In 2023, P Harikrishna was a second for Ju Wenjun's successful women's World Championship match against Lei Tingjie.

In 2024, the seasoned campaigner answered D Gukesh's call — the Indian teen wanted his senior compatriot to be a second for his match up title clash against Ding Liren.

When Gukesh beat Liren, Harikrishna entered the record books for a unique achievement. It was the first time any chess player had worked as a second for the current women's and open world champions.

That, though, is firmly in the past. Twelve months later, Harikrishna, 39, is cooking up a storm in Goa. When the World Cup had begun in India's west coast, he wasn't one of the favourites to even make the last 16. Now? He's one of only two Indians remaining in the tournament.

On a day when R Praggnanandhaa was eliminated on tie-breaks, Harikrishna and Arjun Erigaisi — more on him later — made it into the fifth round.

Facing Sweden's Nils Grandelius, a GM famed for his solidity on the board, the Indian drew the first Rapid tie-break before converting with the white pieces. There was no discernible advantage out of the opening but he gradually built up an advantage throughout the middlegame. A brilliancy in the 28th move — Nce5 — gave him the necessary initiative to strike home the imbalance of the black pieces. The Swede resigned as he was about to lose his rook in a forced move.

It's the kind of level he has been exhibiting throughout the tournament. In fact, in the third round, he sacrificed his Queen in the 8th move without any immediate compensation — a risk players generally avoid at high level competitions for the fear of losing — but he gained an advantage later and converted it to a win.

GM P Harikrishna (L) in action against GM Nils Grandelius of Sweden during Round 4 Tie-break game in FIDE World Cup

Erigaisi holds own against Leko

Erigaisi, who needs a top three place in this tournament if he's to qualify for the Candidates, made light work of Leko in both the tie-breaks. In the first of the games, the Hungarian opted to sacrifice his h pawn but he wasn't able to hold from a weakened position. After winning with black, Erigaisi played a flawless game, this time with white, to enjoy a dominating win.

"I'm just taking it one match at a time," the 2773-rated Erigaisi said. "I had a pretty dominating win today."

The 22-year-old will now face the in-form Levon Aronian for a place in the last eight.

One player who won't be joining him is Praggnanandhaa. The Indian, who hadn't been at his best for the vast majority of the World Cup, succumbed to Daniil Dubov, a former world rapid champion. Both players traded inaccuracies but Dubov, who had both his rooks as well as the queen, activated all his pieces in the endgame and the Indian 20-year-old resigned.

However, he's still ideally placed to advance to the Candidates via the FIDE circuit route.

Last 16 match-ups (selected): F Svane v. J Sindarov, P Harikrishna v. J. Martinez, N Yakubboev v. G Sargissian, L. Le v. A Donchenko, D. Dubov v. Shankland, Aronian vs Erigaisi.