The Tata Steel Masters is one of the most prestigious elite events, now in its 87th edition. As the gong chimed for the start of the round in the Dutch town of Wijk aan Zee last Sunday, two Indian teenagers remained in contention for first place. One was the newly crowned world champion Gukesh Dommaraju, unbeaten despite a couple of dicey moments in earlier rounds. The other was Rameshbabu Praggnanandhaa, who had played the more consistent tournament overall. Gukesh looked more likely to win his final game, as he had the white pieces against Arjun Erigaisi, whose high-octane play had backfired repeatedly and left him near the bottom of the table. Praggnanandhaa had Black against Germany’s Vincent Keymer, who was not in his best form, but never looked likely to lose that day.
There was a third contender, though probably nobody suspected it. Nodirbek Abdusattorov, from Uzbekistan, was a whole point behind the two leaders, so even if he won, he would never have expected to catch them both up. Gukesh had not lost a game in Wijk aan Zee, while before the final round Praggnanandhaa had won three games in a row, including the splendid win from the penultimate round (shown below).
Pushing for the win, Gukesh invited complications against Erigaisi, with the kings castled on opposite sides of the board. But Erigaisi, who had scored his first win of the event just the day before, looked revitalised and won an excellent attacking game. Meanwhile Praggnanandhaa had a solid position against Keymer until a clever pawn sacrifice from the latter left him in serious difficulties.
Abdusattorov didn’t win his game anyway, so the only question was – would Praggnanandhaa cling on for a draw and secure outright tournament victory? For hours he was stuck defending a miserable position without a shred of counterplay, and his chances steadily dwindled. But the win eluded Keymer, and for a few brief moves Praggnanandhaa might have escaped with a draw – until, with just seconds on the clock, a blunder allowed Keymer to wrap up the game. The shock of both leaders losing reminded me of the gripping conclusion to the Candidates Tournament in London, 2013, where the two leaders, Magnus Carlsen and Vladimir Kramnik, suffered the same fate. In that event, Carlsen had the stronger tiebreak, while in Wijk aan Zee a blitz playoff would determine the winner. Despite the disappointment of losing such a strenuous game against Keymer, Praggnanandhaa rallied to win the playoff.
R. Praggnanandhaa-Alexey Sarana
Tata Steel Masters, Wijk aan Zee 2025
1 d4 Nf6 2 c4 e6 3 Nc3 d5 4 cxd5 exd5 5 Bg5 c6 6 Qc2 Be6 7 e3 Nbd7 8 Be2 After 8 Bd3, Black’s usual response is to play 8…h6 9 Bh4 g5 10 Bg3 Nh5 to exchange the knight for a bishop. Bd6 9 Bd3 Moving the bishop twice has a subtle point. When Sarana now plays as above with h6/g5, the move Bh4-g3 will trade off the Bd6 instead of the Nf6, which Praggnanandhaa considered a more desirable outcome. h6 10 Bh4 g5 11 Bg3 Bxg3 12 hxg3 Qe7 13 Nf3 g4 14 Nh4 Nb6 15 O-O O-O-O 16 a4 Kb8 17 a5 Nc4 18 Na4 Nd6 19 Nc5 a6 20 Rfc1 Bc8 21 Qb3 Nb5 Allowing a powerful breakthrough. 12…Ka8 was essential. 22 Nxa6+! bxa6 23 Rxc6 White’s attack is overwhelming. Rd7 24 Nf5 Qd8 25 Bxb5 axb5 26 a6 Ra7 27 Qxb5+ Ka8 28 Nd6 Bd7 29 Qb7+!! Exquisite. 29…Rxb7 30 axb7+ Kb8 31 Ra8 is mate, so Black resigns
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