 "Praggnanandhaa hailed by chess legends, Gautam Adani after winning Tata Steel Chess: 'Rise of Indian chess seems unstoppable'")
Chess legends Judit Polgar and Susan Polgar and Indian industrialist Gautam Adani were among the celebrities who hailed Indian Grandmaster R Praggnanandhaa after he outfoxed world champion and fellow compatriot D Gukesh to clinch the Tata Steel Chess 2025 .
Tata Steel Chess is considered one of the greatest chess tournaments and Praggnanandhaa is the first Indian GM to win the 'Wimbledon' of chess since the great Viswanathan Anand's win in 2006 . Gukesh, on the other hand, lost the Tata Steel Chess in a tiebreaker for the second year running.
Gukesh and Praggnanandhaa entered the final round of Tata Steel Chess 2025 as joint leaders with 8.5 points each. To clinch the title, they needed only a win and a defeat for the other leader but both Gukesh and Praggnanandhaa suffered defeats in their matches.
While Gukesh lost to Indian GM Arjun Erigaisi , Praggnanandhaa was defeated by German GM Vincent Keymer, meaning both players needed tiebreakers to decide the final winner. Gukesh made a strong start in the playoffs, winning the first tiebreaker but Praggnanandhaa bounced back impressively winning the next two blitz games to conquer the Tata Steel Chess 2025 title.
Praggnanandhaa hailed by legends after Tata Steel Chess win
Indian billionaire businessman Adani, who also sponsors Praggnanandhaa, hailed the 19-year-old GM in a social post and said that India’s “chess prodigies” are “redefining the global chess landscape.”
“Congratulations to GM Praggnanandhaa on his phenomenal victory at the 2025 #TataSteelChess Masters! India’s chess prodigies, led by World Champion Gukesh and a growing army of young Grand Masters, are redefining the global chess landscape. The rise of Indian chess seems unstoppable,” he said on X.
Impact Shorts
More ShortsCongratulations to GM Praggnanandhaa on his phenomenal victory at the 2025 #TataSteelChess Masters! India’s chess prodigies, led by World Champion Gukesh and a growing army of young Grand Masters, are redefining the global chess landscape. The rise of Indian chess seems… pic.twitter.com/WfjloHiZC4
— Gautam Adani (@gautam_adani) February 3, 2025
Judit Polgar, considered the best women’s chess player of all time, also shared a congratulatory message for Praggnanandhaa on X.
“Huge congratulations to @rpraggnachess 🇮🇳for winning the @tatasteelchess Masters in #WijkaanZee,” she wrote.
Huge congratulations to @rpraggnachess 🇮🇳for winning the @tatasteelchess Masters in #WijkaanZee 🇳🇱! 🙏🙂 #ChessConnectsUs #topplayers #toptournament
— Judit Polgar (@GMJuditPolgar) February 2, 2025
📷 Jurriaan Hoefsmit pic.twitter.com/vlW5STCSLB
Former Women’s World Champion and Judit’s elder sister, Susan Polgar, praised Praggnanandhaa for his “incredible comeback” and noted that it wasn’t a bad first tournament for Gukesh after becoming the world champion.
“Shocking ending to 2025 Tata Steel! Co-leaders Gukesh and Pragg both lost in the final round! This is a very rare situation! In spite of this, they still shared first and headed to a playoff against each other! Gukesh won the 1st blitz game but lost the 2nd one. Going into the sudden death game, Gukesh lost a pawn up better endgame, giving the title to Pragg! Congratulations to Pragg for the incredible comeback, and good overall performance for the new World Champion’s first tournament,” she wrote.
Shocking ending to 2025 Tata Steel! Co-leaders Gukesh and Pragg both lost in the final round! This is a very rare situation! In spite of this, they still shared first and headed to a playoff against each other!
— Susan Polgar (@SusanPolgar) February 2, 2025
Gukesh won the 1st blitz game but lost the 2nd one. Going into the… pic.twitter.com/C36XoPlatU
Guksh finished as joint leader in 2024 as well but lost to China’s Wei Yi in the tiebreakers.
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