Oro, Cori, Diptayan, Aronyak in 2nd round @ Goa
12-year-old International Master Faustino Oro (Argentina) aced the tie-breaks after the first round at the FIDE World Cup 2025 at Hotel Resort Rio, Goa. By defeating Croatian Grandmaster Ante Brkić 5-3 Oro becomes the youngest player ever to win a match at the Chess World Cup. 20 players with a level score of 1-1 after the classical section progressed winning their respective rapid & blitz tie-break games.
Dubbed as “Messi of Chess” Faustino Oro is on the verge of becoming the youngest Grandmaster in the history of chess. The Argentine talent secured his maiden Grandmaster Norm at the Legends and Prodigies 2025 tournament in Madrid recently and is in top form. He now crosses swords with highly rated Indian Grandmaster Vidit Gujrathi in what promises to be an interesting battle.
In another thriller, Dutch Grandmaster Max Warmerdam overcame Indian GM Lalit Babu M R 5-3. After two draws in the classical front, all the six games fought in the speed version produced results with Warmerdam winning four of them. Also confirming their second round spots were GMs Robert Hovhannisyan, Yuffa Daniil, Narayanan S L, Cori Jorge, Jobava Baadur, Diptayan Ghosh and International Master Aronyak Ghosh among others.
The arrival of top stars after a first round bye will see a rise in spectator interest. In action would be World Champion Gukesh Dommaraju coming from “Clutch Chess” event in Saint Louis, USA. Challenging him for the coveted “Viswanathan Anand Trophy” would be fellow Indian Grandmasters Praggnanandhaa Rameshbabu and Erigaisi Arjun along several surprise packets. Much will be expected of star GMs Vincent Keymer (Germany), Wesley So, Levon Aronian, Hans Moke Niemann (both USA), Anish Giri (Netherlands), Wei Yi (China) and Nodirbek Abdusattorov (Uzbekistan) among others.
206 participants from 82 countries, including 158 Grandmasters, are vying for the Viswanathan Anand trophy along with three coveted spots for the Candidates 2026. This knock-out FIDE event is one the biggest in the world that carries a handsome total prize money of USD 2,000,000 (Rs. 17.75 crores approx). With 78 first round losers getting USD 3,500 each, this FIDE chess event has some take home prize money for each participant.
Round 2 Game 1 will start by 4:30 AM ET / 9:30 AM GMT / 3:00 PM IST on Tuesday, November 4, 2025.
Key Round 2 Game 1 pairings: Gukesh – Nogerbek, Petrov – Erigaisi, Praggnanandhaa – Kuybokarov, Maksimovic – Giri, So – Stremavicius, Kovalev – Keymer, Wei Yi – Piorun, Makhnev – Abdusattorov, Mamedyarov – Kantor, Lodici – Niemann, Aronian – Aronyak, MVL – Ganguly.
Results: (Round 1 Tie-breaks): Kavin Mohan lost to Robert Hovhannisyan 1.5-2.5, Thavandiran Shiyam lost to Yuffa Daniil 3-5, Rojas Salas Steven lost to S L Narayanan 1-3, Agibileg Uurtsaikh lost to Henriquez Villagra Cristobal 1.5-2.5, Cori Jorge bt Ansat Aldiyar 3-1, Adly Ahmed bt Karen Grigoryan H 4.5-3.5, Neiksans Arturs lost to Alisher Suleymenov 1.5-2.5, Tin Jingyao bt Lashkin Jegor 3-1, Max Warmerdam bt M R Lalit Babu 5-3, Brkic Ante lost to Faustino Oro 3-5, Bartel Mteusz lost to Aronyak Ghosh 2-4, Galaviz Medina Sion Radamantys lost to Supi Luis Paulo 1.5-2.5, Jobava Baadur bt Cardoso Cardoso Jose Gabriel 2.5-1.5, Peng Xiongjian lost to Diptayan Ghosh 1-3, Makhnev Denis bt Diego Flores 2.5-1.5, Piorun Kacper bt Lobanov Sergei 2.5-1.5, Bogner Sebastian lost to Stremavicius Titas 1.5-2.5, Maksimovic Bojan bt Can Emre 3-1, Subelj Jan lost to Kuybokarov Temur 1-3, Nogerbek Kazybek bt R Raja Rithvik 5-3.
Ante Brkić (2579) – Faustino Oro (2495) 1. e4 c6 2. d4 d5 3. exd5 cxd5 4. Nf3 Nc6 5. c3 Qc7 6. c4 e6 7. Nc3 dxc4 8. Bxc4 Nf6 9. O-O Be7 10. Bg5 O-O 11. Qe2 h6 12. Bh4 Nh5 13. Bxe7 Qxe7 14. Qe3 Nf6 15. Rad1 Qb4 16. Qe2 Rd8 17. a3 Qf8 18. Rfe1 Bd7 19. Ne5 Rac8 20. Ba2 Ne7 21. Rd3 Ned5 22. Bxd5 exd5 23. Rg3 Be6 24. Qe3 Kh8 25. h4 Re8 26. Qd3 Nh5 27. Rf3 Nf6 28. Rfe3 Qd6 29. Qd2 a6 30. f3 b5 31. g4 Nh7 32. R3e2 Kg8 33. g5 hxg5 34. hxg5 Qd8 35. Rg2 f6 36. g6 Nf8 37. Nd3 Bh3 38. Rg3 Rxe1+ 39. Qxe1 Bf5 40. Nf4 Qd6 41. Qd2 Nxg6 42. Rxg6 Bxg6 43. Nxg6 Re8 44. Nf4 g5 45. Nfe2 Kg7 46. Qe1 Re3 47. Qf2 Re8 48. Ng3 Qe6 49. Nce2 Kf7 50. f4 Qg4 51. fxg5 Qxg5 52. Qh2
52…Rxe2 0-1
Narayanan S L (2617) – Rojas Salas Steven (2415) 1. d4 d5 2. c4 e6 3. Nf3 Nf6 4. Nc3 dxc4 5. e3 a6 6. Bxc4 b5 7. Bb3 Bb7 8. O-O Nbd7 9. e4 c5 10. d5 c4 11. Bc2 Bc5 12. dxe6 fxe6 13. e5 Bxf3 14. Qxf3 Nxe5 15. Qe2 Nd3 16. Bxd3 Qxd3 17. Qxe6+ Kf8 18. Qc6 Bd6 19. Qxa8+ Kf7 20. Qb7+ Kg6 21. Rd1 Re8
22. Be3 1-0
Complete Results
Photos Courtesy: Michal Walusza / Eteri Kublashvili / FIDE (International Chess Federation)
Official Site: https://worldcup2025.fide.com/
