PANJIM, Nov 3: Indian Grandmaster SL Narayanan and GM Diptayan Ghosh won both their rapid games to clinch their spots in the second round of FIDE World Cup 2025 while Aronyak Ghosh joined them with a clinical performance in the second stage of Round 1 tiebreak here on Monday.
Playing the Sicilian defense in the first game as black, Narayanan, known for his skills in the faster version of the game, crashed through white’s defenses with a finely chalked plan and followed it up with a remarkable victory in just 22 moves with white to stamp his authority in what was anyway presumed to be an uneven clash.
Diptayan Ghosh proved superior to Peng Xionglian of China as he won both his games in the first set of tiebreaker to move ahead. The Indian from Kolkata was in prime form in the first game of tiebreaker as he won with white and then capitalised on an erroneous display by his opponent to romp home and is now assured of a USD 7000 paycheck.
Things were smooth for Narayanan in the first game as he repeated his pet opening and did not meet with a proper response. The middle game was level and the Peruvian did not have a clue once the complexities of strategy arrived.
Follow our WhatsApp channel
