Tata Steel Chess 2025: D Gukesh plays out draw against R Praggnanandhaa; Arjun Erigaisi's search for a win continues

The all-Indian contest between world chess champion D Gukesh and R Praggnanandhaa in round eight of the 2025 Tata Steel Chess tournament ended in a draw in Wijk aan Zee, Netherlands on Sunday. The result meant that both Gukesh and Praggnanandhaa continued to jointly share the lead with Nordibek Abdusattarov, with all three having 5.5 points out of a possible eight. All three players have won three games and drawn the other five.

Gukesh, playing with black pieces, opted for a Berlin Defense opening to Praggnanandhaa’s Ruy Lopez. In the sixth move, Praggnanandhaa employed the Castling move and Gukesh responded to that by moving his queen to e7. And in the early stages of the middle game, Gukesh sacrificed a pawn to open a counterplay. In the 23rd move, however, Gukesh moved his pawn to a3, which was a questionable one according to the engine which suggested Rd8 was a better move.

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Soon after, the queens and a rook pair of both players got exchanged and although both players fought hard to break the deadlock, a draw seemed inevitable and they agreed for the outcome after 33 moves. When both players agreed for a draw, both of them had six pawns and a rook left on the board. Gukesh also had a bishop whereas his Praggnanandhaa had a knight.

As far as other games are concerned, Pentala Harikrishna played out a draw against home favourite Anish Giri, whereas Arjun Erigaisi's search for a win continued following a draw against Alexey Sarana of Serbia. Leon Luke Mendonca also played out a draw, against Netherlands’ Jorden van Foreest.

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Among Indians featuring in the Challengers’ section, R Vashali drew against Arthur Pijpers whereas Divya Deshmukh lost to Kazybek Nogerbek of Kazakhstan.

Tata Steel Chess 2025 standings after eight rounds:

Masters

1. D Gukesh (5.5/8)
2. Nodirbek Abdusattarov (5.5/8)
3. R Praggnanandhaa (5.5/8)
4. Vladimir Fedoseev (5/8)
5. Alexey Sarana (4.5/8)
6. Wei Yi (4.5/8)
7. Fabiano Caruana (4.5/8)
8. P Harikrishna (4/8)
9. Anish Giri (3.5/8)
10. Jorden van Foreest (3/8)
11. Max Warmerdam (3/8)
12. Vincent Keymer (3/8)
13. Leon Luke Medonca (2.5/8)
14. Arjun Erigaisi (2/8)

Challengers

1. Thai Dai van Nguyen (6/8)
2. Erwin l’Ami (5.5/8)
3. Benjamin Bok (5/8)
4. Aydin Suleymanli (5/8)
5. Kazybek Nogerbek (5/8)
6. Vaishali Rameshbabu (4.5/8)
7. Frederik Svane (4.5/8)
8. Miaoyi Lu (4.5/8)
9. Ediz Gurel (4/8)
10. Nodirbek Yakubboev (4/8)
11. Arthur Pijpers (3/8)
12. Faustino Oro (2.5/8)
13. Divya Deshmukh (1.5/8)
14. Irina Bulmaga (1/8)