India, Nov. 13 -- Pranav Venkatesh's Chess World Cup 2025 campaign came to an end with a defeat in the second game of the fourth round against Uzbekistan's GM Nodirbek Yakubboev. The junior world champion was under pressure from the start and lost in 38 moves, playing with the black pieces. On move 26, he was inaccurate with his queen.

Then, on move 30, it went from bad to worse for him. On move 35, he made a blunder with his knight, and then he resigned after three moves. It was a heartbreaking end to the 19-year-old's campaign, but also a huge learning experience.

Praising him for his performance in the tournament, Indian chess legend Viswanathan Anand wrote on X, "Pranav Venkatesh had a very good run in the World Cup. Today he declin...