Pragg catches Gukesh, Erigaisi downs Abdusattorov @ Wijk aan Zee

Continuing his winning flow GM Praggnanandhaa Rameshbabu beat GM Sarana Alexey, caught fellow Indian World Champion Gukesh Dommaraju to lead the field jointly with 8.5 points after the 12th round of the 87th edition of the Tata Steel Masters Chess 2025, at Dorpshuis De Moriaan, Wijk aan Zee. The 14-player round-robin tournament comes to an end on Sunday 2nd February. In case of a tie after the final round, a tie-break match will be played to decide the 87th Tata Steel Chess 2025 winner.

Following Pragg and Gukesh, a full point behind, was Uzbek GM Abdusattorov at 7.5 points. GM Fedoseev Vladimir trailed further at 7.0 points after accounting for Dutch GM Max Warmerdam. Ending in draws were the games between Harikrishna – Keymer, Wei Yi – Giri, van Foreest – Gukesh and Mendonca – Caruana.

Putting behind the loss to Giri in the 9th round Praggnanandhaa turned it around with a second hat-trick of wins, this time over super GMs viz., Fedoseev, Caruana and Sarana today. The manner of the above wins speaks highly of the tactical acumen of Pragg. For Pragg’s 1.d4 GM Sarana Alexey, European Individual Champion 2023, responded with Queen’s Gambit Declined Exchange Variation. By castling on the opposite side Sarana indicated his willingness to fight for a win. But, little could he foresee the torrent of attack that Pragg brought upon black’s queen-side. With 22. Nxa6 Pragg tore open Sarana’s defence and concluded the game with an elegant queen sacrifice 29. Qb7+. Faced with mate in three Sarana resigned. Pragg’s attack and finish today is something that would have made Alekhine proud.

GM Erigaisi Arjun (2801) got back to his old self cruising to a flawless win against GM Abdusattorov Nodirbek in a Nimzo Indian game that lasted 46 moves. Showing no effects of his tournament show thus far, the Indian played soberly once Abdusattorov played 24…Qg5 allowing a clear advantage for white. Holding on to that life-line Erigaisi posted his first win in the Masters section in two attempts ending the game with finesse 48.Qxb8. With the writing on the wall, the Uzbek resigned immediately. For, capturing the en prise bishop would be walking into a dead lost king and pawn ending. The defeat dealt a huge blow to Abdusattorov’s title chances. He’d need to win his final game on hand and wait for a miracle to happen.

In a see-saw Queen’s Gambit Declined game between GM van Foreest Jorden and world champion Gukesh Dommaraju survived a losing battle (47. Qg6), before the Dutchman repeated moves. The draw by the world champion saw fellow Indian GM Praggnanandhaa catching up on the points table. All stakes will hinge on three final round games viz., Gukesh – Erigaisi, Keymer – Praggnanandhaa and Abdusattorov – Harikrishna.

In the Challengers section, GMs Suleymanli Aydin, Nguyen Thai Dan Van and L’Ami Erwin shared the lead with 8.5 points with one round to go. Close behind was Dutch GM Bok Benjamin at 8.0 points.

The 13th & final round starts two hours early by Sunday 2nd February at 6 AM ET / 12 Noon CET / 4:30 PM IST.

Praggnanandhaa Rameshbabu (2741) – Sarana Alexey (2672) 1. d4 Nf6 2. c4 e6 3. Nc3 d5 4. cxd5 exd5 5. Bg5 c6 6. Qc2 Be6 7. e3 Nbd7 8. Be2 Bd6 9. Bd3 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 22. Nxa6+! bxa6 23. Rxc6 Rd7 24. Nf5 Qd8 25. Bxb5 axb5 26. a6 Ra7 27. Qxb5+ Ka8 28. Nd6 Bd7 29. Qb7+!! 1-0

Erigaisi Arjun (2801) – Abdusattorov Nodirbek (2766) 1. d4 Nf6 2. c4 e6 3. Nc3 Bb4 4. Qc2 d6 5. e3 O-O 6. Bd3 c5 7. Nf3 Nc6 8. O-O Bxc3 9. Qxc3 Qe7 10. dxc5 dxc5 11. Ne5 Nxe5 12. Qxe5 Rd8 13. Bc2 Ng4 14. Qg3 e5 15. f3 Nf6 16. b3 Nh5 17. Qf2 Bd7 18. Bb2 Bc6 19. Rad1 h6 20. h3 Nf6 21. Qg3 Rxd1 22. Rxd1 Re8 23. a4 Nh5 24. Qf2 Qg5 25. g4 f5 26. h4 Qg6 27. Bxf5 Qf7 28. Rd6 Nf6 29. g5 hxg5 30. hxg5 Nh5 31. Bg4 Qe7 32. Rxc6 bxc6 33. Bxh5 Qxg5+ 34. Bg4 e4 35. Kf1 Qg6 36. Qc2 Rf8 37. Qg2 exf3 38. Be6+ Kh7 39. Qh3+ Qh6 40. Kf2 Rb8 41. Bf5+ g6 42. Bxg6+ Kxg6 43. Qe6+ Kh5 44. Bf6 Qh7 45. Qe5+ Kg6 46. Qxb8!! 1-0

Warmerdam Max (2638) – Fedoseev Vladimir (2724) 1. c4 e5 2. g3 d5 3. cxd5 Qxd5 4. Nf3 Nc6 5. d3 Nf6 6. Bg2 Be7 7. Nc3 Qd6 8. Bg5 Nd4 9. Nd2 c6 10. O-O O-O 11. Nc4 Qc7 12. e3 Nb5 13. Bxf6 Bxf6 14. Ne4 Be7 15. a4 Nd6 16. Nexd6 Bxd6 17. a5 Rd8 18. Qc2 a6 19. Nb6 Rb8 20. Nxc8 Rbxc8 21. Ra4 Be7 22. Rd1 Rd6 23. Qb3 Rcd8 24. h4 g6 25. Bf3 h5 26. Kg2 Kg7 27. Qc3 Bf6 28. Qc2 Qd7 29. Rb4 Be7 30. Qb3? Rf6 31. Rxb7 Qf5 32. Be4 Qxf2+ 33. Kh3 g5! 0-1

Masters (Round 12 results): Harikrishna Pentala (6.0) drew with Keymer Vincent (5.0), Wei Yi (6.5) drew with Giri Anish (6.5), Pragganandhaa Rameshbabu (8.5) beat Sarana Alexey (5.0), van Foreest Jorden (5.0) drew with Gukesh Dommaraju (8.5), Erigaisi Arjun (4.5) beat Abdusattorov Nodirbek (7.5), Warmerdam Max (3.5) lost to Fedoseev Vladimir (7.0), Mendonca Leon Luke (4.5) drew with Caruana Fabiano (6.0).

Challengers (Round 12 results): Yakubboev Nodirbek (7.0) beat Pijpers Arthur (5.0), Suleymanli Aydin (8.5) beat Svane Frederik (7.0), Oro Faustino (3.5) beat Lu Miaoyi (5.5), L’Ami Erwin (8.5) drew with Nogerbek Kazybek (6.5), Divya Deshmukh (3.0) lost to Bok Benjamin (8.0), Nguyen Thai Dan Van (8.5) beat Bulmaga Irina (1.0), Gurel Ediz (7.0) beat Vaishali Rameshbabu (5.0).

Picture Courtesy: Tata Steel Chess

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