By Admin 
If there is a prize for the best start to the chess World Cup, Arjun Erigaisi should win it. The second seed posted his third win on the trot, to move a step closer to the fourth round.
He took just 30 moves to beat Shamiddin Vokhidov of Uzbekistan in the first game of the third round at Resort Rio here on Friday. All he now needs is a draw in the second game to win this match.
Things haven’t gone as perfectly so far for the fellow-Indians seeded on either side of him — D. Gukesh and R. Praggnanandhaa, who both drew. The top-seeded Gukesh was held by Germany’s Frederik Svane, while Praggnanandhaa split the point with Robert Hovhannisyan of Armenia.
There were also wins for the impressive V. Pranav, the reigning World junior champion, and P. Harikrishna, a former World junior champion; they scored over Titas Stremavicius of Lithuania and Daniel Dardha of Belgium, respectively. M. Pranesh also did well to draw with the sixth-seeded German Vincent Keymer, who is, in fact, the new World No. 4.
S.L. Narayanan too took half-a-point from a much stronger opponent — Yu Yangyi of China.
The day’s biggest upset was authored by Mexico’s José Martínez Alcántara, who, with black pieces, beat Nodirbek Abdusattorov, the eighth seed from Uzbekistan.
On the second board, Arjun once again displayed his excellent preparation in the Queen’s Gambit Declined Semi-Tarrasch game. Vokhidov made things easier for White with some dubious moves. The Uzbek’s decision to take his rival’s pawn, on the 22nd move, with the knight was, as Arjun would say, “was just suicide.”
Right after that blunder, Vokhidov’s king faced a check with Arjun’s castling. There was only one way the game could have gone from there on.
Important results (third round): Frederik Svane (Ger) drew with D. Gukesh; Arjun Erigaisi bt Shamsiddin Vokhidov (Uzb); Robert Hovhannisyan (Arm) drew with R. Praggnanandhaa; Anish Giri (Ned) drew with Alexander Donchenko (Ger); V. Pranav bt Titas Stremavicius (Ltu); Vincent Keymer (Ger) drew with M. Pranesh; Benjamin Gledura (Hun) drew with Wei Yi (Chn); Nodirbek Abdusattorov (Uzb) lost to José Martínez Alcántara (Mex); Nils Grandelius (Swe) drew with Shakhriyar Mamedyarov (Aze); Lorenzo Lodici (Ita) drew with Michael Adams (Eng); Vladilsav Artemiev (Rus) drew with Maxime Vachier-Lagrave (Fra); Diptayan Ghosh drew with Gabriel Sarissian (Arm); Jeffrey Xiong (USA) lost to Le Quang Liem (Vie); Richard Rapport (Hun) drew with Yagiz Erdogmus (Tur); Salem Saleh (UAE) lost to Levon Aronian (USA); Javokhir Sindarov (Uzb) drew with Nikolas Theodorou (Gre); Sam Shankland (USA) drew with Vidit Gujrathi; S.L. Narayanan drew with Yu Yangyi (Chn); Vladimir Fedoseev (Slo) lost to Radoslaw Wjtaszek (Pol); Karthik Venkataraman drew with Bogdan-Daniel Deac (Rou); P. Harikrishna bt Daniel Dardha (Bel); Peter Leko (Hun) bt Kirill Alekseenko (Rus).