Panaji, Nov 7 : Grandmasters Arjun Erigaisi and P Harikrishna played superbly with white pieces to register a resounding win while world champion Gukesh D played out a draw with black pieces in the first match of the third round of the ongoing FIDE World Cup 2025 here on Friday.

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Arjun, the highest-ranked Indian in the competition, defeated Shamsiddin Vokhidov of Uzbekistan in 30 moves, while Harikrishna once again showed control of his preparation and entered the fourth round by defeating Belgian Grandmaster Daniel Dardha in 25 moves.

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A total of 10 Indian players have reached the third round of the FIDE World Cup 2025. It is a single-elimination knock-out tournament in which 206 players from 82 countries are competing for the prestigious Viswanathan Anand Cup, the trophy named after the Indian legend.Arjun and Harikrishna once again showed why they are one of the strong contenders to win the title.

Arjun, who won both his matches in the second round after getting a bye in the first round, did not look in any trouble against Vokhidov and only thought about his moves for more than 10 minutes when he was on the verge of victory and was looking for ways to finish it quickly and make it three wins in three games in the contest.

A few minutes earlier, Harikrishna had become the first player to win in the third round. The 12-year-old surprised his opponent in the Sicilian Classical Variation and forced him to give up early.

“I had prepared something new. Of course, it helped me, but I couldn’t remember all the moves in this variation. But I played some good moves and my opponent missed some. Actually, he didn’t understand the dangers properly in the match,” Harikrishna said after the match.

Among the other Indians in the fray, world champion Gukesh D, R Praggnanandhaa and Vidit Gujrathi drew with black pieces and will now have a chance to win with white pieces to reach the next round.

India results (Round 3, Game 1) by 7 PM:

GM Friedrich Swain (Germany) played out a 0.5-0.5 draw with GM Gukesh DGM

Arjun Erigaisi defeated GM Shamsiddin Vokhidov (Uzbekistan) 1-0

GM Robert Hovhannisyan (Armenia) played out a 0.5-0.5 draw with GM R Praggnanandhaa

GM Sam Shankland (USA) drew 0.5-0.5 with GM Vidit Gujrathi

GM P Harikrishna defeated GM Daniel Dardha (Belgium) 1-0