World Champ Gukesh beats Giri @ Wijk aan Zee, Harikrishna downs Erigaisi

In the most expected contest, World Champion Gukesh Dommaraju was off to a winning start defeating the Dutch legend Anish Giri in his first game after becoming the world champion. The first round of 87th edition of the Tata Steel Masters Chess 2025, at Dorpshuis De Moriaan, Wijk aan Zee, Netherlands saw two other decisive games where Vincent Keymar (Germany) defeated Leon Luke Mendonca (India), while veteran Pentala Harikrishna turned the tables on fellow Indian Erigaisi Arjun. Equally well fought draws were Praggnanandhaa – Abdusottorov, van Foreest – Fedoseev and Warmerdam – Sarana games.

The see-saw battle saw the Indian emerging with full points after Anish missed possible winning continuation in mutual time-scramble. The Kings Indian Attack game lasted 42 moves, but it was on 33. h3 one saw Giri sliding to a losing position. Rather, it was the throwback expression of Giri that said it all. Down to his last seconds on the clock, Gukesh sewed up the game in his favor with locals watching the game LIVE getting a bit aghast at the turn of events. A good start for the year and as a world champion for Gukesh, where Caissa smiled on him. One has to give it to Gukesh who went for 14. Bh4 giving up his knight early on in the game plunging into complication.

The opener between defending champion Wei Yi (China) and top seed Fabiano Caruana (USA) was a quiet draw arising out of Ruy Lopez Berlin Defense. Sticking to theory, the favorites played out a quiet draw holding their block buster games for the rounds to come.

It turned out to be winning day for Team Gukesh in Wijk aan Zee, as Harikrishna and Keymar overcame Erigaisi and Mendonca in contrasting styles. In a Sicilian Dragon game, Harikrishna scored a grinding two rooks & knight versus queen & bishop ending win over Erigaisi Arjun. A highly instructive game that brought back Harikrishna in Elo 2700+ fold.

Tata Steel Challengers 2024 winner Mendonca left with deep regret as a one move blunder 31. Rc1 spoiled what should have been a fine win over German Keymar. That single move spelt doom for the Indian as black’s 31…Qxh3 saw white collapsing with no hope in sight. It turned out to be a second “Giri” for the opening day, as Keymar pounced on his chance a la Gukesh.

In the Challengers section, both the Junior world champions Nogerbek Kazybek and Divya Deshmukh lost their games to Yakubboev Nodirbek and Lu Miaoyi respectively. Argentine talent Oro Faustino went down to GM Vaishali Rameshbabu while top seed GM Nguyen Thai Dai Van beat Pijpers Arthur.

The venue of the “Wimbledon of Chess”, De Moriaan playing hall in Wijk aan Zee throbbed with chess enthusiasts consisting of the Masters, Challengers and Amateurs all assembled to under one roof. The hub of Dutch chess hospitality is more to be experienced than described.

The second round starts Sunday 19th January at 8 AM ET / 2 PM CET / 6:30 PM IST.

Masters (Round 1 Results): Harikrishna Pentala bt Erigaisi Arjun, Praggnanandhaa Rameshbabu drew with Abdusattorov Nodirbek, Mendonca Leon Luke lost to Keymar Vincent, Gukesh Dommaraju bt Giri Anish, wei Yi drew with Caruana Fabiano, Van Foreest Jorden drew with Fedoseev Vladimir, Warmerdam Max drew with Sarana Alexey.

Challengers (Round 1 Results): Divya Deshmukh lost to Yakubboev Nodirbek, Nguyen Thai Dai Van bt Pijpers Arthur, Suleymanli Aydin drew with Bok Benjamin, Gurel Ediz t Bulmaga Irina, L’Ami Erwin drew with Svane Frederik, Oro Faustino lost to Vaishali Rameshbabu, Lu Miaoyi bt Nogerbek Kazybek

Gukesh Dommaraju (2777) – Giri Anish (2731) 1. Nf3 Nf6 2. g3 d5 3. Bg2 c5 4. O-O Nc6 5. d4 e6 6. c4 dxc4 7. Qa4 Bd7 8. dxc5 Bxc5 9. Qxc4 Be7 10. Nc3 O-O 11. e4 Rc8 12. Qe2 Bc5 13. Bg5 h6 14. Bh4 g5 15. Nxg5 hxg5 16. Bxg5 e5 17. Qd2 Be7 18. Bh6 Kh7 19. Bxf8 Bxf8 20. f4 Be6 21. Nd5 Nb4 22. fxe5 Ng4 23. Rad1 Kh8 24. Kh1 Rc2 25. Qf4 Nxd5 26. Qf3 Qb6 27. exd5 Rf2 28. Qc3 Bb4 29. Qc1 Bf5 30. Qg5 Bf8 31. Qh4+ Bh6 32. Rde1 Qxb2 33. h3 Be4 34. Rxf2 Nxf2+ 35. Kg1 Qb6 36. Qf6+ Qxf6 37. exf6 Bxg2 38. Kxg2 Nd3 39. Re8+ Kh7 40. d6 Nc5 41. Re5 Nd7 42. Re7 1-0

Oro Faustino (2447) – Vaishali Rameshbabu (2476) 1. Nf3 d5 2. g3 g6 3. Bg2 Bg7 4. d4 Nf6 5. O-O O-O 6. c4 c6 7. Nc3 dxc4 8. e4 b5 9. Qe2 a5 10. Rd1 Nbd7 11. d5 cxd5 12. e5 b4 13. exf6 Nxf6 14. Nb5 Bd7 15. Nbd4 Rc8 16. Ne5 e6 17. Bh3 Re8 18. Qf3 c3 19. bxc3 Rxc3 20. Be3 Ba4 21. Rdc1 Qc7 22. Ng4 Nxg4 23. Qxg4 h5 24. Qg5 e5 25. Nb3 d4 26. Bd2 Rc2 27. Bf1 e4 28. Bb5 Bxb5 29. Qxb5 Rf8 30. Rab1 Kh7 31. Qd5 e3 32. fxe3 Rd8 33. Qe4 d3 34. Na1 f5 35. Qf3 Bc3 36. Nxc2 Bxd2 37. Nd4 Bxc1 38. Rb3 d2 39. Rd3 Rd7 40. Qa8 Bb2 41. Qe8 Bxd4 42. exd4 Re7 43. Qa4 Qc1+ 44. Kf2 Qe1+ 45. Kg2 Re2+ 46. Kh3 Qf1+ 47. Kh4 Kh6 48. g4 Rxh2+ 49. Kg3 0-1

Picture courtesy: Tata Steel Chess 2025

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