Netherlands: Grandmaster R Praggnanandhaa made a remarkable comeback to beat the reigning world champion Dommaraju Gukesh 2-1 in the tie-breaker to clinch the Tata Steel Masters chess tournament here on Sunday, February 2. Praggnanandhaa became the first Indian since Viswanathan Anand in 2006 to win the top prize at the Tata Steel Masters.
Praggnanandhaa became the first Indian since Viswanathan Anand in 2006 to win the top prize at the Tata Steel Masters. In a dramatic final round that saw a plethora of twists and turns with two youngsters aiming to win every tiebreak game after the 13th and final round of the prestigious competition tied for the top spot with 8.5 each.
🚨 BREAKING: Praggnanandhaa R wins the 2025 Tata Steel Masters! 🏆♟️
— Tata Steel Chess Tournament (@tatasteelchess) February 2, 2025
A stunning performance in Wijk aan Zee crowns him champion! 🎉🔥
Congratulations, Pragg!! pic.twitter.com/Xt2Lnw6doq
After displaying an aggressive and innovative brand of play to lead the group, both Indians suffered shocking defeats in the final round. Youngest World Champion Gukesh lost to compatriot Arjun Erigaisi, who successfully took revenge after the former surpassed him in the FIDE rankings to become the highest-ranked Indian.
— Tata Steel Chess Tournament (@tatasteelchess) February 2, 2025
On the other hand, Praggnanandhaa was done by Germany's Vincent Keymer. However, despite the losses, they still managed 5.5 points each to remain joint leaders.
Pragg wins the tiebreak and is our new Tata Steel Masters Champ!! 🏆🔥 pic.twitter.com/o8FtpcB9fD
— Tata Steel Chess Tournament (@tatasteelchess) February 2, 2025
Praggnanandhaa then faced the Benoni with reversed colours in the first game of the tiebreak, and it appeared that he had equalised comfortably in the middle game. However, Gukesh had other ideas as he continued to press forward and secured a victory, aided by a blunder from Praggnanandhaa that cost him a full rook.
Gukesh over-presses in an equal endgame and loses a piece! Praggnanandhaa wins the #TataSteelChess Masters! pic.twitter.com/MHkOZ6vnnd
— chess24 (@chess24com) February 2, 2025
In the crucial second game of the tiebreak, Praggnanandhaa adopted the Trompowsky opening, and this time Gukesh could assert a slight advantage with his black pieces.
However, by just keeping his position together, Praggnanandhaa displayed incredible patience, waiting for the opponent to make an error and capitalising on an unforced error to knock down a pawn. His technical abilities were enough to see the normal blitz games through with a 1-1 score, taking the match into sudden death, where the 19-year-old drew white and once again Gukesh was better with some imaginative play on the queen's side than netted him a pawn.
The sudden-death match had a time control of two minutes and thirty seconds for White and three minutes for Black. However, this did not deter Praggnanandhaa from attempting to defend an inferior endgame. Just when the position appeared completely drawn, and it seemed another game might be on the horizon, Gukesh lost his composure in the battle of nerves. He first lost a pawn and then his last remaining knight.
Praggnanandhaa showed perfect technique to take the full point and his maiden victory at the Masters.
For Gukesh, this was the second year running when he tied for first position and lost the tiebreaker. In the previous edition last year, Gukesh had lost to Chinese Wei Yi.
