took control to score a clean win. In the second game, Caruana struck back with the black pieces, taking advantage of a sharp line in the Alapin Sicilian to level the match. In the Armageddon decider, Abdusattorov played white and navigated a heavy-piece endgame confidently to win the match.
That result set up a final lower bracket match between Abdusattorov and Jan-Krzysztof Duda. The two rapid games ended in balanced draws, sending the match once again to Armageddon. Playing white, Duda made a catastrophic error: a mouse slip on move five cost him a full piece. He resigned immediately, handing the match and qualification to Abdusattorov.