Tata Steel Chess 2025: Gukesh retains top spot; Praggnanandhaa placed third

D Gukesh continued his stellar run at the Tata Steel Chess tournament, defeating Dutch GM Max Warmerdam with black to maintain his sole lead with 7.5 points after 10 rounds. The youngest world champion capitalised on Warmerdam’s miscalculation in a closed Sicilian, securing victory in 34 moves.

Gukesh now sits half a point ahead of Uzbekistan’s Nodirbek Abdusattorov, while R Praggnanandhaa holds third place with 6.5 points after an impressive win over Slovenia’s Vladimir Fedoseev. Praggnanandhaa dominated the Tarrasch defense, sacrificing all his pawns to queen decisively in 48 moves.

Arjun Erigaisi’s wait for a victory extended to 10 rounds after a draw with Germany’s Vincent Keymer in a closed Ruy Lopez, while P Harikrishna held top seed Fabiano Caruana to a hard-fought draw in a rook endgame lasting 68 moves. Leon Luke Mendonca also split points with Anish Giri.

In the Challengers’ section, R Vaishali lost to leader Nguyen Thai Van Dai of the Czech Republic, while Divya Deshmukh suffered another defeat against Germany’s Frederik Svane. Vaishali stands ninth with five points, while Divya remains 13th with two points in the 14-player event.

With just three rounds remaining, Gukesh inches closer to the 2800-rating mark and a potential tournament triumph.