The ongoing FIDE Chess World Cup 2025 turned into a dramatic battlefield on Saturday as the top stars, including World Champion Gukesh, Anish Giri, and Nodirbek Abdusattorov, were eliminated in stunning upsets during the second game of Round 3. The formidable German Olympiad squad – Keymer, Bluebaum, Donchenko, and the Svane brothers were the masterminds who created the sensational result at the Rio Resort in Goa and all four of them advanced to the fourth round, with two scoring massive upsets by eliminating the tournament’s top seed, GM Gukesh D, and fourth seed, GM Anish Giri, from the World Cup.
What unfolded was nothing short of a Götterdämmerung – a day of reckoning that saw 2700+ heavyweights fall like ninepins.
Emil Sutovsky, CEO of the International Chess Federation (FIDE), took to X and summed it up perfectly:
“Real Götterdämmerung in Goa.
I can’t recall anything similar – with so many of rating favorites leaving the FIDE World Cup at such an early stage.
Curiously, this Götterdämmerung largely caused by German players.
A very talented cohort, known as Prinzen, advances powerfully – tho it is just the third round, and it’s a bit too early to draw conclusions.
But one conclusion is surely there – time and again we see 2550+ players fighting on par with the very top.
That is why events like FIDE Grand Swiss and World Cup are so important. So many deserving players get their chance there.”
FIDE Chess World Cup 2025: Round 3, Game 2 Results
(Indians unless specified)
D Gukesh lost to Frederik Svane (GER) 0.5-1.5
Arjun Erigaisi beat Shamsiddin Vokhidov (UZB) 1.5-0.5
R Praggnanandhaa beat Robert Hovhannisyan (ARM) 1.5-0.5
M Pranesh lost to Vincent Keymer (GER) 0.5-1.5
Wei Yi (CHN) drew with Benjamin Gledura (HUN) 1-1 goes to tiebreak
Jose Martínez (VEN) beat Nodirbek Abdusattorov (UZB) 2-0
Shakhriyar Mamedyarov (AZE) lost to Nils Grandelius (SWE) 0.5-1.5
Michael Adams (ENG) lost to Lorenzo Lodici (ITA) 0.5-1.5
Maxime Vachier-Lagrave (FRA) drew with Vladislav Artemiev (FID) 1-1 goes to tiebreak