FIDE World Cup: P Harikrishna Draws First Game With Martinez Alcantara; Arjun Erigaisi Draws With Levon Aronian

Grandmaster P. Harikrishna started his fifth round with a relatively easy draw against Jose Eduardo Martinez Alcantara, while Arjun Erigaisi signed peace with a solid Levon Aronian at the FIDE World Cup in Goa on Friday. Up against someone who has defied the odds to reach the fifth round, Harikrishna knew that Jose Martinez could be a force to reckon with. However, the immense experience of the Indian came to the fore as he chose the Two Knights variation as Black against the Italian Opening of the Peruvian-Mexican Grandmaster.

Martinez had two upset victories in his last two matches - against Nodirbek Abdusattorov of Uzbekistan and Alexey Sarana of Serbia - but this time he did not get much with his white pieces against the Indian, who has himself been in top form here with very clean games thus far.

The middlegame featured routine manoeuvres, with Martinez having an extra pawn at the cost of a fractured pawn structure. His choice of going for a queen exchange in the middlegame was indication enough that he had not found his best rhythm in this round.

If there is one thing that does not bother Harikrishna much, it's the endgame. The Indian is known for his expertise in this department, and despite being a pawn down, he had no problems whatsoever in securing a draw in 41 moves.

Erigaisi tried his best to put pressure on Aronian with his white pieces, but the Armenian-turned-American was always on his guard.

The players reached a rook-and-pawns endgame with Arjun having an extra pawn, but the nature of the position suggested that it was always closer to a draw than any serious advantage for him.

Aronian, twice winner of the World Cup, did not have many troubles in restoring peace.

With just 16 players out of the 206 participants who started the event remaining in the fray, most of the players decided against taking undue risks and chose to wait for the next game.

As a result, the all-Russian duel between Andrey Esipenko and Aleksey Grebnev ended in a draw without much ado, while Armenian Gabriel Sargissian also got the same result against Nodirbek Yakubboev of Uzbekistan.

In another drawn game among the eight boards, Alexander Donchenko of Germany signed peace with Liem Le Quang of Vietnam.

The USD two-million prize money event will see some heated battles in the rounds to come as the players train their eyes on a place in the top three in order 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.

Fabiano Caruana of the United States, Anish Giri of the Netherlands, and Matthias Bluebaum of Germany have already qualified for the event, while Indian R. Praggnanandhaa is also almost assured of a place among the eight qualifying spots.

The other American almost assured of qualification is Hikaru Nakamura, while the remaining three will be picked from here.

Available results, Round 5 Game 1:

Javokhir Sindarov (Uzb) vs Frederic Svane (Ger) - ongoing

Arjun Erigaisi (Ind) drew with Levon Aronian (USA)

Sam Shankland (USA) drew with Daniil Dubov (FID)

Alexander Donchenko (Ger) drew with Liem Le Quang (Vie)

Gabriel Sargissian (Arm) drew with Nodirbek Yakubboev (Uzb)

Andrey Esipenko (FID) drew with Aleksey Grebnev (FID)

Samuel Sevian (USA) vs Wei Yi (Chn) - ongoing

Jose Eduardo Martinez Alcantara (Mex) drew with P. Harikrishna (Ind)