After losses in Round 13, D Gukesh and R Praggnanandhaa played out a tie-breaker in the 2025 Tata Steel Chess Masters, with the former coming good in sudden-death to win.

The teenager became the first Indian after Viswanathan Anand to win the title. Anand won it thrice (2003, 2004 and 2006) individually when it was called the Corus Chess Tournament,

The Tata Steel Chess 2025 Masters title was decided in playoffs after both joint leaders D Gukesh and R Praggnanandhaa lost their matches in Round 13 and were forced to participate in tiebreakers. Praggnanandhaa stunned chess world champions Gukesh in playoffs to clinch the Tata Steel Chess 2025 Masters title.

Praggnanandhaa’s remarkable comeback in the tiebreaker showcased his resilience and strategic prowess. After losing the first blitz match with the black pieces, he bounced back to claim victory in the second match with white, forcing a sudden death scenario.

For Gukesh, this was the second year running when he tied for first position and lost the tiebreaker. In the previous edition last year, Gukesh had lost to Chinese Wei Yi

The Indian juggernaut in international chess remained unstoppable as Grandmaster R Praggnanandhaa fought through exhaustion and nerves to defeat world champion D Gukesh in a clash of compatriots to clinch the Tata Steel Masters title for the first time in his prolific career.

Despite the loss, Praggnanandhaa will play tie-break games of shorter duration against Gukesh after the two ended with identical 8.5 points each. The other contender Nodirbek Abdusattorov of Uzbekistan was denied the full point by P Harikrishna, who played a hard fought draw.

Praggnanandhaa notched up his third consecutive win to take his tally to a commendable 8.5 points, same as his compatriot Gukesh after the 12th and penultimate

Grandmaster R Praggnanandhaa triumphed at the Tata Steel Masters chess event in Netherlands, defeating world champion D. Gukesh 2-1 in the tiebreaker.

Reigning World Chess champion D Gukesh was left devastated after his shocking title defeat to his compatriot R Praggnanandhaa at the Tata Steel Masters 2025 in Wijk aan Zee, Netherlands on Monday, February 3.