Tata Steel Chess 2025: Gukesh becomes world no. 3 after draw, Praggnanandhaa beats top seed ...Middle East

India’s young chess star Gukesh Dommaraju has risen to World No. 3 after an impressive draw against China’s Wei Yi at the Tata Steel Chess Tournament 2025, held in Wijk aan Zee. This win helped him to achieve a better ranking. At the same time, Rameshbabu Praggnanandhaa achieved an impressive win against the top seed Fabiano Caruana, marking a remarkable Friday for Indian chess in the Netherlands. Gukesh is currently the highest-ranked player in India.

A tough game ends in a draw

After a day of rest, Gukesh faced a tough opponent, the defending champion Wei Yi. Playing with the white pieces, Gukesh started with a King’s Pawn opening, leading to a classic Italian Game. Both players made early strategic moves and quickly reached a complex position. The game took a dramatic turn when Gukesh sacrificed Wei Yi’s queen, which forced a quick response from the Chinese grandmaster. Despite the intense play, both players eventually settled for a draw as they couldn’t find a winning way, ending the game with a handshake.

Praggnanandhaa’s surprise victory

While Gukesh’s draw was impressive, Rameshbabu Praggnanandhaa stole the spotlight with a fantastic victory over the top seed, Fabiano Caruana. Playing with the black pieces, Pragg countered Caruana’s English opening with the Agincourt defence. The game was balanced until Caruana made a mistake, allowing Praggnanandhaa to execute an excellent knight move that led to securing a win in 37 moves.

Mendonca and Harikrishna’s success

In another exciting match, Leon Luke Mendonca claimed his first victory by defeating Vladimir Fedoseev of Slovenia. Known for his past wins against strong players, Fedoseev found himself losing this time. Also, Pentala Harikrishna achieved his third win by outplaying Alexey Sarana in 40 moves.

Other noteworthy matches

Arjun Erigaisi managed to secure a draw against former champion Jorden van Foreest in a tournament where he faced tough challenges. The longest match saw Vincent Keymer and Nodirbek Abdusattorov drawing after 77 moves. Meanwhile, Dutch player Anish Giri continued his unbeaten streak with a win over Max Warmerdam.

Divya Deshmukh wins in Challengers

In the Challengers section, Divya Deshmukh celebrated her second win by defeating Irina Bulmaga of Romania. Unfortunately, Vaishali Rameshbabu faced a difficult loss against Aydin Suleymanli from Azerbaijan. Dutch veteran Erwin l’Ami leads this section with strong performances throughout the tournament.

Tata Steel Chess 2025 standings after 11 rounds

Here’s the table with correct names and countries:

Tata Steel Chess 2025: Gukesh becomes world no. 3 after draw, Praggnanandhaa beats top seed Inside Sport India.

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