Stremavicius, Ghosh and Karthik shock 2700+ rated players
The first major upsets of the 2025 FIDE World Cup were seen on Wednesday in Goa, as three players rated over 2700 were eliminated by lower-ranked opponents. Wesley So (United States, 5th seed), Ian Nepomniachtchi (FIDE, 12th seed) and Aravindh Chithambaram (India, 20th seed) all exited the competition after losing their second-round matches. Their conquerors were Titas Stremavicius of Lithuania (133rd seed), Diptayan Ghosh of India (117th seed) and Karthik Venkataraman of India (109th seed), respectively.
Stremavicius, aged 27, is a two-time Lithuanian champion (2021 and 2025) who has represented his country in several Olympiads. Ghosh, also 27, combines his chess career with academic work, holding a master’s degree in Economics. Karthik, meanwhile, is a two-time Indian National Champion who most recently claimed the title in 2024.
Four additional players from the top 50 in the starting list were also eliminated:
- Ray Robson (United States, 36th seed) was unable to recover from his earlier loss and was knocked out by 15-year-old Ivan Zemlyanskii (FIDE, 93rd seed).
- Johan-Sebastian Christiansen (Norway, 42nd seed) lost the first game and could not strike back against the experienced Evgeniy Najer (FIDE, 87th seed).
- David Navara (Czech Republic, 43rd seed) was eliminated by 19-year-old Aleksey Grebnev (FIDE, 86th seed) after drawing the first game and losing the second.
- Abhimanyu Mishra (United States, 50th seed) was defeated by the seasoned grandmaster Saleh Salem (UAE, 79th seed).
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Saleh Salem analyses the position from afar, while Abhimanyu Mishra looks for his next move | Photo: Michal Walusza
Out of the 64 matches in round two, 37 have already been decided. Among the top seeds, several have safely advanced to the third round, including Gukesh Dommaraju, Arjun Erigaisi, Anish Giri, Vincent Keymer and Wei Yi.
With Wesley So’s early elimination, four other top-10 players remain engaged in tiebreak battles: Praggnanandhaa Rameshbabu, Nodirbek Abdusattorov, Shakhriyar Mamedyarov and Hans Niemann. Three of them drew both classical games, while Mamedyarov exchanged wins with white pieces against Hungarian GM Gergely Kantor. On Wednesday, Kantor levelled the score by defeating the Azerbaijani star after Mamedyarov mishandled the opening.
Kantor was not the only player to bounce back after an initial setback. Nils Grandelius (Sweden) and Aryan Tari (Norway) also won their second games against Etienne Bacrot and Pranav Venkatesh, respectively, to force tiebreaks.
Thursday promises to be an eventful day, with 27 matches still undecided. The second-round tiebreaks are expected to produce plenty of tension as players fight to secure a place among the last 64.
Gergely Kantor defeated Shakhriyar Mamedyarov | Photo: Michal Walusza
Nepo and So suffer painful losses
In a position previously played at the 2018 Tata Steel Masters by Sergey Karjakin and Magnus Carlsen, Ian Nepomniachthi made a mistake that would leave him struggling with the white pieces from as early as move 15.
Karjakin had correctly played 15.Be3 in a game that would end in a 36-move draw against the world number-one. Nepo, on his part, went for the imprecise 15.h3. Diptayan Ghosh swiftly found the refutation: 15…Ba6 16.Qd1 Rad8, and White loses coordination after 17.Nd2
Note that 16.Bc4, which engines, after all, consider stronger for White, runs into 16…Bxf2+, and White should simply accept playing a pawn down with 17.Qxf2, since after 17.Kxf2 Black has 17…Qc5+ with a fork (diagram).
In the game, there followed 17…Bd4 18.Qf3, and Black grabbed a pawn with 18…Bxb2
In this insightful video course, Grandmaster David Navara shares practical advice on when to calculate deeply in a position — and just as importantly, when not to.
Free sample video: Introduction
Free sample video: Invisible moves
Ghosh made the most of his material advantage brilliantly, slowly making progress until claiming a 46-move victory.
Ian Nepomniachtchi facing Diptayan Ghosh | Photo: Michal Walusza
Wesley So also found himself in trouble early in the middlegame, failing to see a tactical sequence that left him in a position with two pawns for a bishop.
The rooks left the board soon after, which meant Titas Stremavicius had the tough task of converting an advantageous technical endgame against one of the most resilient players in the circuit. Not surprisingly, So managed to equalise the position.
This position is objectively drawn – but here So faltered with 58…h3, when all legal king moves would have kept the balance.
But that was not the end of the story. Stremavicious made the most of his chances and made progress until reaching the following position.
White now wins with, for example, 70.Ke4. In all these lines, however, one needs to calculate specifically if a potential pure king and pawn endgame is winning or not. So it is somewhat understandable that Stremavicious faltered with 70.a4. Moreover, the Lithuanian GM’s decision should be justified by the fact that after 70…b4 71.Ke4 Kg4, So resigned.
The position is, in fact, objectively drawn.
There is only one – difficult to find – path to a draw, however: 72.Ke3 Kh4 73.Kf3 h1Q (only move!) 74.Bxh1 Kh3, and now 75.Ke4 g2 76.Bxg2 Kxg2 (diagram) is drawn, as the black king will reach the queenside on time.
This not the most critical line, though, since after 74…Kh3 White can go for 75.Bg2+ Kh2 76.Bf1 Qg1 77.Bh3 Kh2 78.Bg2, and now 78…Kg1 draws.
White cannot grab the pawn with 79.Kxg3 due to stalemate, and is now unable to make progress. So failed to find this line, apparently, and resigned the game in an objectively drawn position after Black’s 71st move.
Titas Stremavicius | Photo: Michal Walusza
Harikrishna’s brilliant win
At 39, Pentala Harikrishna has fallen just below the 2700 rating mark, but he certainly still has chances of making it to the Candidates. Facing Arseniy Nesterov, he scored a memorable win with the white pieces on Wednesday.
If one skill decides more games, it’s calculation. Openings fade, plans change – but seeing clearly, comparing lines, and choosing with confidence wins points. In this course GM Ganguly turns calculation into a trainable skill with a structured path for any level. You won’t just solve tactics; you’ll learn how to think: where to start, which branches to explore, when to stop, and how to keep a crystal-clear mental board under pressure.
Free video sample: Introduction
Free video sample: Forcing moves
Pentala Harikrishna signing autographs | Photo: Michal Walusza
Two more remarkable games
Rapport 1-0 Supi
Analysis by Karsten Müller
Richard Rapport | Photo: Michal Walusza
Keymer 1-0 Kovalev
Analysis by Johannes Fischer
Fans surround local hero Arjun Erigaisi outside the playing hall | Photo: Michal Walusza
All games – Round 2
Replay games from all rounds at Live.ChessBase.com
In the first part of the video series, we will look at White’s four main moves: 6. Bg5, 6. Be3, 6. Be2 and 6. Bc4.
