Tata Steel Chess 2025: Gukesh takes joint-lead with win over Harikrishna; Arjun suffers loss to Warmerdam

World chess champion Dommaraju Gukesh defeated fellow Indian Pentala Harikrishna to take a joint-lead in the Masters section at the 2025 Tata Steel Chess tournament in Wijk aan Zee, Netherlands on Saturday. Gukesh defeated Harikrishna in 46 moves in round 7 of the tournament and now as five points, the same as Nodirbek Abdusattorov and R Praggnanandhaa.

Gukesh will take on Praggnanandhaa in the eighth round on Sunday. Harikrishna was one of Gukesh's seconds during the latter's historic World Chess Championship triumph over Ding Liren in Singapore last year. Gukesh had also defeated Vincent Keymer earlier during Tata Steel Chess. Keymer too was part of Gukesh’s team at the World Chess Championship.

Also Read | Carlsen slams Gukesh’s strategy as ‘spectacular failure’ during stalemate against Abdusattorov at Tata Steel Chess

Harikrishna and Gukesh were also teammates when India won gold at the 45th Chess Olympiad in Hungary’s Budapest last year.

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Harikrishna’s errors cost him the game against Gukesh 

Gukesh, playing with white pieces against Harikrishna, had an early advantage despite losing one of his pawns on move seven. Harikrishna committed an error in move 12, playing Nfe7?! instead of Ncxd4 which was the best according to the engine.

Playing Nfe7?! meant that Harikrishna withdrew one of his knights, but a couple of moves later, in the 14th move, Harikrishna made another mistake, playing Nf5?! instead of g6. That meant Harikrishna brought the same knight back to the centre of the chess board. In move 29, Harikrishna played Nxe3??, which was a blunder according to the engine.

The engine suggested Harikrishna should have played Bxe3 instead. Harikrishna lost the plot from then on as Gukesh scripted his third victory of the Tata Steel Chess tournament. Apart from three wins, Gukesh has drawn four others.

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As far as other results are concerned, Arjun Erigaisi’s inconsistent run continued after a loss to Max Warmerdam. Praggnanandhaa played out a draw against Jorden van Foreest whereas Leon Luke Mendonco and reigning champion Wei Yi played out a draw.

In the Challengers section, Divya Deshmukh lost to Miaoyi Lu of China whereas R Vaishali drew against Arthur Pijpers.

Tata Steel Chess 2025 standings after seven rounds:

Masters

1. D Gukesh (5/7)
2. Nodirbek Abdusattorov (5/7)
3. R Praggnanandhaa (5/7)
4. Vladimir Fedoseev (4.5/7)
5. Alexey Sarana (4/7)
6. Wei Yi (3.5/7)
7. Fabiano Caruana (3.5/7)
8. P Harikrishna (3.5/7)
9. Anish Giri (3/7)
10. Max Warmerdam (3/7)
11. Vincent Keymer (3/7)
12. Jorden van Foreest (2.5/7)
13. Leon Luke Mendonca (2/7)
14. Arjun Erigaisi (1.5/7)

Challengers

1. Thai Dai Van Nguyen (5/7)
2. Erwin l’Ami (5/7)
3. Benjamin Bok (4.5/7)
4. Miaoyi Lu (4.5/7)
5. Aydin Suleymanli (4/7)
6. R Vaishali (4/7)
7. Kazybek Nogerbek (4/7)
8. Rasmus Svane (4/7)
9. Ediz Gurel (3.5/7)
10. Nodirbek Yakubboev (3/7)
11. Arthur Pijpers (2.5/7)
12. Faustino Oro (2.5/7)
13. Divya Deshmukh (1.5/7)
14. Irini Bulmaga (1/7)