Praggnanandhaa draws level with Gukesh at top of standings
Indian Grandmaster R Praggnanandhaa drew level with D Gukesh at the top of the standings at the end of the 12th and penultimate round of Tata Steel Masters in the Netherlands on Saturday. Praggnanandhaa defeated Serbia’s Alexey Sarana of Serbia to register his third straight victory and took his tally to 8.5 points to become the joint topper on the table. Earlier in the day, D Gukesh looked well poised to retain his sole lead on nine points. But a draw against Dutchman Jorden van Foreest meant Gukesh had to settle for 8.5 points, the same as Praggnanandhaa. Arjun Erigaisi, another Indian in the fray, meanwhile, ended the hopes of Nodirbek Abdusattorov of Uzbekistan by scoring a brilliant victory with white pieces. Abdusattorov slipped to third spot with 7.5 points. These are the standings going into the final round of Tata Steel Chess 2025. We have a 2-way tie between Praggnanandhaa and Gukesh in the Masters, and a 3-way-tie between Suleymanli, Erwin and Nguyen in the Challengers group. Do you think we’ll get to see …
