Tata Steel Chess 2025: Gukesh secures hard-fought draw against Abdusattorov; Arjun, Praggnanandhaa also held

World chess champion Dommaraju Gukesh secured a draw against Nodirbek Abdusattorov in round six of the Tata Steel Chess 2025 tournament on Friday. Gukesh was in a losing position against the Uzbekistan grandmaster, but showcased brilliant resistance to salvage a draw in a contest that lasted for more than six hours. The result leaves Abdusattorov and R Praggnanandhaa tied for first place with 4.5 points, with D Gukesh in second place with four points in the Masters category.

Gukesh and Abdusattorov have shared a fierce rivalry with each other since their first meeting at the 2022 Chess Olympiad in Chennai. Gukesh had lost to the 20-year-old back then, but this time around the Indian teenager did not give up.

Early advantage for Nordibek

The Uzbekistan GM was at an advantage against Gukesh before move 20, so much so that the latter’s queen was made to shield itself from danger. Gukesh lost his queen to his opponent’s rook in move 37, and it was clear that Abdusattorov still had the advantage even at this stage.

Gukesh made an error by moving his king in move 45, as the engine showed that he should have moved his rook instead. Nodirbek had four pawns remaining after move 46 compared to two pawns that of Gukesh, and even though the Indian was left to just one pawn by move 50, he still had the knight on the board.

By move 52, it was almost certain that Gukesh was going to lose the plot. However, he received a lifeline in move 59 when Nodirbek moved his rook to e8, which according to the engine was a mistake, and Gukesh soon took advantage of that. The game eventually ended after 66 moves with a three-fold repetition.

In other games, R Praggnanandhaa was held to a draw against Wei Yi, whereas Arjun Erigaisi and Fabiano Caruana also played out a draw. Pentala Harikrishna too settled for a draw against Jorden van Foreest whereas Leon Mendonca had the same outcome against Max Warmerdam.

In the Challengers section, Faustino Oro defeated Divya Deshmukh whereas R Vaishali and Irina Bulmaga played out a draw.

Tata Steel Chess 2025 standings after six rounds:

Masters: 

1. R Praggnanandhaa (4.5/6)

2. Nodirbek Abdusattorov (4.5/6)

3. D Gukesh (4/6)

4. Alexey Sarana (3.5/6)

5. Vladimir Fedoseev (3.5/6)

6. Harikrishna Pentala (3.5/6)

7. Wei Yi (3/6)

8. Fabiano Caruana (3/6)

9. Vincent Keymer (3/6)

10. Anish Giri (2.5/6)

11. Jorden van Foreest (2/6)

12. Max Warmerdam (2/6)

13. Leon Luke Mendonca (1.5/6)

14. Arjun Erigaisi (1.5/6)

Challengers 

1. Erwin L’Ami (4.5/6)

2. Benjamin Bok (4/6)

3. Thai Dai Van Nguyen (4/6)

4. Lu Miaoyi (3.5/6)

5. Kazybek Nogerbek (3.5/6)

6. R Vaishali (3.5/6)

7. Suleymanli (3.5/6)

8. Svane (3/6)

9. Yakkuboev (3/6)

10. Gurel (2.5/6)

11. Faustino Oro (2.5/6)

12. Arthur Pijpers (2/6)

13. Divya Deshmukh (1.5/6)

14. Irina Bulmaga (1/6)