Grandmaster R Praggnanandhaa emerged victorious in the Tata Steel Masters 2025, triumphing over World Champion D Gukesh in a dramatic tiebreaker in Wijk aan Zee, Netherlands, on February 2.
With this win, Praggnanandhaa became the first Indian since Viswanathan Anand in 2006 to secure the title. Both players finished the 14-player round-robin tournament with 8.5 points after 13 classical rounds, setting the stage for an exciting tiebreaker.
In the final round, Gukesh suffered his first defeat as World Champion, losing to Grandmaster Arjun Erigaisi in 31 moves.
Praggnanandhaa, too, was defeated by Grandmaster Vincent Keymer in an intense marathon game, but both players remained tied on points, forcing the tiebreaker.
The tiebreaker consisted of two blitz games, and Gukesh took the initial lead by winning the first game with white pieces. He only needed a draw in the second game to win the title. However, Praggnanandhaa made a remarkable recovery, winning both blitz games to secure the championship.
The situation echoed the 2013 Candidates Tournament, where both Magnus Carlsen and Vladimir Kramnik lost their final games but Carlsen won the title on tiebreaks, ultimately becoming the World Champion.
Despite his loss, Praggnanandhaa proceeded to the tiebreaker against Gukesh. Meanwhile, Uzbek Grandmaster Nodirbek Abdusattorov was held to a draw by P. Harikrishna, ensuring both Indian players finished at the top.
The tiebreaker was a thrilling contest of rapid-fire chess, with both players playing two blitz games, each lasting three minutes with a two-second increment. The games reached Sudden Death, and in a tense final sequence, Gukesh blundered, allowing Praggnanandhaa to seal the win.
In the Tata Steel Challengers 2025, Vietnam’s Thai Dai Van Nguyen claimed the title. Meanwhile, Praggnanandhaa’s sister, GM R Vaishali, finished ninth, and Divya Deshmukh secured 12th place in the 14-player event.