 "Gukesh kicks off 2025 at Tata Steel Chess: Key talking points, favourites, schedule and where to watch")
The wait is over as new world chess champion and history maker Gukesh Dommaraju of India will start his 2025 campaign on Saturday (18 January) against Dutch Grandmaster Anish Giri in the Tata Steel Chess Masters 2025 at Wijk aan Zee in the Netherlands. This will be D Gukesh’s first tournament since becoming the world champion in December 2024.
Gukesh defeated then reigning champions Ding Liren 7.5-6.5 in a 14-game classic game series to become the youngest chess world champion at the age of 18. The world championship win came in the final game of the match after Ding imploded under pressure and made a rookie blunder, playing 55.Rf2, which propelled the Chennai lad to victory in Game 14 with an extra pawn in the king pawn ending.
What to expect from Gukesh at Tata Steel Chess 2025?
Gukesh, who received the prestigious Khel Ratna on Friday, will reach the venue only on Saturday, a few hours before the match. Also considering that this will be his first match after beating Ding on 12 December and against an accomplished player like Giri, we can expect a slow start from the Indian chess Grandmaster. However, Gukesh has repeatedly surprised the chess world and has all it takes to do the same on Saturday.
Grateful to receive the prestigious 'Major Dhyanchand Khel Ratna award 2024' from our Honourable President mam @rashtrapatibhvn
— Gukesh D (@DGukesh) January 17, 2025
Thanks for recognising my efforts and achievements and feel motivated to bring more laurels to the country! pic.twitter.com/HewAKqKwTy
Who is the defending champion and who is missing?
China’s Wei Yi won the tournament in 2024 and is currently ranked ninth in the world per the FIDE rating. He currently has an ELo rating of 2751. Wei Yi will enter the tournament having played a draw against world No.1 Magnus Carlsen in the Bundesliga last week.
Also Read | Why Wijk aan Zee chess event is called 'Wimbledon' of chess
Carlsen is not a part of the Tata Steel Chess 2025 after missing the tournament last year as well. World No.3 Hikaru Nakamura, who has not played at Wijk aan Zee in over a decade, is also missing. GM Alireza Firouzja and GM Ian Nepomniachtchi will not be there.
Tata Steel Chess Masters 2025 Participants
Apart from Gukesh, Wei Yi, and 2023 winner Giri, the Masters lineup also includes top names like world No.2 Fabiano Caruana of the USA, world No. 6 Nodirbek Abdusattorov, Vladimir Fedoseev, Vincent Keymer, Jorden van Foreest, Alexey Sarana, Max Warmerdam, and four more Indians – Arjun Erigaisi, R Praggnanandhaa, Pentala Harikrishna and Leon Luke Mendonca.
Also Read | D Gukesh looks forward to facing members of his World Championship team in Tata Steel Chess
This is the first time that Tata Steel Chess has as many as five Indian Grandmasters in the Masters category.
The pairings of the Tata Steel Chess Tournament 2025 has been announced this evening!🤩 We looking forward to an exciting first round 💪
— Tata Steel Chess Tournament (@tatasteelchess) January 16, 2025
Check the website for all pairings 💻👉 https://t.co/c93eiNlzF6 pic.twitter.com/N2DnLker7G
The Challengers lineup consists of Divya Deshmukh, Vaishali Rameshbabu, Thai Dai Van Nguyen, Frederik Svane, Nodirbek Yakubboev, Ediz Gurel, Aydin Suleymanli, Erwin l’Ami, Benjamin Bok, Kazybek Nogerbek, Arthur Pijpers, Faustino Oro, Miaoyi Lu and Irina Bulmaga.
Tata Steel Chess Masters 2025 Format
The Tata Steel Chess Tournament features a 14-player round-robin format. The time control allows 100 minutes for the first 40 moves, 50 minutes for the next 20 moves, and 15 minutes for the remainder of the game, with a 30-second increment added per move starting from the first move.
Tata Steel Chess Masters 2025 LIVE Streaming
There’s no clarity on live streaming details for the Tata Steel Chess 2025 tournament, but the matches could be shown live on their YouTube channel.
Tata Steel Chess Masters 2025 Schedule
Overall 13 matches will be played by a player in the Tata Steel Chess Masters 2025 starting from 18 January.
Round 1 - 18 January
Pentala Harikrishna vs Arjun Erigaisi
Praggnanandhaa R vs Nodirbek Abdusattorov
Leon Luke Mendonca vs Vincent Keymer
Max Warmerdam vs Alexey Sarana
Wei Yi vs Fabiano Caruana
Jorden van Foreest vs Vladimir Fedoseev
Gukesh D vs Anish Giri
Round 2 - 19 January
Arjun Erigaisi vs Anish Giri
Vladimir Fedoseev vs Gukesh D
Fabiano Caruana vs Jorden van Foreest
Alexey Sarana vs Wei Yi
Vincent Keymer vs Max Warmerdam
Nodirbek Abdusattorov vs Leon Luke Mendonca
Pentala Harikrishna vs Praggnanandhaa R
Round 3 - 20 January
Praggnanandhaa R vs Arjun Erigaisi
Leon Luke Mendonca vs Pentala Harikrishna
Max Warmerdam vs Nodirbek Abdusattorov
Wei Yi vs Vincent Keymer
Jorden van Foreest vs Alexey Sarana
Gukesh D vs Fabiano Caruana
Anish Giri vs Vladimir Fedoseev
Round 4 - 21 January
Arjun Erigaisi vs Vladimir Fedoseev
Fabiano Caruana vs Anish Giri
Alexey Sarana vs Gukesh D
Vincent Keymer vs Jorden van Foreest
Nodirbek Abdusattorov vs Wei Yi
Pentala Harikrishna vs Max Warmerdam
Praggnanandhaa R vs Leon Luke Mendonca
Round 5 - 22 January
Leon Luke Mendonca vs Arjun Erigaisi
Max Warmerdam vs Praggnanandhaa R
Wei Yi vs Pentala Harikrishna
Jorden van Foreest vs Nodirbek Abdusattorov
Gukesh D vs Vincent Keymer
Anish Giri vs Alexey Sarana
Vladimir Fedoseev vs Fabiano Caruana
Round 6 - 24 January
Arjun Erigaisi vs Fabiano Caruana
Alexey Sarana vs Vladimir Fedoseev
Vincent Keymer vs Anish Giri
Nodirbek Abdusattorov vs Gukesh D
Pentala Harikrishna vs Jorden van Foreest
Praggnanandhaa R vs Wei Yi
Leon Luke Mendonca vs Max Warmerdam
Round 7 - 25 January
Max Warmerdam vs Arjun Erigaisi
Wei Yi vs Leon Luke Mendonca
Jorden van Foreest vs Praggnanandhaa R
Gukesh D vs Pentala Harikrishna
Anish Giri vs Nodirbek Abdusattorov
Vladimir Fedoseev vs Vincent Keymer
Fabiano Caruana vs Alexey Sarana
Round 8 - 26 January
Arjun Erigaisi vs Alexey Sarana
Vincent Keymer vs Fabiano Caruana
Nodirbek Abdusattorov vs Vladimir Fedoseev
Pentala Harikrishna vs Anish Giri
Praggnanandhaa R vs Gukesh D
Leon Luke Mendonca vs Jorden van Foreest
Max Warmerdam vs Wei Yi
Round 9 - 28 January
Wei Yi vs Arjun Erigaisi
Jorden van Foreest vs Max Warmerdam
Gukesh D vs Leon Luke Mendonca
Anish Giri vs Praggnanandhaa R
Vladimir Fedoseev vs. Pentala Harikrishna
Fabiano Caruana vs Nodirbek Abdusattorov
Alexey Sarana vs Vincent Keymer
Round 10 - 29 January
Arjun Erigaisi vs Vincent Keymer
Nodirbek Abdusattorov vs Alexey Sarana
Pentala Harikrishna vs Fabiano Caruana
Praggnanandhaa R vs Vladimir Fedoseev
Leon Luke Mendonca vs Anish Giri
Max Warmerdam vs Gukesh D
Wei Yi vs Jorden van Foreest
Round 11 - 31 January
Jorden van Foreest vs. Arjun Erigaisi
Gukesh D vs Wei Yi
Anish Giri vs Max Warmerdam
Vladimir Fedoseev vs Leon Luke Mendonca
Fabiano Caruana vs Praggnanandhaa R
Alexey Sarana vs Pentala Harikrishna
Vincent Keymer vs Nodirbek Abdusattorov
Round 12 - 1 February
Arjun Erigaisi vs. Nodirbek Abdusattorov
Pentala Harikrishna vs Vincent Keymer
Praggnanandhaa R vs Alexey Sarana
Leon Luke Mendonca vs Fabiano Caruana
Max Warmerdam vs Vladimir Fedoseev
Wei Yi vs Anish Giri
Jorden van Foreest vs Gukesh D
Round 13 - 2 February
Gukesh D vs Arjun Erigaisi
Anish Giri vs Jorden van Foreest
Vladimir Fedoseev vs Wei Yi
Fabiano Caruana vs Max Warmerdam
Alexey Sarana vs Leon Luke Mendonca
Vincent Keymer vs Praggnanandhaa R
Nodirbek Abdusattorov vs Pentala Harikrishna
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