 "Tata Steel Chess 2026: Niemann stuns Aravindh with dazzling queen sacrifice as Gukesh, Praggnanandhaa struggle for wins")
D Gukesh and R Praggnanandhaa failed to find a win once again in Tata Steel Chess Masters 2026 on Tuesday as Hans Niemann secured a brilliant victory against Indian Grandmaster Aravindh Chithambaram in the fourth round, while Arjun Erigaisi was held to a draw by local star Anish Giri at Wijk aan Zee, Netherlands.
The Tata Steel Chess Masters 2026 has four Indians in the fray, the maximum from a country, but the world champion Gukesh and others have failed to hit their top form yet. Defending champion Praggnanandhaa lost two matches back-to-back before playing out a draw in the last round.
Praggnanandhaa-Gukesh play out drab draw
In Round 4, Praggnanandhaa met Gukesh, who had drawn all three matches so far, in a mouth-watering contest which ended in a drab draw.
Praggnanandhaa vs Gukesh match:
Erigaisi had a chance to win against Giri when he won a pawn against the Dutch GM, but a poor pawn push and some dogged defending by the Netherlands star saw Anish securing a draw.
Erigaisi vs Giri match:
With the big Indian names failing to shine, the spotlight fell on Chithambaram, who suffered a defeat to Niemann despite playing with white pieces.
Niemann sacs queen to stun Chithambaram
After a nuanced opening and early middlegame, Niemann emerged with a commanding queenside pawn structure. Aravindh opted for an aggressive kingside pawn storm, but the lack of meaningful queenside counterplay created an imbalance that black was quick to exploit.
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The most stunning move of the game came when Niemann opted for 36…Nxe5!!, sacrificing his queen for a rook and a knight. This left Chithambaram low on defence as Niemann completed the win in 55 moves. This was the first time Niemann won by black pieces in the 2026 tournament.
How Niemann defeated Chithambaram:
“So many sacrifices, such imbalances, many moments when you can make mistakes, so you feel the tension. Obviously, with black to win like this is a huge gift in such a difficult tournament,” Niemann said after the match.
Niemann had earlier won the Round 1 match before playing out two draws. He is now in joint lead with three points along with Nodirbek Abdusattorov, who he faces in the next round.
Tata Steel Chess Masters 2026: Round 4 results
Tata Steel Chess Masters 2026: Standings after Round 4
Chithambaram faces Vincent Keymer in the next round, while Praggnanandhaa will play against Giri. Gukesh will take on Czech GM Thai Dai Van Nguyen and Arjun Erigaisi faces Russia’s Vladimir Fedoseev.
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