Overview
- Arjun Erigaisi beat Peter Leko 3–1 on aggregate and Pentala Harikrishna defeated Nils Grandelius 2.5–1.5, while R. Praggnanandhaa lost 1.5–2.5 to Daniil Dubov.
- Erigaisi will face two‑time World Cup winner Levon Aronian in the Round of 16, and Harikrishna will play José Eduardo Martínez Alcántara.
- Dubov acknowledged guiding the match toward faster time controls, taking a quick draw with white before winning with black in the tiebreaks.
- Multiple higher seeds exited in Round‑4 tiebreaks, including Maxime Vachier‑Lagrave and Richard Rapport, as seven 2700‑rated players were knocked out.
- Erigaisi is the only official top‑10 player left in the event, with only two of the original top‑10 seeds still alive overall, in a 206‑player knockout that awards three 2026 Candidates berths and a $2 million purse.