The 2025 FIDE World Cup in Goa witnessed one of its biggest upsets with the fourth-round elimination of Indian Grandmaster R. Praggnanandhaa. His early exit has reignited the perennial debate within the chess community regarding the tournament’s unforgiving, single-elimination structure, which his trainer, GM Vaibhav Suri, has previously labeled “brutal.”

Praggnanandhaa, who entered the competition as a strong favorite following his historic run to the final in the previous 2023 edition, saw his title hopes dashed after a tough encounter with Russian Grandmaster Daniil Dubov. The two-game classical match ended in a draw, leading to tiebreaks where Dubov, a former World Rapid Champion, ultimately prevailed.

The elimination of the Indian prodigy is part of a larger trend in this year’s World Cup, which has been characterized as a “graveyard for favorites.” Grandmaster Suri observed that the rapid-fire knockout system creates an environment where even a minor slip by a top player can be fatal.

“It is an unforgiving format,” Suri stated, defending his student’s performance by pointing out the general pattern of difficulty for top players. By the halfway stage, eight of the top ten seeds had already been knocked out, underscoring the high-stakes and unpredictable nature of the competition. Suri dismissed exhaustion as the primary factor in Praggnanandhaa’s loss, instead giving credit to his opponents, including Dubov and his second-round rival, Temur Kuybokarov, for playing exceptionally well.

The trainer confirmed that the disappointment within the camp was significant. “Expectation-wise, everyone was probably hoping for Pragg to have a much longer run in the event, and he himself was anticipating the same,” Suri told the press. He emphasized that the format often forces players to take risks to secure a victory, a necessary gamble that sometimes backfires. “If you’re trying to win, you have to take risks because victories won’t fall into your hands. Sometimes those risks pay off, sometimes they don’t… that’s the nature of the game.”

Despite the setback, Praggnanandhaa remains competitive on the global stage, holding a strong lead in the FIDE Circuit rankings. However, Suri was quick to reject the notion that the circuit lead lessens the sting of the World Cup elimination. Both he and Praggnanandhaa had targeted a deep run in the knockout event, and they must now accept the outcome and focus on taking the lessons learned into future tournaments.