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Published on: Nov 08, 2025 05:27 pm IST
Vincent Keymer and Pranesh M had an arbiter intervene during their FIDE Chess World Cup 2025 Round 3 Game 1 encounter on Friday.
There was some arbiter drama in Vincent Keymer and Pranesh M’s FIDE Chess World Cup 2025 Round 3 Game 1 encounter, as the official ended up helping the Indian GM avoid a blunder. With his clock under 27 seconds, Keymer took his knight to d5, playing with the white pieces. Meanwhile, Pranesh had over 4 minutes left on his clock.
The Indian GM touched Keymer’s pawn on d3, but then didn’t play it. Meanwhile, Keymer didn’t seem to have any problem, and he didn’t call the arbiter. He was planning to take it with his bishop. Then Pranesh took his bishop to the opposite direction, but then the arbiter intervened and claimed that Pranesh had already touched the pawn, and he needed to take it with his piece.
To everyone’s surprise, taking the pawn with his bishop was the best move, and the arbiter came to his rescue, helping him not make a blunder. Both players eventually played out a draw.
Here is the video:
Friday was also a huge surprise as GM Jose Martinez (2644) defeated GM Nodirbek Abdusattorov (2750), the eighth seed. Playing with black, Martinez destroyed Nodirbek’s opening idea, and the game became highly unbalanced. The Mexican GM maintained his composure and took over the moment, eventually winning the game.
On the other hand, D Gukesh, the top seed, was held to a draw by GM Frederik Svane. Speaking after the draw, the German GM said, “It was my first time playing against the World Champion, so it was very special. A draw is fine, but I would have loved to put more pressure on him.”
Round 2 of the ongoing World Cup saw some huge eliminations, including Ian Nepomniachtchi, Wesley So, and Hans Niemann. Meanwhile, Nepomniachtchi even took to his Telegram channel to slam the World Cup organisers for the conditions in Goa.
