Overview
- Wei Yi eliminated Arjun Erigaisi in rapid tiebreaks, ending India’s World Cup run and its chance to qualify a player via this event.
- Javokhir Sindarov defeated Jose Eduardo Martinez in tiebreaks after recovering from an earlier loss to progress.
- Andrey Esipenko advanced past Sam Shankland in a second tiebreak set after the American won on demand to extend the match.
- Nodirbek Yakubboev was the first semifinalist after a 1.5–0.5 classical victory over Alexander Donchenko without needing tiebreaks.
- The bracket is set as Wei Yi vs Andrey Esipenko and Nodirbek Yakubboev vs Javokhir Sindarov, with Uzbekistan assured at least one Candidates qualifier and possibly two depending on the third-place match.