R Praggnanandhaa wins Tata Steel Chess Masters, stuns World Champion D Gukesh in tie-breakers
Grandmaster R Praggnanandhaa won the Tata Steel Masters 2025, beating World Champion D Gukesh in a thrilling tiebreak in Wijk aan Zee, Netherlands, on Sunday, February 2. Praggnanandhaa became the first Indian since Viswanathan Anand in 2006 to win the top prize at the Tata Steel Masters. Gukesh and Pragg, the two leaders in the 14-player round-robin event were tied at the end of 13 classical rounds.
Incidentally, both Pragg and Gukesh lost their last classical games on Sunday to finish with 8.5 points each. Gukesh, who was unbeaten till the last round of the tournament, lost a classical match for the first time as World Champion when he went down to Grandmaster Arjun Erigaisi in 31 moves. Pragg, lost to Grandmaster Vincent Keymer in a marathon game in Round 13.
On Sunday, Gukesh drew first blood in the two-game blitz tiebreaker, winning the first game with white pieces. Gukesh only needed a draw in the second blitz tiebreaker to take home the crown. However, Praggnanandhaa bounced back from behind to win both blitz games and stun the world champion to claim the major title.
Tata Steel Chess’ Dramatic Final Day
The two rising stars in the world of chess were forced to play out a tiebreaker after a dramatic final day in the tournament. Gukesh and Pragg were tied in points after losing their respective games in the final round of the tournament.
Gukesh lost his first game as World Champion, thanks to a dynamic performance by his compatriot Arjun Erigaisi, who had been having a terrible time in the tournament up until that point, while Praggnanandhaa was defeated by Vincent Keymer, whose impeccable technique shone on the final day.
This scenario reminded chess enthusiasts of the 2013 Candidates Tournament, when Magnus Carlsen of Norway and Vladimir Kramnik of Russia were tied for the lead but both lost their final games. Carlsen won on tiebreaks and went on to defeat Viswanathan Anand, claiming the World Championship for the first time.
Despite his loss, Praggnanandhaa still entered the tiebreaker against Gukesh, as both players finished with 8.5 points each. Meanwhile, Nodirbek Abdusattorov of Uzbekistan, another contender, was denied a full point by P.Harikrishna, who held him to a hard-fought draw.
In the tiebreaker, the players faced off in two games of three minutes each, with a two-second increment per move. Gukesh and Pragg were forced into a Sudden Death when they remained tied on points after two rounds of tie-breaks. The game seemed to be heading into a draw even in the final 10 seconds, but a late blunder from Gukesh’s side saw Praggnanandhaa win the game.
Meanwhile, Vietnam’s Thai Dai Van Nguyen won the Tata Steel Challengers 2025 title. GM R Vaishali, Pragg’s sister, finished ninth while Divya Deshmukh finished 12th in the 14-player competition.
