Tata Steel 2025 R8: Praggnanandhaa draws with Gukesh, maintains three-way lead with Abdusattorov
R Praggnanandhaa got the opening he was expecting against D Gukesh in Round 8 of 87th Tata Steel Masters 2025. The FIDE World Cup 2023 runner-up thought that his opponent knew the line after 9...0-0, so he didn't want to test his opponent. Instead, played a move on the board which he later felt to be not a good move. The game eventually ended in a draw. Arjun Erigaisi, Pentala Harikrishna and Leon Luke Mendonca shared the point with Alexey Sarana (SRB), Anish Giri (NED) and Jorden van Foreest (NED) respectively. Today is the second rest day. Round 9 starts tomorrow Tuesday 28th January at 2 p.m. local time, 6:30 p.m. IST for both Masters and Challengers section. Photo: Jurriaan Hoefsmit/Tata Steel Chess Tournament 2025
Challengers: Thai Dai Van emerges sole leader
World no.2 Fabiano Caruana (USA) and the defending champion, Wei Yi (CHN) scored the only wins of the round in the Masters against Vincent Keymer (GER) and Max Warmerdam (NED). The Challengers section witnessed four decisive games. GM R Vaishali was held to a draw by IM Arthur Pijpers (NED). In the battle of the reigning World Junior champions, GM Kazybek Nogerbek (KAZ) prevailed over IM Divya Deshmukh. GM Thai Dai Van Nguyen (CZE) gained sole lead with a victory over IM Miaoyi Lu (CHN).
Abdusattorov, Gukesh and Praggnanandhaa are currently leading with a score 5/7 each. Vladimir Fedoseev (SLO) is trailing by a half point at 4.5/7. In the Challengers section, Thai Dai Van Nguyen (CZE) joined the lead with Erwin L'Ami (NED) at 5/7. GM Benjamin Bok (NED) and IM Miaoyi Lu (CHN) are at 4.5/7 each.
Praggnanandhaa - Gukesh: 0.5-0.5
R Praggnanandhaa (2741) has not defeated D Gukesh (2777) in a Classical rated game since April 2022. It remained unchanged yesterday.
Schedule
Starting from Saturday 18th January to 2nd February, all round starts at 2 p.m. local time, 6:30 p.m. IST. Rest days are same for both Masters and Challengers section - 23rd, 27th and 30th January 2025.
Replay Live stream
Replay Round 8 Masters games
Replay Round 8 Challengers games
Round 8 results
Masters
| Bo. | No. | Rtg | White | Result | Black | Rtg | No. | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 14 | 2801 | GM | Erigaisi, Arjun | ½ - ½ | GM | Sarana, Alexey | 2677 | 11 | |
| 2 | 12 | 2733 | GM | Keymer, Vincent | 0 - 1 | GM | Caruana, Fabiano | 2803 | 10 | |
| 3 | 13 | 2768 | GM | Abdusattorov, Nodirbek | ½ - ½ | GM | Fedoseev, Vladimir | 2717 | 9 | |
| 4 | 1 | 2695 | GM | Harikrishna, Pentala | ½ - ½ | GM | Giri, Anish | 2731 | 8 | |
| 5 | 2 | 2741 | GM | Praggnanandhaa, R | ½ - ½ | GM | Gukesh, D | 2777 | 7 | |
| 6 | 3 | 2639 | GM | Mendonca, Leon Luke | ½ - ½ | GM | Van Foreest, Jorden | 2680 | 6 | |
| 7 | 4 | 2646 | GM | Warmerdam, Max | 0 - 1 | GM | Wei, Yi | 2751 | 5 |
Standings after Round 8
| Rk. | SNo | Name | FED | Rtg | TB1 | TB2 | TB3 | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 7 | GM | Gukesh, D | IND | 2777 | 5,5 | 0 | 23,00 |
| 2 | 13 | GM | Abdusattorov, Nodirbek | UZB | 2768 | 5,5 | 0 | 20,50 |
| 3 | 2 | GM | Praggnanandhaa, R | IND | 2741 | 5,5 | 0 | 19,25 |
| 4 | 9 | GM | Fedoseev, Vladimir | SLO | 2717 | 5 | 0 | 18,25 |
| 5 | 11 | GM | Sarana, Alexey | SRB | 2677 | 4,5 | 0 | 18,00 |
| 6 | 5 | GM | Wei, Yi | CHN | 2751 | 4,5 | 0 | 17,75 |
| 7 | 10 | GM | Caruana, Fabiano | USA | 2803 | 4,5 | 0 | 16,00 |
| 8 | 1 | GM | Harikrishna, Pentala | IND | 2695 | 4 | 0 | 11,75 |
| 9 | 8 | GM | Giri, Anish | NED | 2731 | 3,5 | 0 | 14,25 |
| 10 | 12 | GM | Keymer, Vincent | GER | 2733 | 3 | 1 | 9,50 |
| 11 | 6 | GM | Van Foreest, Jorden | NED | 2680 | 3 | 2 | 12,25 |
| 12 | 4 | GM | Warmerdam, Max | NED | 2646 | 3 | 2 | 9,75 |
| 13 | 3 | GM | Mendonca, Leon Luke | IND | 2639 | 2,5 | 0 | 8,25 |
| 14 | 14 | GM | Erigaisi, Arjun | IND | 2801 | 2 | 0 | 7,50 |
Round 9 pairings
| Bo. | No. | Rtg | White | Result | Black | Rtg | No. | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 5 | 2751 | GM | Wei, Yi | GM | Erigaisi, Arjun | 2801 | 14 | ||
| 2 | 6 | 2680 | GM | Van Foreest, Jorden | GM | Warmerdam, Max | 2646 | 4 | ||
| 3 | 7 | 2777 | GM | Gukesh, D | GM | Mendonca, Leon Luke | 2639 | 3 | ||
| 4 | 8 | 2731 | GM | Giri, Anish | GM | Praggnanandhaa, R | 2741 | 2 | ||
| 5 | 9 | 2717 | GM | Fedoseev, Vladimir | GM | Harikrishna, Pentala | 2695 | 1 | ||
| 6 | 10 | 2803 | GM | Caruana, Fabiano | GM | Abdusattorov, Nodirbek | 2768 | 13 | ||
| 7 | 11 | 2677 | GM | Sarana, Alexey | GM | Keymer, Vincent | 2733 | 12 |
Challengers
| Bo. | No. | Rtg | White | Result | Black | Rtg | No. | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 14 | 2659 | GM | Yakubboev, Nodirbek | 1 - 0 | IM | Bulmaga, Irina | 2386 | 11 | |
| 2 | 12 | 2583 | GM | Bok, Benjamin | ½ - ½ | GM | Svane, Frederik | 2664 | 10 | |
| 3 | 13 | 2474 | IM | Pijpers, Arthur | ½ - ½ | GM | Vaishali, Rameshbabu | 2476 | 9 | |
| 4 | 1 | 2490 | IM | Divya, Deshmukh | 0 - 1 | GM | Nogerbek, Kazybek | 2514 | 8 | |
| 5 | 2 | 2668 | GM | Nguyen, Thai Dai Van | 1 - 0 | IM | Lu, Miaoyi | 2429 | 7 | |
| 6 | 3 | 2623 | GM | Suleymanli, Aydin | 1 - 0 | IM | Oro, Faustino | 2447 | 6 | |
| 7 | 4 | 2624 | GM | Gurel, Ediz | ½ - ½ | GM | L'Ami, Erwin | 2614 | 5 |
Standings after Round 8
| Rk. | SNo | Name | FED | Rtg | TB1 | TB2 | TB3 | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 2 | GM | Nguyen, Thai Dai Van | CZE | 2668 | 6 | 0 | 22,00 |
| 2 | 5 | GM | L'Ami, Erwin | NED | 2614 | 5,5 | 0 | 18,75 |
| 3 | 12 | GM | Bok, Benjamin | NED | 2583 | 5 | 1 | 20,50 |
| 4 | 3 | GM | Suleymanli, Aydin | AZE | 2623 | 5 | 2 | 17,75 |
| 5 | 8 | GM | Nogerbek, Kazybek | KAZ | 2514 | 5 | 2 | 15,25 |
| 6 | 7 | IM | Lu, Miaoyi | CHN | 2429 | 4,5 | 1 | 15,25 |
| 7 | 9 | GM | Vaishali, Rameshbabu | IND | 2476 | 4,5 | 2 | 15,50 |
| 8 | 10 | GM | Svane, Frederik | GER | 2664 | 4,5 | 3 | 15,50 |
| 9 | 4 | GM | Gurel, Ediz | TUR | 2624 | 4 | 1 | 13,75 |
| 10 | 14 | GM | Yakubboev, Nodirbek | UZB | 2659 | 4 | 2 | 12,25 |
| 11 | 13 | IM | Pijpers, Arthur | NED | 2474 | 3 | 0 | 13,50 |
| 12 | 6 | IM | Oro, Faustino | ARG | 2447 | 2,5 | 0 | 4,00 |
| 13 | 1 | IM | Divya, Deshmukh | IND | 2490 | 1,5 | 0 | 7,00 |
| 14 | 11 | IM | Bulmaga, Irina | ROU | 2386 | 1 | 0 | 4,50 |
Round 9 pairings
| Bo. | No. | Rtg | White | Result | Black | Rtg | No. | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 5 | 2614 | GM | L'Ami, Erwin | GM | Yakubboev, Nodirbek | 2659 | 14 | ||
| 2 | 6 | 2447 | IM | Oro, Faustino | GM | Gurel, Ediz | 2624 | 4 | ||
| 3 | 7 | 2429 | IM | Lu, Miaoyi | GM | Suleymanli, Aydin | 2623 | 3 | ||
| 4 | 8 | 2514 | GM | Nogerbek, Kazybek | GM | Nguyen, Thai Dai Van | 2668 | 2 | ||
| 5 | 9 | 2476 | GM | Vaishali, Rameshbabu | IM | Divya, Deshmukh | 2490 | 1 | ||
| 6 | 10 | 2664 | GM | Svane, Frederik | IM | Pijpers, Arthur | 2474 | 13 | ||
| 7 | 11 | 2386 | IM | Bulmaga, Irina | GM | Bok, Benjamin | 2583 | 12 |
Time Control
100 minutes for 40 moves, followed by 50 minutes for the remaining moves with 30 seconds increment for each move starting from the first move.
