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Praggnanandhaa Is Back! 9 Conclusions From Tata Steel Chess 2025
Despair for Gukesh, joy for Praggnanandhaa as he wins the title. Photo: Lennart Ootes/Tata Steel Chess.

Praggnanandhaa Is Back! 9 Conclusions From Tata Steel Chess 2025

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| 55 | Chess Event Coverage

The finish to the 2025 Tata Steel Chess Masters was extraordinary, with both leaders World Champion Gukesh Dommaraju and GM Praggnanandhaa Rameshbabu losing their final classical games. When GM Nodirbek Abdusattorov failed to win, that meant a two-player blitz playoff, where Praggnanandhaa lost the first game only to hit back and win the next two to claim the title. We take a look back at some of the conclusions from the first super-tournament of 2025. 

  1. Praggnanandhaa Is Back!
  2. It Could Have Been Gukesh
  3. Abdusattorov’s Wijk Aan Zee Heartbreak Goes On
  4. Beware The Underdogs!
  5. The Rise, And Fall, And Rise Again Of Arjun Was Remarkable
  6. The Fall Of Fabi Was A Surprise
  7. Praggnanandhaa Made A Good Start To The FIDE Circuit
  8. Thai Dai Van Nguyen Earned His Spot In The Masters
  9. It Was A Little Too Soon For The Kids Oro, Lu, And Gurel

1. Praggnanandhaa Is Back!

Praggnanandhaa was in the many ways the poster child of "Vishy's children," the new generation of Indian chess talent. The chess world watched as he chased the grandmaster title as a very young kid, and although last year was a brief lull in his career, he's started 2025 with a bang. 

2024 had been lackluster only by Praggnanandhaa's incredibly high standards. He began the year rated 2743 and world number-13, only to start 2025 ranked... number 13 and 2741. Stabilizing at such a high level is anything but easy, but it was also by comparison that the now 19-year-old was losing out. Gukesh went from 2725 and world number-25 in January 2024 to world number-five and 2777 in January 2025—not to mention the small detail of winning the world championship crown! 

This could be the year Praggnanandhaa makes his own move, since his victory in Wijk aan Zee saw him gain 17.2 rating points and climb six places to world number-seven. 

It was a curiosity of both of the playoff participants that they were lost in their first game, but when Praggnanandhaa escaped against Abdusattorov he won the next three games. After a round-nine loss to GM Anish Giri, when he said he would have made better moves if he were playing bullet chess, the Indian star admitted he was worried he'd repeat his 2023 Masters, when he played the first half well but then slumped to three losses in four games.

A nice game against GM Vladimir Fedoseev, however, and he stormed to another hat-trick of wins—only to stumble in a grueling final-round clash against GM Vincent Keymer that seemed to last forever.

That meant playoffs, but all would end well for Praggnanandhaa, who became just the second Indian player to win the top title in Wijk aan Zee. As Anand noted, however, echoing his pre-tournament advertisement with Gukesh, the benchmark is to win the title five times, as he did! 

What has Praggnanandhaa changed? His coach, GM Ramesh R B, told Susan Ninan of the Hindustan Times that the plan was for his student to play a little less, and be "more aggressive and ambitious mentally." He goes on:

It seemed like he had become probably a bit too professional in his games, where he was going purely by merits. When that happens, you lose some of your creativity and risk-taking tendencies. A switch could only happen if his mind was aligned with the approach. We had a chat about it and it seems to be working. He is trying to win games now and you can see automatically the number of draws has dropped.

Practice is always tougher than theory, however, with Praggnanandhaa saying of his playoff win, "I’m still shaking—it was such a crazy day!"

I'm still shaking—it was such a crazy day!

—Praggnanandhaa Rameshbabu

2. It Could Have Been Gukesh

Praggnanandhaa won an endgame he began a pawn down. Photo: Jurriaan Hoefsmit/Tata Steel Chess.

Needless to say, this could have been just the latest triumph for Gukesh. As the new world champion, the pressure on him has grown exponentially, but few had feared that the 18-year-old would struggle the way GM Ding Liren had after claiming the title. Despite arriving by plane from India only on the morning of the first game, he played fighting chess and, when Giri missed a win on his last seconds, Gukesh got his first win as world champion in early. There was no looking back.

When Gukesh missed a win then dodged a bullet against GM Jorden van Foreest in the penultimate round it felt as though he was untouchable, but suddenly we got a shock loss to GM Arjun Erigaisi in the final round. It was understandable that Praggnanandhaa felt he owed Arjun a gift!

When Gukesh, who had got his loss out of the way early, met an exhausted Praggnanandhaa in the playoff, however, it seemed it might still be the world champion's day. He pounced on a blunder to win the first game, and while he lost the second, the following sudden-death game looked to have reached what for him was at least an unlosable position.

Gukesh had an extra pawn, but in pushing for a win he did somehow find a way to lose. Suddenly it was over, and he'd missed out on the title by the narrowest of margins for the second year in a row. His despair was obvious.

You can watch the final game in full below.

There will be other Wijks to win, however, and when he looks back on his performance, Gukesh can be proud of playing like a world champion. As GM Peter Leko, in Wijk as a second for Keymer, commented:

He came here and he’s fighting for first place and he’s giving absolutely everything, showing what a fantastic fighter he is. I feel that he can play much better, but showing not his best and being there on +5 and about to win the tournament shows his incredible potential. 

We can expect a big year from Gukesh, who must have a lot of unused world championship opening preparation to unleash on his rivals.

3. Abdusattorov’s Wijk Aan Zee Heartbreak Goes On

Going into the final round, Abdusattorov was the only other player with a chance of the title, but it looked utterly unrealistic—both Gukesh and Praggnananadhaa had to lose to make a place in the playoff a possibility. The heartbreaking thing for Abdusattorov is that they did, but he was unable to do his part of the job and beat the usually rock-solid GM Pentala Harikrishna on demand.

Abdusattorov once again had Wijk victory within touching distance. Photo: Maria Emelianova/Chess.com.

Abusattorov finished on +3, half a point behind the leaders, but could easily have crushed the event—the Uzbek star missed wins against Praggnanandhaa, GM Wei Yi, Gukesh, and Keymer.

The missed chances weren't just in 2025 either. In 2023, Abdusattorov went into the final round with a half-point lead over Giri, but lost to Van Foreest while Giri beat GM Richard Rapport to take clear first. Then in 2024, Abusattorov tied for first, but lost to the eventual winner Wei Yi in the playoffs semifinal. 

4. Beware The Underdogs!

No one in the Wijk field could be ruled out, however shaky their results or form. GM Max Warmerdam finished in last place, but he beat 2800-stars GMs Arjun and Fabiano Caruana, revealing afterward that he'd talked about it with his friends: "After I beat Arjun I made some joke that you just know, the rest of my career that’s going to be my best victory, and then I also made some joke, but OK, Fabi is still coming!"

Max Warmerdam beat Arjun and Caruana—and finished last. Photo: Lennart Ootes/Tata Steel Chess.

Keymer suffered some tough losses but beat Praggnanandhaa in the final round, GM Vladimir Fedoseev won no less than five games (including against Caruana and Arjun) and lost three, but the real wrecking ball of the tournament was Arjun.

5. The Rise, And Fall, And Rise Again Of Arjun Was Remarkable

Arjun suddenly found his way again in the final two rounds. Photo: Lennart Ootes/Tata Steel Chess.

There's something about Arjun and Wijk aan Zee. In 2022 he was unstoppable in the Challengers, scoring 10.5/13 and finishing a full two points ahead of GM Thai Dai Van Nguyen. That qualified him for the 2023 Masters, where he made six draws before going on to lose five of the remaining seven games to finish last on 4/13. Then in 2025, the horror-show looked to be repeating itself, as he lost four of the first seven games.

The 2022 Challengers, 2023 Masters, and 2025 Masters for Arjun.

Arjun regretted not simply making a draw against Harikrishna in the first game, while his loss to Fedoseev was a tough pill to swallow: "I think that was a bad decision, looking back, but definitely very crucial was the game against Fedoseev. I blundered this cute tactic which he spotted immediately, and that was a big blow." 

Arjun had been winning, but overlooked the queen sacrifice 27...Qxf5!, and that after exchanges on f5 an g3, the black knight comes to e3 and forks the white rooks on f5 and f1.

At his lowest, Arjun was leaking over 33 rating points, but suddenly he caught fire at the very end to transform the tournament. He beat the high-flying Abdusattorov in round 12, and suddenly with his mojo back, convincingly took down Gukesh in the final round. He still lost 24.3 points, but he only dropped one spot to world number-five.

The top 10 after Wijk aan Zee. Image: 2700chess.
  

6. The Fall Of Fabi Was A Surprise

This wasn't Fabiano Caruana's year in Wijk aan Zee. Photo: Maria Emelianova/Chess.com.

The other 2800 star to suffer was 2020 winner Caruana, who had begun the event as the world number-two and the best hope of the older generation. When he and defending champion Wei both won in round eight, they were a point off the lead and still in contention with five rounds to go. Wei drew all five games, however, to make it 12 draws and one win. 

Caruana's ambition, meanwhile, was rewarded only with losses to Praggnanandhaa and then, in the final round, Warmerdam.

The 19.9-point blow to the U.S. star's rating was heavy, but at least there's one consolation—Caruana has already qualified for the 2026 Candidates Tournament via the 2024 FIDE Circuit, so he doesn't need to worry too much about results, or ratings, in 2025.    

7. Praggnanandhaa Made A Good Start To The FIDE Circuit

Praggnanandhaa's goal for 2025 is to qualify for the Candidates, either through the FIDE World Cup (three spots), FIDE Grand Swiss (two spots), rating (average from August 2025-January 2026), or the 2025 FIDE Circuit. Although tying for first with Gukesh after classical chess meant he didn't pick up the full points on offer for sole first (28.95), he still earned a healthy 25.

The FIDE Circuit leaderboard after Tata Steel Chess. Image: FIDE.

Ding tops the list after getting 40.64 for finishing runner-up in the world championship match (doubled from the 20.32 according to the 2024 regulations), but has said it's unlikely he'll play enough events to challenge for the Circuit spot in the eight-player Candidates Tournament.

This time round we didn't see the anomaly of the 2024 Challengers winner scoring more points than players who tied for first in the Masters, but the decision to give points for only the top-five spots (up from three in 2024) still had an impact. Giri and Wei, who tied for 5th place, had their scores diluted by no points for sixth place, and scored less than the top-three in the Challengers. Harikrishna, who scored 50% in the Masters, got nothing for his 7th place, despite his 2728 being a better tournament performance than anyone scored in the Challengers. 

8. Thai Dai Van Nguyen Earned His Spot In The Masters

Thai Dai Van Nguyen will play the Masters in 2026. Photo: Lennart Ootes/Tata Steel Chess.

As we mentioned briefly earlier, 23-year-old Czech GM Van Nguyen would have won the Challengers in 2022 with 8.5/13, if not for Arjun's out-of-this-world 10.5/13. This time, he did make it, winning five of his last seven games to score 9.5/13 and just edging out 19-year-old Azerbaijani GM Aydin Suleymanli, who won his last four games, by tiebreaks. Former Dutch Champion GM Erwin l'Ami could have joined them with a last-round win, but instead lost to GM Vaishali Rameshbabu

It was a fine result for Van Nguyen, especially considering he's recently become a full-time student in Prague after previously taking time out to focus on chess. He said it feels "absolutely amazing." Asked about qualifying for the Masters in 2026, he commented, "I’m trying to enjoy the tournament win first, but of course if it’s true that next year I’ll play in the Masters then it will be the biggest opportunity so far in my career."

The Tata Steel Chess Festival is intense! Photo: Lennart Ootes/Tata Steel Chess.

The Masters is a tough environment to be thrown into, though Van Nguyen has experience. He began the 2024 Prague Masters with losses to Abdusattorov and Gukesh, but bounced back with three wins to finish second. The 2025 Prague Masters, in three weeks' time, will see Van Nguyen facing off against Praggnanandhaa, Wei, Keymer, and GM Ediz Gurel, to name only players who also played in Wijk aan Zee. 

9. It Was A Little Too Soon For The Kids Oro, Lu, And Gurel

There used to be three important tournaments in Wijk aan Zee: the A, B, and C groups, which got progressively stronger. So, for instance, GM Magnus Carlsen rose up the ranks by winning the C Group in 2004, as a 13-year-old, then finishing 7th in the B Group in 2005, then joint first in 2006, then joint last in the A Group in 2007, before finishing joint first as a 17-year-old in 2008.

Now there are two main groups (the Qualifiers did allow 21-year-old Panesar Vedant to reach the 2026 Challengers), which ups the challenge for youngsters trying to break through.

Faustino Oro beat Lu Miaoyi in round 12. Photo: Jurriaan Hoefsmit/Tata Steel Chess.

11-year-old IM Faustino Oro lost nine games, but won three, and never lost his self-confidence. Just watch him describing a win that had been preceded by five losses in a row.

The Argentine prodigy performed roughly as expected by rating (12th seed, he finished 12th), as did 14-year-old IM Lu Miaoyi, though at +2 after seven rounds she was in contention for a GM norm and potentially tournament victory, before suffering four losses in the remaining six games. 16-year-old Turkish GM Gurel was held back by a slow start, but also performed to expectations, while the biggest rating gain, 16.2 points, was achieved by 20-year-old World Junior Champion GM Kazybek Nogerbek.   


Up next for Tata Steel Chess players Gukesh, Caruana, Abdusattorov, Keymer, and Fedoseev, as well as GMs Carlsen, Hikaru Nakamura, Alireza Firouzja, Javokhir Sindarov, and Levon Aronian, is the 2025 Weissenhaus Freestyle Chess Grand Slam. The action kicks off Friday, February 7 at 7 a.m. ET/13:00 CET/5:30 p.m. IST.


How To Review

You can review the tournament on the Chess24 YouTube or Twitch channels, while GM Hikaru Nakamura is also streaming on his Kick channel. You can also check out the games on our dedicated events page.
IM Tania Sachdev and GM David Howell hosted the broadcast.

The 87th edition of Tata Steel Chess took place January 18-February 2, 2025, in Wijk aan Zee, the Netherlands. The time control was 100 minutes for 40 moves followed by 50 minutes to finish each game, with a 30-second increment from move one. Both the Masters and Challengers groups were 14-player round-robin tournaments.

Previous coverage:

Colin_McGourty
Colin McGourty

Colin McGourty led news at Chess24 from its launch until it merged with Chess.com a decade later. An amateur player, he got into chess writing when he set up the website Chess in Translation after previously studying Slavic languages and literature in St. Andrews, Odesa, Oxford, and Krakow.

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