NEW DELHI: India’s chess prodigy and youngest-ever World Chess Champion Gukesh Dommaraju has ascended to World No. 3 after a solid draw against defending champion Wei Yi of China at the Tata Steel Chess Tournament 2025 in Wijk aan Zee.
Meanwhile, Rameshbabu Praggnanandhaa pocketed a sensational victory over top seed Fabiano Caruana, making it a phenomenal Friday for Indian chess on Dutch soil.
Fresh from a rest day, Gukesh faced a tough test against the defending champion of the Masters. Playing with the white pieces, the Indian youngster opened with a King’s Pawn, leading to a classic Italian Game. The early exchanges were sharp, with both players castling by move five.
A major turning point came when Gukesh sacrificed Wei’s queen with Qxd8, forcing an immediate response (Rfxd8) from the Chinese grandmaster.
As the game approached the endgame phase, both players had a rook each — Gukesh relied on his bishop, while Wei Yi looked to create complications with his knight.
However, neither could break through, leading to a handshake and a draw.
With this result, Gukesh maintained his position at the top of the Masters standings as the sole leader with 8/11 points.
The biggest shock of the round came when Praggnanandhaa outplayed top-seed Caruana in a masterful display. Playing with the black pieces, Pragg responded to Caruana’s English Opening with the Agincourt Defense, gradually seizing control of the board.
The battle remained evenly poised until Caruana’s misstep on move 32 (Qe3), which allowed Praggnanandhaa to unleash a devastating knight manoeuvre.
Within just five more moves, Pragg had sealed a stunning 37-move victory, handing Caruana another shocking defeat in what has been a topsy-turvey tournament so far for the American.
With the aforementioned results on Friday, Gukesh overtook Caruana in the live ratings, securing the World No. 3 spot with 2793.2 Elo points, while Caruana slipped to 2792.4.
One of the day’s most intriguing results saw Leon Luke Mendonca secure his first win of the tournament by toppling Vladimir Fedoseev of Slovenia.
Fedoseev, having gained popularity as the “giant killer” after beating Arjun Erigaisi, Caruana, Vincent Keymer, and Pentala Harikrishna, found himself on the receiving end this time. Mendonca, playing with black, staged a remarkable fightback to claim victory.
Meanwhile, Pentala Harikrishna notched up his third win of the tournament, defeating Alexey Sarana in 40 moves. Arjun Erigaisi, who has had a challenging tournament so far, held former one-time champion of Wijk aan Zee, Jorden van Foreest, to a draw. The longest match of the round saw Vincent Keymer and Nodirbek Abdusattorov battle for 77 moves before agreeing to a draw. Dutch No. 1 Anish Giri continued his 10-game unbeaten streak with a win, defeating compatriot Max Warmerdam on Friday.
ALSO SEE: Tata Steel Chess 2025 Schedule
In the Challengers section, Divya Deshmukh claimed her second win of the tournament by defeating Irina Bulmaga of Romania, while Vaishali Rameshbabu suffered a tough loss against Aydin Suleymanli of Azerbaijan. The Challengers leaderboard remains in the hands of Dutch veteran Erwin l’Ami, who leads with 8/11 points.
Tata Steel Chess Tournament 2025: Round 11
- Masters standings: Dommaraju Gukesh (8.0), Rameshbabu Praggnanandhaa (7.5), Nodirbek Abdusattorov (7.5), Vladimir Fedoseev (6.0), Anish Giri (6.0), Wei Yi (6.0), Fabiano Caruana (5.5), Pentala Harikrishna (5.5), Alexey Sarana (5.0), Jorden van Foreest (4.5), Vincent Keymer (4.5), Leon Luke Mendonca (4.0), Arjun Erigaisi (3.5), Max Warmerdam (3.5).
Challengers standings : Erwin l’Ami (8.0), Thai Dai Van Nguyen (7.5), Aydin Suleymanli (7.5), Benjamin Bok (7.0), Frederik Svane (7.0), Kazybek Nogerbek (6.0), Nodirbek Yakubboev (6.0), Ediz Gurel (6.0), Miaoyi Lu (5.5), Arthur Pijpers (5.0), Vaishali Rameshbabu (5.0), Divya Deshmukh (3.0), Faustino Oro (2.5), Irina Bulmaga (1.0).
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