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Panaji: Grandmasters Arjun Erigaisi and P Harikrishna had another good day as they sent veteran Peter Leko of Hungary and Swede Nils Grandelius packing in the fourth-round tiebreaker here Thursday, PTI reported.
R Praggnanandhaa, meanwhile, could not maintain the parity and lost to Daniil Dubov of Russia to mark his exit from this year's World Cup.
Arjun dumped Leko 3-1 in the first set of the tiebreaker itself, while Harikrishna drew the first and then won the second for an overall 2.5-1.5 victory that took him to the round of 16.
It may be recalled that in the previous edition held in 2023, the young Indian had made it all the way to the finals before losing to eventual winner Magnus Carlsen of Norway.
For Arjun, the next round will be crucial as he will take on in-form Levon Aronian of the United States. Aronian has been peaking at the right time and could be a tough opponent for anyone in the event. The former Armenian is the only player in his tory to have won the World Cup twice.
German Frederic Svane, meanwhile, continued with his brilliant run and ousted Shant Sargsyan of Armenia 2.5-1.5.
Svane, who had earlier defeated world champion D Gukesh in the tournament, did not disappoint his fans and scored another important victory to be in contention for a berth in the Candidates.
The USD 2 million prize money tournament also saw a big upset when Aleksey Grebnev defeated Maxime Vachier-Lagrave of France 2.5-1.5. The exit of Vachier-Lagrave also means that the road ahead could be easier for the last two remaining Indians if they cross the next hurdle.
Arjun played a solid game with black pieces and took advantage as Leko got ambitious and went for some unwarranted complications. The Indian pocketed one pawn, and then the ensuing rook and minor piece endgame was just a walk in the park.
Leko lost the second game when he again tried to push hard to level the scores. Arjun got a fine position with his better-placed pieces out of a Nimzo Indian defence and did the needful in style.
Harikrishna showed why it is a class act yet again. Having won two matches under standard time control, the Indian was stretched into the tiebreaker for the first time in the event and outplayed Grandelius in the second game played under 15 15-minute rapid section.
Praggnanandhaa, for once, did not get the complexities in his favour as Dubov is a known expert in the faster time control. After a draw in the first game, wherein Dubov played it safe as white, the onus was on Pragg to showcase his preparation with white pieces.
However, as things turned out, the Indian fell short of time when he needed it and lost a pawn and a rook for a minor piece to end his campaign in the knockout event.