Overview
- Arjun Erigaisi held Levon Aronian to a 41-move rook-and-pawn endgame draw after pressing with White in Game 1.
- P. Harikrishna comfortably neutralized Jose Eduardo Martinez Alcantara with Black and agreed a balanced 41-move draw.
- The round of 16 opened cautiously with most boards drawn, and Aronian will have White in Game 2 against Erigaisi.
- Both Indians advanced through fourth-round tiebreaks, while R. Praggnanandhaa was eliminated by Daniil Dubov, who favored faster time controls.
- Sixteen players remain from an initial 206 in the USD 2 million event, which offers three qualification spots for the 2026 Candidates.