Sevian Shines in Sudden Death, Joins Aronian, Shankland in Sweet 16

Three Americans — GMs Levon Aronian, Samuel Sevian, and Sam Shankland — have made it to the “Sweet 16” in the upset-laden 2025 FIDE World Cup. Only two of the top 10 seeds — second-seeded Indian GM Arjun Erigaisi and seventh-seeded Chinese GM Wei Yi — remain, and 11 of the remaining players are seeded outside of the top 16.

Graphic courtesy of FIDE

Levon Aronian discusses the second classical game with his opponent, Radoslaw Wojtaszek (Photo courtesy Michal Walusza/FIDE)

Of the Americans, 15th-seeded Aronian remains the highest-rated player still in the field. Aronian has yet to need tiebreaks, defeating Polish GM Radoslaw Wojtaszek 1½–½ in Round 4.

Photo courtesy Eteri Kublashvili/FIDE

Aronian won the first game with a tricky move order with the white pieces, and was able to neutralize his opponent’s play quickly in the return game.

Sam Shankland (R) during the tiebreaks against Richard Rapport, which the American swept 2–0 (Photo courtesy FIDE/Michal Walusza)

Shankland defeated Hungarian GM Richard Rapport 3–1, winning both of the first rapid tiebreak games to take down the 14th seed.

Shankland then survived some odd decisions from Rapport, who had to win on demand as Black, in order to complete the sweep.

Photo courtesy Eteri Kublashvili/FIDE

Sevian outlasted Italian GM Lorenzo Lodici — who defeated 10th-seeded American GM Hans Niemann in Round 2 — to win the match 6–5 in Sudden Death after splitting four sets of tiebreaks.

Each player had to come from the brink of defeat multiple times, so let’s dive in to the tiebreaks. The first set of rapid games featured two draws, but Sevian was fortunate to escape with a half-point in the first game:

Sevian took control in the second tiebreak, winning the first game in a sharp, back-and-forth affair:

After missing his one chance for counterplay in the return game, the players went to the first set of blitz games. There, Lodici struck first, reaching a complex queen-and-pawn endgame that was unforgiving to Sevian’s time pressure. But Sevian struck right back:

In the final set of tiebreaks, Sevian again struck first, only for Lodici to bounce back:

It all came down to Sudden Death:

The final American in Round 4, GM Awonder Liang, lost 2½–1½ in tiebreaks to Armenian GM Gabriel Sargissian.

Liang (L) was unable to convert an advantage in the first classical game before eventually losing in the first tiebreak (Photo courtesy FIDE/Michal Walusza)

Liang had chances in the first classical game, but was unable to convert:

In the first tiebreak game, Liang made one incorrect decision late in the endgame, and it proved costly as he was unable to gain anything in the return game.

Photo courtesy FIDE/Michal Walusza

Other highlights of Round 4 included Russian GM Daniil Dubov’s upset over third-seeded Indian GM Praggnanandhaa Rameshbabu in tiebreaks after a wild pair of classical games. Dubov’s compatriot GM Andrey Esipenko took down sixth-seeded German GM Vincent Keymer, as well, while Keymer’s coach, GM Peter Leko, saw his run come to an end in tiebreaks at the hands of Arjun.

Unfortunately for fans of American chess, all three remaining USA players are in the bottom half of the bracket, making it impossible for all three to make it to the semifinals. And with three spots in the Candidates up for grabs, making the semifinals might be more important than making the finals!

Round 5 begins Friday, Nov. 14, at 3:30 a.m. CST. All three remaining Americans will be underdogs by rating: Shankland will face Dubov, Sevian is paired with Wei Yi, and Aronian squares off against Arjun.

Aronian is the only player seeded in the top 16 who faces a higher-rated opponent, meaning that the two-versus-fifteen pairing is the only one where both “favorites” made it to Round 5.