India, Nov. 8 -- 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 surpri...