 "'I am still shaking': Praggnanandhaa on winning Tata Steel Chess, plans to buy gift for Erigaisi after his win over Gukesh")
India’s 19-year-old Grandmaster R Praggnanandhaa secured a memorable win on Sunday as he won the Tata Steel Chess 2025 Masters title by beating world champion D Gukesh in tiebreakers. 18-year-old Gukesh, who won the World Chess Championship in December 2024, was the favourite to win the prestigious chess tournament in Wijk aan Zee, Netherlands, but Olympiad teammate Praggnanandhaa spoiled his party by registering a come-from-behind win in the tiebreakers.
A tiebreaker was needed after both Praggnanandhaa and Gukesh lost their last-round matches on Sunday. After Gukesh lost to Arjun Erigaisi, Praggnanandhaa needed to beat Vincent Keymer to win the title but he went down after a nearly seven-hour-long battle. As a result, the two joint-leaders were forced to take part in the tiebreakers.
Praggnanandhaa stuns world champion Gukesh
Gukesh made a flying start to the tiebreakers winning the first game, however, Praggnanandhaa bounced back in the must-win second game with a Trompowsky opening. He continued his winning run and clinched the third game in the playoffs to win the Tata Steel Chess 2025 title.
This was the biggest win of Praggnanandhaa’s young career and the chess Grandmaster from Chennai found it hard to believe that a “crazy” day of chess where he first lost to Keymer eventually ended in his favour.
“I am still shaking,” Praggnanandhaa told Tata Steel Chess 2025. “Such a crazy day. I don’t know how to express this. I didn’t really expect to win this game because I was repeating at some point, then he played on and somehow things went my way but as you said a crazy day.”
With Gukesh losing to Erigaisi in just 31 moves and Praggnanandhaa’s match against Keymer stretching up to seven hours, there was very little time for the eventual winner to rest and prepare for the tiebreakers.
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More ShortsPraggnanandhaa: ‘I should probably buy something for Arjun Erigaisi’
After his win, Praggnanandhaa revealed how some family time helped him get ready for the playoffs and also joked that he would have to gift something to his close friend Arjun Erigaisi for defeating Gukesh and keep him alive in the contest.
“I was just trying to relax. I have my mother and sister so I was just relaxing and trying to rest. It was a very difficult game against Vincent I don’t think I played anywhere the level I was playing here so I think I should probably buy something for Arjun,” Praggnanandhaa joked.
“I didn’t really expect (Arjun beating Gukesh). Because at some point felt that Gukesh was actually better. When I saw the result (Gukesh losing to Arjun), I had already misplayed and I was in such a difficult position that I could not really do much than sit and defend. I don’t think practically I had any chance in my own position,” Praggnanandhaa added.
Reflecting on his victory, Praggnanandhaa admitted that winning the Tata Steel Chess 2025 is the “highlight” of his young career.
“Yeah, for sure. When I came here, I wanted to win the event. But the field was very strong. I didn’t really think about it much until yesterday. Can’t really express it… I’m really happy,” Praggnanandhaa said.
Praggnanandhaa is first India to win Tata Steel Chess since the great Viswanathan Anand won th tournament in 2006.
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