Praggnanandhaa bests Gukesh in thrilling Playoffs to clinch 87th Tata Steel Masters
How would you react after losing the final round and first tie-break games? R Praggnanandhaa needed a draw in the final round to become a clear champion as the World Champion, D Gukesh lost to compatriot and World no.4, Arjun Erigaisi. Praggnanandhaa suffered defeat against Vincent Keymer (GER) and then also went down against Gukesh in the first tie-break game. However, he regrouped himself, won the second tie-break and then the sudden death game. In 2006, Vishy Anand jointly won this event with Veselin Topalov (BUL). His last solo triumph was in 2004, back then it was named Corus tournament instead of Tata Steel. A little over 19 years later, Praggnanandhaa became the second Indian to win the 'Wimbledon of chess' and once again solidified himself as one of the top players of the world. Photo: Lennart Ootes/Tata Steel Chess Tournament 2025
19 years after Vishy Anand, Praggnanandhaa becomes the second Indian to win the 'Wimbledon of chess'
"I am still shaking. Yeah it was such a crazy day. I don't know how to express. I didn't really expect to win this game because I was repeating at some point and then he played on. Some of the things went my way but as you said it was just a crazy day." - R Praggnanandhaa after winning 87th Tata Steel Masters 2025. "I don't know I was just trying to relax with my mother and sister. I was trying to rest a bit by closing by eyes. It was a very difficult game against Vincent. I don't think I played anywhere near the level I was playing here. I think I should probably buy something for Arjun. I think that's the thing I should do." - Praggnanandhaa on bouncing back after suffering a loss against Vincent Keymer (GER) in the final round.
Two of his 45th Olympiad Gold medal teammates greatly helped him in winning this tournament. Arjun Erigaisi defeated the world champion, D Gukesh in the final round, to force the latter playing tie-breaks. Pentala Harikrishna drew with Nodirbek Abdusattorov (UZB) to keep him away from the Playoffs. Without these results going in his way, who knows what the final outcome would have been. Unlike the India edition, which is held in faster time controls - Rapid and Blitz formats, the prize fund for this prestigious event, is not known. However, one can only hope it will be mentioned in future editions before the tournament makes a century.
Round 13: Gukesh - Arjun: 0-1
D Gukesh (2777) has never defeated Arjun Erigaisi (2801) in a Classical rated game. They faced each other eight times before this encounter. Arjun won four and the remaining four ended in draws. Gukesh will have to wait a bit longer as he suffered his fifth loss against the World no.4.
Keymer - Praggnanandhaa: 1-0
R Praggnanandhaa (2741) lost only one Classical rated game against Vincent Keymer (GER, 2731) out of their seven encounters. The Germany no.1 scored the second victory against Praggnanandhaa which forced the latter to play Playoffs with Gukesh.
Abdusattorov - Harikrishna: 0.5-0.5
Pentala Harikrishna (2695) remains a team player. He held Nodirbek Abdusattorov (UZB, 2766) to a draw to ensure the Playoffs does not become a three-way.
Tie-breaks
Gukesh (2615) won the first 3 minutes + 2 seconds tie-break game against R Praggnanandhaa (2717).
R Praggnanandhaa was in a must-win situation in the second game to force sudden death. He managed to win it.
Since the tie-break scores were tied 1-1, it was time for sudden death. The time control for sudden death was 2.5 minutes for White and 3 minutes for Black. Praggnanandhaa got the white pieces, he won the game and thus he became the champion, etching his name in the record books.
Solve tactics from the tiebreak on our platform ChessRanga.
FM Vedant Panesar (2446) won the Qualifiers event scoring 6/9. He has now qualified to the Challengers event in 2026. His triumph will be mentioned in a separate report.
Schedule
From Saturday 18th January to 2nd February, all round started at 2 p.m. local time, 6:30 p.m. IST. Only the final round started two hours earlier at 12 p.m. local time, 4:30 p.m. IST. Rest days were same for both Masters and Challengers section - 23rd, 27th and 30th January 2025.
Replay Live stream
Replay Round 13 and Tie-break Masters games
Replay Round 13 Challengers games
Round 13 results
Masters
| Bo. | No. | Rtg | White | Result | Black | Rtg | No. | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 7 | 2777 | GM | Gukesh, D | 0 - 1 | GM | Erigaisi, Arjun | 2801 | 14 | |
| 2 | 8 | 2731 | GM | Giri, Anish | ½ - ½ | GM | Van Foreest, Jorden | 2680 | 6 | |
| 3 | 9 | 2717 | GM | Fedoseev, Vladimir | ½ - ½ | GM | Wei, Yi | 2751 | 5 | |
| 4 | 10 | 2803 | GM | Caruana, Fabiano | 0 - 1 | GM | Warmerdam, Max | 2646 | 4 | |
| 5 | 11 | 2677 | GM | Sarana, Alexey | ½ - ½ | GM | Mendonca, Leon Luke | 2639 | 3 | |
| 6 | 12 | 2733 | GM | Keymer, Vincent | 1 - 0 | GM | Praggnanandhaa, R | 2741 | 2 | |
| 7 | 13 | 2768 | GM | Abdusattorov, Nodirbek | ½ - ½ | GM | Harikrishna, Pentala | 2695 | 1 |
Final standings
| Rk. | SNo | Name | FED | Rtg | TB1 | TB2 | TB3 | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 7 | GM | Gukesh, D | IND | 2777 | 8,5 | 0 | 53,00 |
| 2 | 2 | GM | Praggnanandhaa, R | IND | 2741 | 8,5 | 0 | 52,75 |
| 3 | 13 | GM | Abdusattorov, Nodirbek | UZB | 2768 | 8 | 0 | 49,00 |
| 4 | 9 | GM | Fedoseev, Vladimir | SLO | 2717 | 7,5 | 0 | 46,50 |
| 5 | 8 | GM | Giri, Anish | NED | 2731 | 7 | 0 | 44,25 |
| 6 | 5 | GM | Wei, Yi | CHN | 2751 | 7 | 0 | 44,25 |
| 7 | 1 | GM | Harikrishna, Pentala | IND | 2695 | 6,5 | 0 | 37,75 |
| 8 | 10 | GM | Caruana, Fabiano | USA | 2803 | 6 | 1 | 38,00 |
| 9 | 12 | GM | Keymer, Vincent | GER | 2733 | 6 | 2 | 38,25 |
| 10 | 14 | GM | Erigaisi, Arjun | IND | 2801 | 5,5 | 0 | 37,50 |
| 11 | 6 | GM | Van Foreest, Jorden | NED | 2680 | 5,5 | 0 | 35,75 |
| 12 | 11 | GM | Sarana, Alexey | SRB | 2677 | 5,5 | 0 | 35,00 |
| 13 | 3 | GM | Mendonca, Leon Luke | IND | 2639 | 5 | 0 | 31,25 |
| 14 | 4 | GM | Warmerdam, Max | NED | 2646 | 4,5 | 0 | 26,75 |
Challengers
| Bo. | No. | Rtg | White | Result | Black | Rtg | No. | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 7 | 2429 | IM | Lu, Miaoyi | 0 - 1 | GM | Yakubboev, Nodirbek | 2659 | 14 | |
| 2 | 8 | 2514 | GM | Nogerbek, Kazybek | 1 - 0 | IM | Oro, Faustino | 2447 | 6 | |
| 3 | 9 | 2476 | GM | Vaishali, Rameshbabu | 1 - 0 | GM | L'Ami, Erwin | 2614 | 5 | |
| 4 | 10 | 2664 | GM | Svane, Frederik | ½ - ½ | GM | Gurel, Ediz | 2624 | 4 | |
| 5 | 11 | 2386 | IM | Bulmaga, Irina | 0 - 1 | GM | Suleymanli, Aydin | 2623 | 3 | |
| 6 | 12 | 2583 | GM | Bok, Benjamin | 0 - 1 | GM | Nguyen, Thai Dai Van | 2668 | 2 | |
| 7 | 13 | 2474 | IM | Pijpers, Arthur | ½ - ½ | IM | Divya, Deshmukh | 2490 | 1 |
Final standings
| Rk. | SNo | Name | FED | Rtg | TB1 | TB2 | TB3 | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 2 | GM | Nguyen, Thai Dai Van | CZE | 2668 | 9,5 | 0 | 55,75 |
| 2 | 3 | GM | Suleymanli, Aydin | AZE | 2623 | 9,5 | 0 | 55,00 |
| 3 | 5 | GM | L'Ami, Erwin | NED | 2614 | 8,5 | 0 | 49,00 |
| 4 | 14 | GM | Yakubboev, Nodirbek | UZB | 2659 | 8 | 0 | 44,25 |
| 5 | 12 | GM | Bok, Benjamin | NED | 2583 | 8 | 0 | 43,00 |
| 6 | 4 | GM | Gurel, Ediz | TUR | 2624 | 7,5 | 0 | 43,25 |
| 7 | 10 | GM | Svane, Frederik | GER | 2664 | 7,5 | 0 | 43,00 |
| 8 | 8 | GM | Nogerbek, Kazybek | KAZ | 2514 | 7,5 | 0 | 41,25 |
| 9 | 9 | GM | Vaishali, Rameshbabu | IND | 2476 | 6 | 0 | 35,50 |
| 10 | 7 | IM | Lu, Miaoyi | CHN | 2429 | 5,5 | 0 | 33,25 |
| 11 | 13 | IM | Pijpers, Arthur | NED | 2474 | 5,5 | 0 | 30,75 |
| 12 | 6 | IM | Oro, Faustino | ARG | 2447 | 3,5 | 1 | 12,75 |
| 13 | 1 | IM | Divya, Deshmukh | IND | 2490 | 3,5 | 2 | 19,00 |
| 14 | 11 | IM | Bulmaga, Irina | ROU | 2386 | 1 | 0 | 5,75 |
Time Control
100 minutes for 40 moves, followed by 50 minutes for the remaining moves with 30 seconds increment for each move starting from the first move.
