Pragg takes down Fabi, Gukesh moves to World #3
The biggest result of round 11 at Tata Steel Chess 2025 was Praggnanandhaa’s win over Fabiano Caruana. Not only did Pragg move within half a point of Gukesh for the tournament lead, but any win over a top three player is a big story, not least because of the trickle down consequences.
As a result of this game, combined with Gukesh’s draw against Wei Yi, Caruana drops one spot in the live rankings and Gukesh reaches an unofficial peak of #3 in the world, behind only Hikaru Nakamura and Magnus Carlsen. Let’s take a look at the key moment of Caruana – Praggnanandhaa.
It had been a back-and-forth game. This is the position on move 32, where Caruana has just played Qe3??, which allowed a shocker from Pragg. Qe2 or Qd2 was necessary to keep the rook on c2 better defended. 32. …Nxb3! put White in deep trouble, because 33. Bxb3? Rxc2+! 34. Bxc2 Rb2+ (D) is all but over. 35. Ka1 is mate in two, and 35. Kxa3 Rxc2 regains the piece and approaches mate anyways.
Caruana chose a better defence with 33. Rb1, and Pragg found an excellent continuation in 33. …Ba4!, adding the last piece to the attack. White’s position fell further apart with under two minutes on the clock, and Black won on move 37. Two of India’s young stars are having superb tournaments.
Photo by Lennart Ootes / Tata Steel Chess
