November 15, 2025 07:27 AM IST First published on: Nov 15, 2025 at 07:27 AM IST Over the last few years, as chess prodigies got younger and younger, Pentala Harikrishna made a name for himself as a second by powering the women’s world championship-winning campaign of Ju Wenjun, and then helping D Gukesh become the youngest world champion. Now, perhaps fittingly, as Gukesh has crashed out early from the World Cup at Goa, Harikrishna is still in the mix, flying not just India’s flag, but also of the in-between generation that came between the two world champions, Viswanathan Anand and Gukesh. Out of an unprecedented 24 Indians who started the chess World Cup in Goa, only two — Arjun Erigaisi and Harikrishna — remain in contention. It has been refreshing to see the campaign of the 39-year-old from Guntur, who was once touted as India’s best bet to join Anand as part of the chess elite, but didn’t quite get there. The World Cup is the second most prestigious event on the chess calendar, and …