Twelve-year-old IM Faustino Oro, the youngest participant within the 2025 FIDE World Cup, is among the many 20 gamers who advance to spherical two after tiebreaks. He defeated GM Ante Brkic 5-3 in one of many longest matches. The matchups solely get tougher from right here, because the top-50 seeds start their event in spherical two, and Oro faces GM Vidit Gujrathi subsequent.
The primary classical recreation of spherical two is on Tuesday, November 4, beginning at 4:30 a.m. ET / 10:30 CET / 3 p.m. IST.
Video games, Outcomes, and Bracket.
The winners of the tiebreak matches are offered in daring.
Tiebreak Matches
| Board | Participant 1 | Outcome | Participant 2 | Winner Will Face |
| 1 | Robert Hovhannisyan | 2.5-1.5 | Kavin Mohan | Raunak Sadhwani |
| 2 | Daniil Yuffa | 5-3 | Shiyam Thavandiran | Jeffery Xiong |
| 3 | S L Narayanan | 3-1 | Steven Rojas | Nikita Vitugov |
| 4 | Cristobal Henriquez | 2.5-1.5 | Uurtsaikh Agibileg | Alexey Sarana |
| 5 | Aldiyar Ansat | 1-3 | Jorge Cori | Shant Sargsyan |
| 6 | Karen Grigoryan | 3.5-4.5 | Ahmed Adly | Matthias Bluebaum |
| 7 | Alisher Suleymenov | 2.5-1.5 | Arturs Neiksans | Jorden Van Foreest |
| 8 | Jegor Lashkin | 1-3 | Jingyao Tin | Sam Sevian |
| 9 | R Babu Lalith | 3-5 | Max Warmerdam | Awonder Liang |
| 10 | Faustino Oro | 5-3 | Ante Brkic | Vidit Gujrathi |
| 11 | Aronyak Ghosh | 4-2 | Mateusz Bartel | Levon Aronian |
| 12 | Luis Paulo Supi | 2.5-1.5 | Sion Galaviz | Richard Raport |
| 13 | Jose Cardoso | 1.5-2.5 | Baadur Jobava | Liem Le |
| 14 | Diptayan Ghosh | 3-1 | Xiongjian Peng | Ian Nepomniachtchi |
| 15 | Diego Flores | 1.5-2.5 | Denis Makhnyov | Nodirbek Abdusattorov |
| 16 | Sergei Lobanov | 1.5-2.5 | Kacper Piorun | Wei Yi |
| 17 | Titas Stremavicus | 2.5-1.5 | Sebastian Bogner | Wesley So |
| 18 | Emre Can | 1-3 | Bojan Maksimovic | Anish Giri |
| 19 | Temur Kuybokarov | 3-1 | Jan Subelj | Praggnanandhaa Rameshbabu |
| 20 | Raja Rithvik | 3-5 | Kazybek Nogerbek | Gukesh Dommaraju |
14 gamers moved to spherical two after the primary two video games of 15+10, whereas six matches progressed to the later phases. No matches reached the three+2 time management.
The primary gamers to advance have been GMs Robert Hovhannisyan, Sunilduth Lyna Narayanan, Cristobal Henriquez, Jorge Cori, Alisher Suleymenov, Jingyao Tin, Luis Supi, Baadur Jobava, Diptayan Ghosh, Denis Makhnyov, Kacper Piorun, Titas Stremavicus, Temur Kuybokarov, and IM Bojan Maksimovic, all ending within the 15+10 portion.
The elimination of GM Arturs Neiksans, by Suleymenov, is bittersweet. It is after all not what the Latvian GM wished, nevertheless it additionally means he’ll have the ability to be a part of our broadcast to commentate on future rounds.
Essentially the most dominant scores have been put up by Narayanan, Cori, Tin, Diptayan, Maksimovic, and Kuybokarov, who all received with 2-0 sweeps. Narayanan received a 22-move miniature within the second recreation, with White.
Regardless of an almost 200-point distinction, Narayanan stated that the match was removed from simple—a sentiment we have heard from the favorites all through spherical one. As the favourite, he bought no actual probabilities within the classical portion and stated, “He actually impressed me along with his video games. His type is extra of a fighter, by no means giving up, plus his motivation made him play extraordinarily effectively,” and added, “The extent of resistance he displayed was a lot above his FIDE Elo for certain.”
Narayanan will play GM Nikita Vitiugov subsequent.
Solely IM Aronyak Ghosh bought by to spherical two within the 10+10 portion, whereas the others went on to play 5+3 blitz. Ghosh received each 10+10 video games to upset GM Mateusz Bartel, who appeared to break down underneath the stress. One transfer, performed with 16 seconds left, was the distinction between a successful place and a shedding one within the first recreation.
Sport two was an ice-cold bathe for Bartel, who did not get well from the shock and walked right into a one-move knight fork. With these two wins, Ghosh was the second IM to achieve spherical two, and he’ll play GM Levon Aronian subsequent.
GM Mateusz Bartel walks right into a one-move fork, leans again, and resigns! IM Aronyak Ghosh makes it to spherical two after successful 4-2!https://t.co/iuvtwNFrrE pic.twitter.com/BQWFs3qZCr
— chess24 (@chess24com) November 3, 2025
That leaves us with the final 5 gamers who clinched matches within the 5+3 portion. They have been GMs Daniil Yuffa, Ahmed Adly, Max Warmerdam, Kazybek Nogerbek, and IM Oro.
The younger Oro was, for certain, the participant of the day after he defeated Brkic, who had participated in three World Cups earlier than this. Oro modestly stated he did not anticipate to win, however he gained confidence because the match went on: “I used to be assured after I bought to the 5+3 portion. I used to be pleased to get to that portion, as a result of okay, I’ve extra probabilities perhaps.”
Oro had a tough begin, shedding the primary recreation. There, he fell sufferer to a strong mixture, beginning with the alternate sacrifice 37.Rxe7!.
Within the subsequent recreation, nevertheless, Oro received on demand to maintain the match going. The Argentinian teen performed into the razor-sharp Noteboom Variation, however with reversed colours—a gap we have seen different GMs make use of after they need to win. The argument revolved round who’s quicker: White, along with his queenside linked passers, or Black within the middle and on the kingside?
GM Rafael Leitao presents the Sport of the Day under.
In blitz, Oro received the primary recreation on time (although he was successful by place as effectively). In recreation two, he was defending a a lot worse place, however Brkic bought low on time and made a one-move blunder, which allowed Oro to take the match.
The Dutch GM and content material creator Warmerdam was one other participant who crawled out of a tricky spot. He misplaced recreation one when GM M R Babu Lalith uncorked a stunning rook sacrifice within the endgame.
He then went on to win the primary 10+10 recreation however lose the second. Within the blitz tiebreaks, nevertheless, he received each video games. Within the first one, White bought punished for overextending the g-pawn in entrance of his king.
Warmerdam will face GM Awonder Liang subsequent. Yuffa, Adly, and Nogerbek will respectively play GMs Jeffery Xiong, Matthias Bluebaum, and Gukesh Dommaraju in spherical two.
You possibly can watch the occasion on Chess.com/TV. It’s also possible to benefit from the present on Chess24, on Twitch, or YouTube. Video games from the occasion could be considered on our occasions web page.
The 2025 FIDE World Cup, which takes place from November 1 to 26 in Goa, India, determines three spots within the 2026 FIDE Candidates Match. It’s a 206-player single-elimination knockout event with eight rounds. Every match consists of two classical video games adopted by fast and blitz tiebreaks if wanted. The prize fund is $2 million.
Earlier studies:
