A dramatic final day of the Tata Steel Chess Masters saw R Praggnanandha win the title in sudden death, defeating world champion D Gukesh. The two Indians had a joint lead going into Round 13, but both suffered losses thus forcing tie-breaks. Praggnanandhaa made it 1-1 in the blitz in the tie-breakers before a superb accurate game in sudden-death saw him triumph over the world champion in a thrilling end to the proceedings at Wijk Aan Zee, the Netherlands.
Having triumphed over the world champion, it caps off an impressive couple of weeks for Praggnanandhaa, who scored impressive wins and rocketed up the live ratings with a superb tournament. D Gukesh will naturally be disappointed after being unbeated right until the final round, where he was beaten by compatriots to lose the title.
Tie-breaker Game 1:
Praggnanandhaa started the slightly better with black pieces, but Gukesh forced him into a bit of a think a minute into the game. It was still even despite Gukesh giving up a pawn, but the world champion got an opening with 15 seconds to go, but missed it. With seconds to go, Praggnanandhaa blundered with his pawn and Gukesh made sure of the win with his next few moves, forcing his opponent's resignation.
Tie-breaker Game 2:
Praggnanandhaa was with white pieces this time, and had a slight advantage in the opening, and gradually worked it into a better position a minute into the game. Gukesh was forced into a think, and walked a high-risk tightrope that he fell off of with 10 seconds to go. Pragg had a 30-second advantage, and then pushed it home, before forcing Gukesh into the resignation, making it 1-1.
Sudden death:
Praggnanandhaa started with white pieces, and 30 seconds behind to neutralise the advantage. Gukesh was a pawn up a minute in, and with very little material to work with on the board, the game was dead even heading into the final ten seconds. Gukesh eschewed a repetition and then blundered, allowing Praggnanandhaa the advantage. The world champion fought bravely, but Praggnanandhaa kept his cool to make it a completely winning position. Gukesh fell back in his chair as he realised the losing position, and then shook hands with Praggnanandhaa who was crowned champion.
Results of Round 13:
Vincent Keymer defeats R Praggnanandhaa
D Gukesh lost to Arjun Erigaisi
Nodirbek Abdusattorov drew Pentala Harikrishna
Alexey Sarana drew Leon Mendonca
Anish Giri drew Jordan van Foreest
Fabiano Caruana lost to Max Wamerdam
Vladimir Fedoseev drew Wei Yi
Praggnanandhaa grabs defeat from the jaws of victory
R Praggnanandhaa had to dig deep with a marathon game against Vincent Keymer, which went over six hours. A Caro-Kann opening saw the game meander into a dead-heat, but Praggnanandhaa gave up the advantage with an inaccuracy in move 34, but Keymer immediately gave it up with a poor move next. The Indian reached time-control with a few accurate moves, and after a long think, it meandered into an even game.
However, Praggnanandhaa made blunder after blunder to give Keymer a long advantage but the German stuggled to press home the advantage as the Indian always found the resources to stave off defeat. Keymer then blundered in the endgame (70. e5) himself handing Pragg a drawn position, and perhaps the title, but the Indian threw it away with 76... Be5. Keymer did not let this advantage go, and a few accurate moves later, sealed the victory when Praggnanandhaa reluctantly resigned on his 80th move.
Gukesh loses his first game as Chess World Champion with another Arjun Erigaisi masterclass
Dommaraju Gukesh's poor record against Arjun Erigaisi continued with a loss in Round 13 of the 2025 Tata Steel Chess Masters, as he lost his first game as world champion, making it six losses and just one win in the last 13 games against each other. Playing with white, Gukesh started with a Petrov's Defense opening, which he had faced against Ding Liren in his world championship.
The world champion missed a winning line in his 14th move, and inaccuracies in his 18th and 20th move handed the advantage to Erigaisi. Gukesh had opened up his king to an attack and Erigaisi responded in kind. He played a highly-accurate game then, and slowly closed the options for Gukesh to escape. The writing was on the wall after 31 moves, and Gukesh had his head in his hands with a minute to go, realising he was about to lose his first game as world champion. He resigned thereafter, thus giving Erigaisi the win.
Arjun, after perhaps the worst tournament of his life, finishes by defeating two leaders back to back in the final two rounds! He inflicts Gukesh's first loss as a world champion!#TataSteelChess pic.twitter.com/6KGgWKQJjC
- chess24 (@chess24com) February 2, 2025
Nodirbek Abdusattorov throws away his shot at the title with a draw against Pentala Harikrishna
After a damning loss to Arjun Erigaisi in the previous round that all but ended his chances for the Tata Steel Chess title, Nodirbek suddenly came back into the running after Gukesh's loss and Praggnanandhaa's weaker position. Playing with white pieces, Abdusattorov's King's Pawn Opening: King's Knight, Konstantinopolsky Variation saw him gain a slight advantage. Harikrishna then made a blunder with Rook to e8 in the 19th move, and Abdusattorov could have pounced to force a three-way tie-break with a win. However, the Uzbek failed to press home his advantage, and with Harikrishna then playing very accurate moves, the game moved back into a drawn position. There was no winner to be found and Abdusattorov acceped the offer of a draw after 50 moves with a three-fold repetition - thus ensuring there would be an Indian winner of the Tata Steel Chess Masters.
Final Standings
R Praggnanandhaa: 8.5
Dommaraju Gukesh: 8.5
Nodirbek Abdusattorov: 8
Vladimir Fedoseev: 7.5
Wei Yi: 7
Anish Giri: 7
Pentala Harikrishna: 6.5
Fabiano Caruana: 6
Vincent Keymer: 6
Jordan van Foreest: 5.5
Alexey Sarana: 5.5
Arjun Erigaisi: 5.5
Leon Luke Mendonca: 5
Max Warmerdam: 4.5