The two-time world champion candidate lost to Vidit Santosh Gujrathi who won both games in the second tiebreak to secure the last available place in the quarter-finals.

Gujrathi became the fourth Indian player to progress to the last eight, joining compatriots Arjun Erigaisi, Dommaraju Gukesh, and Rameshbabu Praggnanandhaa.

The pair drew both of their classical games in round five which forced the fixture into a tiebreak.

Nepomniachtchi finally slipped up in the second tiebreak, where each competitor had 10 minutes to play.

He lost as white after blundering in the middlegame and then again towards the end which saw him lose a key rook.

Vidit was then in control from the very beginning of the second tiebreak match as he opted for the Dutch Defence.

Gujrathi is due to play against home favourite Nijat Abasov in the quarter-finals at the Baku Marriott Hotel Boulevard.

After making a comeback yesterday, neutral athlete Polina Shuvalova has been eliminated having lost both games in the first rapid tiebreak to Bulgarian Nurgyul Salimova in the women's tournament.

Game one was poorly played by Shuvalova as black.

She was gifted a winning position in the endgame but made two consecutive errors which quickly led to the defeat.

In game two, she allowed her king to get trapped in the middle and could not escape.

Another neutral, Aleksandra Goryachkina, was this time on the winning side as she got the better of Indian Harika Dronavalli to book her place into the women's semi-final.

Germany's Elisabeth Pähtz lost at the hands of Ukrainian Anna Muzychuk in the final match after three stages of tiebreaks.

Muzychuk is due to face Nurgyul Salimova of Bulgaria in the semi-final.