Pragg closes in, Gukesh leads @ Wijk aan Zee

18 year old Gukesh Dommarajau, the youngest World Champion in the history of chess, lead the field with 8.0 points after the 11th round of the 87th edition of the Tata Steel Masters Chess 2025, at Dorpshuis De Moriaan, Wijk aan Zee here today. Following Gukesh half a point behind were Abdusattorov & Praggnanandhaa at 7.5 points.

GM Gukesh Dommaraju moved into World No. 3 in LIVE rankings when fellow Indian GM Praggnanandhaa Rameshbabu defeated American Grandmaster Fabiano Caruana in an exciting game. In a highly entertaining day’s play four games ended positively. Praggnanandhaa continued his pursuit of leader Gukesh, defeating Caruana, while fellow countryman Mendonca scored his first win at Wijk aan Zee bringing down Fedoseev (2717), a big scalp. Also, tasting wins were Tata Steel brand ambassador Anish Giri and Pentala Harikrishna over GMs Warmerdam Max and Sarana Alexey respectively.

The Italian two knight’s defence game between world champion Gukesh Dommaraju and defending champion Wei Yi turned out to be a quiet 30 move draw. Trade offs in regular intervals saw the game moving into an equal rook ending, where both seemed happy with the outcome. In a post match interview GM Wei Yi conveyed that it was not an easy draw as it seemed to be.

GM Praggnanandhaa scored a fine win over former Wijk aan Zee winner Fabiano Caruana, making the title run more interesting. The Queen’s Gambit Declined game appeared heading for result as both the players were seen working hard in the middle game. But, Caruana slipped while playing 32. Qe3 overlooking a stunning knight sacrifice 32…Nxb3 that spelt doom for the American. Unable to avoid material loss, Caruana resigned five moves later. The win puts Pragg along with Abdusattorov just half a point behind leader Gukesh, with just two rounds to go.

Uzbek Grandmaster Abdusattorov missed a good chance to go on top of the leader-board as he let Keymer escape from a possible win. The Caro-Kann exchange variation game saw Abdusattorov building pressure steadily. After 31. bxc5 white’s queenside looked weather-beaten and the kingside equally awkward. At the verge of completing the first time control Abdusattorov’s hasty 38…Qe7 forced the exchange of queens leading to a draw. Black missed a powerful 38…Qh5 reply which might have earned him a crucial half a point more.

In the Challengers section, tournament leader and top seed Czech GM Nguyen Thai Dan Van went down to GM Svane Frederik (Germany) in a close rook and pawn ending. Overnight leader Nguyen’s defeat saw Dutchman L’Ami Erwin (8.0) moving into sole lead with a fine win over 14 year old Chinese prodigy Lu Miaoyi. Half a point behind at 7.5 points were GMs Nguyen Thai Dan Van and Suleymanli Aydin.

The 12th round starts Saturday 1st February at 8 AM ET / 2 PM CET / 6:30 PM IST.

Caruana Fabiano (2803) – Praggnanandhaa Rameshbabu (2741) 1. c4 e6 2. Nc3 d5 3. d4 Nf6 4. cxd5 exd5 5. Bg5 c6 6. e3 Bd6 7. Bd3 O-O 8. Nge2 Re8 9. h3 Nbd7 10. Qc2 Nf8 11. O-O-O b5 12. Kb1 a5 13. f3 Be7 14. Bxf6 Bxf6 15. e4 a4 16. a3 b4 17. axb4 a3 18. b3 Qb6 19. Ka2 dxe4 20. fxe4 Bxd4 21. Nxd4 Qxd4 22. b5 Bd7 23. Bc4 Qa7 24. bxc6 Bxc6 25. Rhf1 Re7 26. Nd5 Rb7 27. Rf5 Rc8 28. Qd3 Ne6 29. Rdf1 Be8 30. R5f2 Qb8 31. Rc2 Nc5 32. Qe3 Nxb3 33. Rb1 Ba4 34. Bd3 Nc5 35. Ne7+ Kh8 36. Rxb7 Qxb7 37. Ba6 Qxe7 0-1

Sarana Alexey (2677) – Harikrishna Pentala (2695) 1. d4 Nf6 2. c4 e6 3. Nf3 d5 4. Nc3 h6 5. e3 a6 6. b3 c5 7. cxd5 cxd4 8. Nxd4 Nxd5 9. Bd2 Nf6 10. Qc2 Bd7 11. Be2 Nc6 12. Nf3 Rc8 13. O-O Be7 14. Rfd1 O-O 15. a3 Bd6 16. b4 Qe7 17. Be1 Rfd8 18. Qb1 Ne5 19. Qb3 b5 20. h3 Nc4 21. Rac1 e5 22. e4 Be6 23. Nd5 Nxd5 24. exd5 Bd7 25. Bxc4 bxc4 26. Rxc4 Ba4 27. Qxa4 Rxc4 28. Qxa6 Qc7 29. b5 Qc8 30. Qa5 Qa8 31. b6 Qxa5 32. Bxa5 Ra8 33. Bb4 Bxb4 34. b7 Re8 35. d6 Bxd6 36. Rxd6 f6 37. Rd7 Rb8 38. Nd2 Rd4 39. Rxd4 exd4 40. Nb3 d3 0-1

Fedoseev Vladimir (2717) – Mendonca Leon Luke (2639) 1. d4 Nf6 2. c4 e6 3. Nf3 d5 4. g3 dxc4 5. Bg2 c6 6. a4 Bb4+ 7. Bd2 a5 8. Bc3 O-O 9. Ne5 c5 10. O-O Nc6 11. Na3 Bxc3 12. bxc3 Nd5 13. Nxc6 bxc6 14. dxc5 Ba6 15. Qd4 Qf6 16. Qxf6 gxf6 17. Rfc1 f5 18. Kf1 Rfd8 19. Ke1 Rab8 20. e3 Rb3 21. Bf1 Nf6 22. Bxc4 Rxa3 23. Bxa6 Rb3 24. Bc4 Rb2 25. Rab1 Rdb8 26. Rxb2 Rxb2 27. Be2 Ne4 28. Bf3 Nxf2 29. Bxc6 Nd3+ 30. Kd1 Nf2+ 31. Ke1 Nd3+ 32. Kd1 Nxc1 33. Kxc1 Re2 34. e4 Kf8 35. exf5 Ke7 36. fxe6 fxe6 37. h4 Re3 38. Kc2 Rxg3 39. Kb3 Rg4 40. h5 h6 0-1

Masters (Round 11 results): Giri Anish (6.0) beat Warmerdam Max (3.5), Fedoseev Vladimir (6.0) lost to Mendonca Leon Luke (4.0), Keymer Vincent (4.5) drew with Abdusattorov Nodirbek (7.5), Gukesh Dommaraju (8.0) drew with Wei Yi (6.0), Caruana Fabiano (5.5) lost to Pragganandhaa Rameshbabu (7.5), Sarana Alexey (5.0) lost to Harikrishna Pentala (5.5), van Foreest Jorden (4.5) drew with Erigaisi Arjun (3.5)

Challengers (Round 11 results): Bulmaga Irina (1.0) lost to Divya Deshmukh (3.0), Bok Benjamin (7.0) drew with Pijpers Arthur (5.0), Lu Miaoyi (5.5) lost to L’Ami Erwin (8.0), Svane Frederik (7.0) beat Nguyen Thai Dan Van (7.5), Oro Faustino (2.5) lost to Yakubboev Nodirbek (6.0), Vaishali Rameshbabu (5.0) lost to Suleymanli Aydin (7.5), Nogerbek Kazybek (6.0) drew with Gurel Ediz (6.0)

Picture Courtesy: Tata Steel Chess

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