Hans Niemann's hopes of a shot at the chess world championship match ended abruptly on Thursday when the American grandmaster crashed out of the World Cup second round in India.

Niemann, who put a cheating controversy behind him two years ago, was hoping for a podium finish that would have given him access to the Candidates eight-player tournament.

The Candidates is held to decide who will face the India's Gukesh Dommaraju, the reigning world champion.

World number 20 Niemann had been a firm favourite to win against Italian grandmaster Lorenzo Lodici in Goa.

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