Veteran Indian Grandmaster Pentala Harikrishna was knocked out of the FIDE Chess World Cup 2025 on Sunday, losing to Mexico’s Jose Eduardo Martinez Alcantara in the tiebreaks of Round 5 in Goa. With this result, Harikrishna becomes the 23rd Indian elimination, leaving the event’s highest-seeded player, Arjun Erigaisi, as the host nation’s sole representative.
Prior to this loss, Harikrishna had enjoyed a deep run in the tournament. He was one of only two Indians, alongside Arjun, to reach the fifth round. His campaign included victories over reigning Russian champion Arseniy Nesterov in the second round, Belgium’s Daniel Dardha, and Swedish Grandmaster Nils Grandelius.
Had Harikrishna prevailed against Martinez, he would have been just one round away from virtually confirming a spot in the Candidates tournament. The top three finishers in the 2025 World Cup will qualify for the 2026 Candidates in Cyprus, whose winner earns the right to challenge the reigning Classical World Champion, India’s D. Gukesh.
Meanwhile, for Jose Martinez, fondly called “Jospem” in online chess circles, the Goa event has been a terrific success, seeing him surge past several elite players. After rolling over South Korea’s Isaak Huh and Serbia’s Velimir Ivic in the opening rounds, he stunned one of the heavy favourites, Uzbekistan’s Nodirbek Abdusattorov, with two straight wins in the classical section.
Martínez Alcantara continued his strong form by making short work of another Serbian, Alexey Sarana. He won the first game of the fourth round for his third consecutive classical victory and outmanoeuvred his opponent completely in the return game, eventually accepting a draw to become the first player to confirm his spot in Round 5.
Arjun Erigaisi, the last Indian standing, will face an uphill task in his quarterfinal match against the seventh seed, China’s Wei Yi. Jose Martinez will take on Uzbekistan’s Javokhir Sindarov in his own quarterfinal clash.
