FIDE World Cup R5: Donchenko Wins Tense Match, Arjun and Wei to Play in Quarters

Tournament Information

The FIDE World Cup is one of the most prestigious events on the chess calendar. It is the largest knockout tournament and awards three Candidates spots to the first three finishers. 206 players are playing the tournament, with each round only growing in intensity. The time control is 90+30 for the first 40 moves, with an extra 30 minutes after move 40. Matches are played in sets of two: first, a classical portion of 2 games. If the result remains tied, the players play 15+10 games, then, if still tied, 10+10 games, then 5+3, then 3+2, and finally, if still tied, a deciding Armageddon game.

Watch and replay all the games in our broadcast.

Pairings for Round 6

The pairings for round 6 are available here.

Overview

GM Arjun Erigaisi, GM Wei Yi, and GM Nodirbek Yakubboev were able to qualify to the quarterfinals by beating GM Levon Aronian, GM Samuel Sevian, and GM Gabriel Sargissian, respectively, in their second classical game after drawing the first. GM Javokhir Sindarov qualified by winning against GM Frederik Svane in their first classical game and holding the second game as Black. GM Sam Shankland and GM Andrey Esipenko got the better of GM Daniil Dubov and GM Aleksey Grebnev, respectively, in the 15+10 tiebreak. GM José Martínez Alcántara won against GM Pentala Harikrishna in the 10+10 portion, while GM Alexander Donchenko played a long and exciting match against GM Lê Quang Liêm, which saw Donchenko win in the 5+3 segment.

Interviews

Make sure to check out all of our interviews from the World Cup on our YouTube channel! All our interviews from Round 5 are also embedded throughout this article.

Annotations by IM Nitish Belurkar (kingnb)

IM Nitish Belurkar has annotated the most important games and moments from the 2025 FIDE World Cup.

GM Arjun Erigaisi vs. GM Levon Aronian, Arjun Wins With a Sacrifice

Photo: Michał Walusza / FIDE

GM Arjun Erigaisi started applying pressure on GM Levon Aronian immediately in their first game, playing a rare line of the Queen's Gambit Declined, which forced Aronian to defend a tough rook endgame. Aronian, though, was up to the task and found multiple accurate defensive moves in both the middlegame and endgame.

In their second game, Arjun with the Black pieces again had the upper hand as Aronian's Italian Game, Giuco Pianissimo opening experiment did not pose enough problems for Black to solve. Arjun broke open the position with a well-timed 17...f6!, and as Arjun's pieces started flowing into the position, Aronian was facing the duress of a very powerful kingside attack. However, the position remained highly complicated, and Arjun missed two rather invisible sacrifices: 26...Ngxf3+!! and 33...Bxh2!!. Fortunately for Arjun, the sacrificial train was stationed once again, and 38...Nh3!! sealed the match in Arjun's favor.

Watch our interview with GM Arjun Erigaisi:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zzSPVXGQcUs

GM Wei Yi vs. GM Samuel Sevian, Wei Wins by Converting His Extra Pawn

Photo: Michał Walusza / FIDE

GM Wei Yi's match against GM Samuel Sevian, which at first seemed likely to be heading to the rapid tiebreaks, ended abruptly after Sevian uncharacteristically blundered a pawn in a rather staid line of the Four Knights Game. Converting said extra pawn was not such an unchallenging feat, but Wei was up to the task as he cleverly steered the game into a bishop vs. knight endgame. Sevian had one chance to come back into the game after Wei's inaccurate 25. Bf2?!; after failing to find the correct 25...Rd2!, however, the remainder of the game showed one-way traffic.

Watch our interview with GM Wei Yi:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rSpG4qzRyeg

GM Sam Shankland vs. GM Daniil Dubov, Shankland Wins With a Rook Lift

Photo: Eteri Kublashvili / FIDE

GM Daniil Dubov missed a golden opportunity to lead the match after he missed one key defensive resource for GM Sam Shankland in their first classical game. After Shankland's objectively acceptable, but perhaps not practically so, 21. Rxc7!? exchange sacrifice, Dubov was pressing and gradually gained an advantage as Shankland could not keep up with Dubov's maneuvers. Just as the game seemed to be headed toward a win for Dubov, though, the imprecise 43...Bc4?? allowed a stunning defensive move, 44. Bb6!!, which paved the way for Shankland's bishop to become active once again and hold the fort.

After an uneventful second game, Shankland played a remarkable attacking game in the 15+10 segment, destroying Dubov's Queen's Gambit Declined, Tartakower-esque Defense with first an h-pawn push, then a rook lift, and finally kingside pawn pushes, which led to a much better endgame for Shankland. Dubov collapsed quickly under the pressure and could not get back into the game, even after Shankland eschewed the simple 41. Re4!, instead going for a flashy win with 41. Rc8+ Nd8 42. Rc7 Kf8 43. g5!! hxg5 44. Rc8 Ke7 45. Rxd8 Kxd8 46. f6!.

Needing a win in the second rapid tiebreak game, Dubov could not even get a game going as Shankland played extremely precisely in the opening. After a draw seemed like the clear result, Dubov even gave up and allowed Shankland to win the drawn rook endgame.

Watch our interview with GM Sam Shankland:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6fzJYT1hzRM

GM Andrey Esipenko vs. GM Aleksey Grebnev, Esipenko Destroys the Petrov

Photo: Eteri Kublashvili / FIDE

After two very quiet classical games where it looked clear that both sides wanted to test the waters in the rapid tiebreaks, GM Andrey Esipenko played in a much more enterprising fashion against GM Aleksey Grebnev's Petrov Defense, castling queenside instead of kingside as compared to their first classical game. After an h-pawn push and a rook lift, much like Shankland's aforementioned attacking game against Dubov, Grebnev continued to play inaccurately, allowing Esipenko to pick up material. Esipenko then converted flawlessly, immobilizing Black's forces and winning in just 36 moves.

Grebnev's efforts to bounce back in the next rapid game almost bore fruit as his Nimzo-Larsen Attack led to a playable position where, after some time, he had an advantage, culminating in the shocking 46. Nxe5!!. Without showing any signs of being disconcerted, however, Esipenko found defensive move after defensive move, and after some adventures, easily held a rook + four pawns vs. rook + three pawns endgame.

GM Alexander Donchenko vs. GM Lê Quang Liêm, Donchenko Shows Superb Resilience

Photo: Eteri Kublashvili / FIDE

GM Alexander Donchenko's match against GM Lê Quang Liêm was a heartbreaker that did not end in tragedy. After failing to convert a rook endgame where Donchenko was two pawns up, temporarily three at one point, Donchenko won a clinical Grünfeld Defense game the next day, gaining a 1-0 lead in the 15+10 rapid tiebreak.

Misfortune struck once again for Donchenko in the very next game, however, as Lê's Dzindzi-Indian Defense-esque opening worked to perfection, even though it has to be said that Donchenko had his chances.

Donchenko once again bounced back with the Black pieces, outplaying Lê in an endgame. In time pressure, Donchenko did allow Lê to get back into the game after a mistimed pawn push, 55...b4??, but Lê cracked under pressure with 62. Bh2??.

In another English Opening game, it was once more time for Black to win. Lê's tactic with 30...Qb1+! 31. Kh2 Nf3+! 32. Bxf3 Rb2! was a sight to behold.

Flipping the script in their next game, Lê drew against Donchenko's Grünfeld Defense.

Also switching to 1. d4, Donchenko finished off the match in the 5+3 portion by utterly dismantling Lê's Nimzo-Indian Defense. 32. Qg7+! Rxg7 33. fxg7+ Kg8 34. Nf6+! Kxg7 35. Nxd5 was a nice touch.

GM José Eduardo Martínez Alcántara vs. GM Pentala Harikrishna, Rook Endgame Dominance by Martínez

Photo: Eteri Kublashvili / FIDE

After two calm games in the classical portion of their match, GM José Eduardo Martínez Alcántara had a chance to win the first rapid tiebreak game against GM Pentala Harikrishna had he found the very strong 38. Ng5! idea.

Unfortunately for Martínez, he did not, and after making a quick draw in a game where he was also better, Martínez won the first 10+10 game in what was a superbly played rook endgame.

In their next game, Harikrishna played a highly atypical setup in the Caro-Kann Defense, but Martínez was unnerved and kept an advantage, winning at times, for most of the game, eventually acquiescing to a draw to ensure his qualification.

Watch our interview with GM José Eduardo Martínez Alcántara:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jRp5PUGjRZM

GM Javokhir Sindarov vs. GM Frederik Svane, Sindarov’s Bishop Pair Reigns Supreme

Watch our interview with GM Javokhir Sindarov:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kGk9nYJA1PA

GM Javokhir Sindarov's first game with GM Frederik Svane was topsy-turvy, but not in the sense of wild swings of evaluation. Instead, Sindarov had clearly shown excellent preparation in the Italian Game, Giuco Pianissimo, countering Svane's 17...Nh3?! with a well-timed rook lift, 18. Re3!. However, despite Svane being in time pressure for almost the entirety of the game, he was putting up stiff resistance against Sindarov's ideas, and at several points in the game, Sindarov no longer found himself to be winning. Unfortunately for Svane, just as matters seemed to have stabilized, 53...Bf8?? allowed a powerful pawn promotion idea for Sindarov, starting with 56. c5! Na4 57. Be7 Bd4 58. b6!!. Instead, Svane played 57...Kg7 to keep the game going, but Sindarov converted without much of a hassle.

Following in the footsteps of GM Shakhriyar Mamedyarov's game against GM Nils Grandelius, Sindarov chose a forcing line of the Open Ruy Lopez as his drawing weapon. Svane did have a semblance of an advantage, but it was merely theoretical, and the players drew after 47 moves.

GM Nodirbek Yakubboev vs. GM Gabriel Sargissian, Yakubboev Wins With an Old Attacking Setup

Photo: Michał Walusza / FIDE

After GM Gabriel Sargissian could not put up much pressure as White against GM Nodirbek Yakubboev in their first classical game, Yakubboev played an attacking setup which has not been in vogue in the upper echelons of the chess world for a while now. With an extra 50 minutes on the clock by move 15, Yakubboev had clearly surprised Sargissian, and even though Sargissian put up a valiant effort to stay in the game, Yakubboev's attack raged on despite the reduced presence of pieces on the board. With the bishop pair completely dominating Black's position, Sargissian was forced to resign on move 35.

Simulated Predictions

We once again simulated the tournament outcome a million times, including the results from previous rounds.

• Who is most likely to win the tournament outright?

• Who is most likely to get in the top 3?

• Lineplot Win Probability

Aside from these stats:

• Highest chance to win: 25.3 % (Arjun)
• Chances to qualify for the candidates: 52.2 % (Sindarov) 49.0 % (Arjun) 42.1 % (Yakubboev)
• Chance of an Indian player winning: 25.3 % (= Arjun win)
• Chance of a German player winning: 6.1 % (= Donchenko win)
• Chance of an American player winning: 5.4 % (= Shankland win)
• Chance of a Chinese player winning: 19.3 % (= Wei Yi win)
• Alliterative player win: 5.4 % (=Shankland win)
• Chance of a sub 2700 winner: 37.3 % (down from 39.9 %)
• Chance of a sub 2700 qualifier: 100% (up from 94.1)
• Chance of 2 sub 2700 qualifiers: 54.9 % (approximately unchanged)

*First and last name start with the same letter or sound (e.g. Sam Shankland and Yu Yangyi)