 "Tata Steel Chess: D Gukesh begins campaign with win over Anish Giri; Harikrishna gets the better of Arjun")
Defending world champion D Gukesh got off to a winning start in the 2025 Tata Steel Chess competition in Wijk aan Zee, Netherlands as he defeated Anish Giri on Saturday. Gukesh is playing his first tournament since being crowned world chess champion in December, but his game against Anish did not come without mistakes. Gukesh had only reached the Netherlands just a few hours before the tournament, after the 18-year-old received the Major Dhyan Chand Khel Ratna award on Friday . “I just landed in Amsterdam at 9 a.m. and played around 2 p.m., so it was a new experience, but it went well!,” said Gukesh.
Gukesh, playing with white pieces, caused a blunder in his 33rd move when he moved his pawn to h3 with two seconds left on the clock. Anish replied with a be4 move that took him closer to victory, but a couple of moves later, a blunder from Anish himself would cost himself the game. In the 35th move, Anish moved his queen to b6, which was a questionable move given that the Dutchman was in a winning position.
Gukesh then moved his queen to f6, and in the very next move, Anish took Gukesh’s queen out, only for the Indian teenager to capture Anish’s queen in the next move with his pawn. That almost turned the tables and the momentum shifted back to Gukesh’s favour with Anish under pressure. Both the players took a break after the 40th move once they hit the time increment.
In the 42nd move, Gukesh moved his rook to e7, with three of Anish’s pawns, a knight and the king beside Gukesh’s rook, which meant that Anish had no way to bounce back in the game and eventually surrendered to defeat. In another match, Leon Luke Mendonca began on an impressive fashion against Vincent Keymer, but lot the plot soon after.
Impact Shorts
More ShortsIn his 31st move, Leon played his rook to c1, which gave Keymer an advantage as he scripted victory. Pentala Harikrishna defeated Arjun Erigaisi after a match that lasted 63 moves, whereas R Praggnanandhaa played out a draw against Nodirbek Abdusattorov.
In the Challengers’ section, R Vaishali got the better of Argentina’s 12-year-old Faustino Oro, whereas Divya Deshmukh lost to Nodirbek Yakubboev.
Tata Steel Chess 2025 standings
Masters: Gukesh 1; Keymer 1; Harikrishna 1; Caruana 0.5; Abdusattarov 0.5; Wei 0.5; Praggnanandhaa 0.5; Fedoseev 0.5; Van Foreest 0.5; Sarana 0.5; Warmerdam 0.5; Anish 0; Arjun 0
Challengers: Nguyen 1; Yakkuboev 1; Gurel 1; Vaishali 1; Lu 1; Svane 0.5; Suleymanli 0.5; L’Ami 0.5; Bok 0.5; Nogerbek 0.5; Divya 0; Pijpers 0; Oro 0; Bulmaga 0
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