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Indian Grandmaster P Harikrishna secured a draw against Jose Eduardo Martinez Alcantara, while Arjun Erigaisi drew with Levon Aronian in the fifth round of the FIDE World Cup in Baku on Friday. The matches were part of the prestigious USD 2 million prize money tournament, where only 16 players remain from the initial 206 participants.Harikrishna, displaying his experience, chose the Two Knights variation as black against Martinez’s Italian opening. The Peruvian-Mexican Grandmaster, who had previously upset Nodirbek Abdusattorov and Alexey Sarana, couldn’t gain much advantage with his white pieces.
The middle game saw routine maneuvers with Martinez holding an extra pawn but suffering from a fractured pawn structure. His decision to exchange queens in the middle game indicated he wasn’t at his best in this round.Harikrishna, known for his endgame expertise, managed the position well despite being a pawn down. He secured a comfortable draw in 41 moves.Erigaisi, playing with white pieces, attempted to pressure Aronian, but the Armenian-turned-American player maintained solid defense throughout. The game reached a rook and pawns endgame where Arjun had an extra pawn, but the position naturally led to a draw.Most players in the fifth round opted for cautious play, avoiding unnecessary risks. The all-Russian match between Andrey Esipenko and Aleksey Grebnev ended in a draw, as did the game between Armenian Gabriel Sargissian and Uzbekistan’s Nodirbek Yakubboev.Alexander Doncheko of Germany and Liem Le Quang of Vietnam also agreed to a peaceful result in their encounter.The tournament has significant implications for the upcoming Candidates tournament, which will determine the challenger for D Gukesh in the next world championship.Caruana Fabiano of United States, Anish Giri of Holland, and Matthias Bluebaum of Germany have already secured their spots in the Candidates tournament. Indian player R Praggnanadhaa is nearly assured of his place among the eight qualifying positions.American player Hikaru Nakamura is also virtually guaranteed a spot, with three remaining positions to be determined from the current World Cup.The fifth round’s first game results showed Javokhir Sindarov facing Frederic Svane, while several matches ended in draws: Arjun Erigaisi versus Levon Aronia, Sam Shankland against Daniil Dubov, Alexander Donchenko versus Liem Le Quang, Gabriel Sargissian against Nodirbek Yakubboev, Andrey Esipenko versus Aleksey Grebnev, Sevian Samuel playing Wei Yi, and Jose Eduardo Martinez Alcantara drawing with P Harikrishna.The tournament continues with heightened competition as players aim to secure one of the top three positions to qualify for the Candidates tournament next year.
