WATCH: Arjun Erigaisi defeats Levon Aronian to reach quarter-finals of FIDE World Cup 2025 in Goa

Indian Grandmaster Arjun Erigaisi defeated Levon Aronian, 42, in the round five of the FIDE World Cup 2025 in Goa, to advance to the quarter-finals of the tournament on Saturday, November 15. The 22-year-old got the better of the Armenian-American Grandmaster by a scoreline of 1.5-0.5 in the classical segment of the tie after a clinical win in the second game with the black pieces, to become the first Indian to reach the final eight at home.

After drawing with the black pieces in the first game, the initiative was with Levon Aronian to push for the win in the second game but Arjun Erigaisi had the answers early on, making the first 17 moves without using up any time. The Indian GM had a 30-minute lead on the clock before the game turned completely

in his favour but he missed the near-winning knight sac on move 26.

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When Aronian offered a draw on move 31, Erigaisi felt confident and continued on, only for him and his opponent to miss a game-defining sacrifice on h2 just two moves later. Ultimately, on move 38, the Armenian-American GM made a blunder, wanting to trade down the rook on e1 only for Erigaisi to find the winning knight sacrifice on h3, forcing a resignation out of his opponent.

Arjun Erigaisi hailed his preparation with the black pieces against Levon Aronian

In his post-match interview, Arjun Erigaisi hailed his preparation with the black pieces, which helped him get the ascendancy early on before forcing Levon Aronian to make mistakes in what proved to be a decisive second game in the tie. He also remarked, as per Chess.com, “When he played 31.Ne3 and offered a draw, that gave me some confidence that he’s happy with a draw, so it gave me some leverage.”

There is one more Indian Grandmaster in the draw eligible to make the FIDE World Cup 2025 quarter-finals and his name is none other than Pentala Harikrishna, who will be taking on Daniil Dubov of Russia on Sunday, November 16, in the tie-breaker clash.