NT Reporter | Arpora
GM P Harikrishna exited in the Round 5 tiebreak against Peru’s GM Jose Eduardo Martinez Alcantara at the FIDE World Cup 2025 on Sunday.
With both classical games drawn, the rapid playoffs began cautiously. The 15-minute pair produced no separation, but the momentum shifted in the 10-minute segment. Harikrishna, starting confidently with white, lost control after trading queens, allowing Martinez to convert a long rook-pawn endgame. Needing a win with black in the second rapid, Harikrishna could only hold a draw, bowing out after 30 moves.
Arjun, meanwhile, had already booked his last-eight berth with a clean 1.5–0.5 win over GM Levon Aronian and will face China’s Wei Yi in Monday’s quarterfinals.
In other results, Sam Shankland, Andrey Esipenko, and Alexander Donchenko also progressed, completing the quarterfinal lineup.
