Indian GM Arjun Erigaisi secured a solid draw with Levon Aronian to get Round 5 of the FIDE World Cup rolling, while P Harikrishna also earned a draw against Jose Eduardo Martinez Alcantara.
Facing someone who had defied expectations to reach the fifth round, Harikrishna knew Jose Martinez could be a formidable opponent. However, Harikrishna’s extensive experience was evident as he chose the Two Knights variation as black against the Peruvian-Mexican Grandmaster’s Italian opening.
Martinez had achieved two upset victories in his last two matches against Nodirbek Abdusattorov of Uzbekistan and Alexey Sarana of Serbia. However, he could not gain much with his white pieces against the in-form Indian, who had played clean games so far.
The middle game
involved routine manoeuvres, with Martinez having an extra pawn at the cost of a fractured pawn structure. His decision to exchange queens indicated that he was not at his best in this round.
Endgames rarely trouble Harikrishna, known for his expertise in this phase of the game. Despite being a pawn down, he comfortably secured a draw in 41 moves.
Erigaisi tried to pressure Aronian with his white pieces, but the Armenian-turned-American remained vigilant. The players reached a rook and pawns endgame, with Arjun having an extra pawn. However, the position was closer to a draw than any significant advantage for Arjun. Aronian, a two-time World Cup winner, had no trouble ensuring a draw.
With just 16 players remaining out of the 206 participants who started the event, many players opted to avoid undue risk and wait for the next game. Consequently, the all-Russian duel between Andrey Esipenko and Aleksey Grebnev ended in a quiet draw, as did the match between Armenian Gabriel Sargissian and Nodirbek Yakubboev of Uzbekistan.
In another drawn game, Alexander Doncheko of Germany made peace with Liem Le Quang of Vietnam.
The USD two million prize money event will see intense battles in the upcoming rounds as players aim for a place in the top three to qualify for the next Candidates tournament. The Candidates will be played next year to determine the challenger for D Gukesh in the next world championship contest.
Caruana Fabiano of the United States, Anish Giri of Holland, and Matthias Bluebaum of Germany have already qualified for the event. Indian R Praggnanadhaa is also almost assured of a place among the eight qualifying spots. Another American, Hikaru Nakamura, is almost assured of qualification, while the remaining three will be decided from this event.
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