FIDE World Cup: Harikrishna’s loss leaves Arjun Erigaisi as last Indian left standing, but he remains favourite for title | Chess News
And then there was just one Indian left standing. From an unprecedented crop of 24 Indians who entered the FIDE World Cup in Goa, just Arjun Erigaisi finds himself in the mix to secure the title, or at least book one of the three spots into the prestigious Candidates tournament. On Sunday, veteran Pentala Harikrishna crashed out in the tiebreaks against Jose Eduardo Martinez Alcantara, marking the significant thinning down of India’s challenge. Harikrishna, who plays only selective tournaments these days, had played a version of devil-may-care chess in the previous rounds, exemplified by his tactic to sacrifice his queen, the most powerful piece on the board, on move 8 in a second round game and still winning the game and the match. But against the Mexican grandmaster Alcantara, Hari’s fight finally ended after six games across three time controls over three days. Some of India’s best bets have fallen early, including world champion D Gukesh, who started as the top seed but was sent home in the third round by German grandmaster Frederik Svane, …
