The Indian juggernaut in international chess remained unstoppable as Grandmaster R Praggnanandhaa fought through exhaustion and nerves to defeat world champion D Gukesh in a clash of compatriots to clinch the Tata Steel Masters title for the first time in his prolific career.
Pragg wins the tiebreak and is our new Tata Steel Masters Champ!! 🏆🔥 pic.twitter.com/o8FtpcB9fD
— Tata Steel Chess Tournament (@tatasteelchess) February 2, 2025
The 19-year-old from Chennai, a city that has become the cradle of Indian chess, came from behind to upstage the 18-year-old world number three 2-1 in tiebreaker of the event’s 87th edition here on Sunday.
This was after both players ended up tied on 8.5 points after losing their 13th-round games. While Gukesh lost to fellow Indian Arjun Erigaisi, Praggnanandhaa went down to Vincent Keymer of Germany.
Incidentally, both Pragg and Gukesh lost their last classical games on Sunday to finish with 8.5 points each. Gukesh, who was unbeaten till the last round of the tournament, lost a classical match for the first time as World Champion when he went down to Grandmaster Arjun Erigaisi in 31 moves. Pragg, lost to Grandmaster Vincent Keymer in a marathon game in Round 13.
On Sunday, Gukesh drew first blood in the two-game blitz tiebreaker, winning the first game with white pieces. Gukesh only needed a draw in the second blitz tiebreaker to take home the crown. However, Praggnanandhaa bounced back from behind to win both blitz games and stun the world champion to claim the major title.
A record breaking win:
The teenager became the first Indian after Viswanathan Anand to win the title. Anand won it thrice (2003, 2004 and 2006) individually when it was called the Corus Chess Tournament, named after the title sponsor. The legend also shared the honours twice (1989 and 1998) in its earliest form of Hoogovens Tournament.
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