Gukesh suffers setback immediately after first win of 2026 as Nodirbek ends undefeated run at Tata Steel Chess

It was back to square one for D Gukesh at the Tata Steel Chess on Friday, with the Classical world champion suffering a defeat at the hands of Nodirbek Abdusattorov right after collecting his first victory of the tournament. There was hardly anything for Gukesh’s compatriots to cheer in Round 6 either as the trio of Arjun Erigaisi, Aravindh Chithambaram as well as defending champion R Praggnanandhaa played out draws.

None of the four Indians in action in Wijk aan Zee, Netherlands thus are in the joint-lead after six rounds, with Gukesh currently joint-second with a score of 3, having begun his campaign with four consecutive draws before defeating Czech Grandmaster Thai Dai Van Nguyen in 51 moves in the fifth round on Wednesday.

Results of the Masters & Challengers after Round 6!💙#TataSteelChess pic.twitter.com/YCnV9wPOyR

— Tata Steel Chess Tournament (@tatasteelchess) January 23, 2026

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Tata Steel Chess 2026: Praggnanandhaa suffers second straight defeat after another poor game as Gukesh is held to a draw Tata Steel Chess Round 1 delayed by a few hours on opening day for this unusual reason

Gukesh folds immediately after a rook blunder

Gukesh had capitalised on a rook blunder by his opponent during the middle game to collect his first victory over the year, only to find himself at the receiving end after the first ‘Rest Day’ of the tournament, ending his undefeated run in the process.

The game developed from a Ruy Lopez Opening and witnessed some bold exchanges in the first 10 moves, with Gukesh capturing his opponent’s bishop after losing a knight.

His sixth-round meeting with the Uzbekistani GM was largely in the balance, with Gukesh occasionally gaining a slight advantage on the eval bar. However, it was the 19-year-old Indian chess star’s turn to commit a rook blunder (36. Rg5).

Unlike Van Nguyen in the previous round, Gukesh did not fight on for a bit longer after the blunder and raised the white flag of surrender in the very next move, with Nodirbek having cornered his king with his queen (37. Qxf6+).

Indian No 1 Arjun had begun his campaign with a victory over Praggnanandhaa, who had defeated Gukesh in tie-breaks last year, but hasn’t won a game since – collecting four draws and losing to Vladimir Fedoseev in the fifth round.

Current title holder ‘Pragg’ and Aravindh, on the other hand, remain winless after six rounds with the former collecting four draws after suffering back-to-back defeats at the start of his campaign.

Nodirbek, who  currently occupies the top spot on the ‘Masters’ standings with 4.5 points after c