NEW DELHI: The penultimate round of the 87th Tata Steel Chess Tournament 2025 on Saturday witnessed a series of impressive results for the Indian contingent in Wijk aan Zee.
In a commanding performance, R Praggnanandhaa secured his sixth win of the tournament, defeating Serbia’s Alexey Sarana with the white pieces.
Playing an Indian Game with an all-pawn opening, Pragg transitioned into a Queen’s Gambit Declined.Sarana, showing early aggression, captured a couple of Pragg’s pieces.
However, having the advantage of the first move, Pragg dictated the pace of the game. When Sarana miscalculated with Nb5 on his 21st move, the Indian grandmaster capitalised with a crucial Nxa6+ on move 22, seizing control.
From that point, Sarana could only make desperate attempts to salvage the position. Pragg delivered the final blow on move 29 (Qb7+), forcing Sarana into resignation before the game reached 30 moves.
Tata Steel Chess: Arjun Erigaisi breaks winless streak, stuns Abdusattorov
Round 12 also brought an unexpected twist, as Arjun Erigaisi, who had struggled with both health and form throughout the tournament, secured his first win of the Tata Steel Masters 2025. Incredibly, his victim was Nodirbek Abdusattorov, the Uzbek grandmaster who had remained unbeaten until this encounter.
The game, featuring the Nimzo-Indian Defence, saw multiple exchanges across the board. Playing with composure rather than aggression, Arjun capitalised on Abdusattorov’s Qg5 blunder on the 24th move. With Arjun’s g4 pawn attacking the Uzbek’s queen, Abdusattorov was forced into retreat.
Although a misstep from Arjun on move 32 (Rxc6) momentarily gave Abdusattorov the upper hand, the Indian quickly recovered with precise queen and bishop manoeuvres. When Arjun captured Abdusattorov’s rook with Qxb8, the Uzbek resigned.
Before this defeat, Abdusattorov had been a serious contender for the Masters title, keeping pace with Gukesh and Praggnanandhaa at the top of the leaderboard. The loss now leaves him behind the two Indians with a score of 7.5/12.
Tata Steel Chess Masters: Gukesh lets advantage slip, settles for draw
In the longest game of Round 12 Masters, Gukesh Dommaraju let a winning position slip, settling for a draw against 2021 Tata Steel Masters champion Jorden van Foreest.
Defending with Black, Gukesh played against a Queen’s Gambit Declined setup. A few misplaced knight and bishop moves put him in early trouble, but he recovered momentum through sharp queen play—only to blunder it away with 47. Rf7. With the game reaching a deadlock, Gukesh agreed on a draw.
Tata Steel Masters 2025: Other key results
Elsewhere, Indian GM Leon Luke Mendonca held top seed Fabiano Caruana to a hard-fought draw, while Pentala Harikrishna also split points with Germany’s Vincent Keymer. Notably, both Harikrishna and Keymer were part of Gukesh’s preparation team for the World Chess Championship match against Ding Liren of China.
Meanwhile, Dutch No. 1 Anish Giri extended his unbeaten streak to 11 matches, drawing against defending Masters champion Wei Yi of China. Vladimir Fedoseev, who had lost to Mendonca in Round 11, bounced back with a win over Dutch GM Max Warmerdam.
ALSO SEE: Tata Steel Chess 2025 Schedule
In the Challengers section, 11-year-old Argentinian prodigy Faustino Oro defeated 14-year-old Lu Miaoyi of China in a thrilling battle of young talents. Meanwhile, India’s Vaishali Rameshbabu suffered a disappointing defeat against Ediz Gurel of Türkiye.
In an 84-move marathon, Aydin Suleymanli overcame Frederik Svane of Germany. The longest game of the day, stretching across 129 moves, saw Divya Deshmukh fight tirelessly for a result, only to falter in the final stages, ultimately conceding defeat to Benjamin Bok of the Netherlands.
Tata Steel Chess Tournament 2025: Round 12
- Masters standings: Praggnanandhaa (8.5), Gukesh D (8.5), Nodirbek Abdusattorov (7.5), Vladimir Fedoseev (7.0), Anish Giri (6.5), Wei Yi (6.5), Fabiano Caruana (6.0), Pentala Harikrishna (6.0), Alexey Sarana (5.0), Jorden van Foreest (5.0), Vincent Keymer (5.0),
Arjun Erigaisi (4.5), Leon Luke Mendonca (4.5), Max Warmerdam (3.5).
- Challengers standings: Aydin Suleymanli (8.5), Erwin l’Ami (8.5), Thai Dai Van Nguyen (8.5), Benjamin Bok (8.0), Nodirbek Yakubboev (7.0), Frederik Svane (7.0), Ediz Gurel (7.0), Kazybek Nogerbek (6.5), Lu Miaoyi (5.5), Arthur Pijpers (5.0), Vaishali Rameshbabu (5.0), Faustino Oro (3.5), Divya Deshmukh (3.0), Irina Bulmaga (1.0).
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