D GUKESH suffered his first defeat since he was crowned the youngest world champion in the history of chess in December, with the compatriot Arjun Erigaisi surpassing him in 31 movements to sign the Tata Steel chess tournament with consecutive victories.
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D Gukesh suffered his first defeat since he was crowned the youngest world chess champion in December, losing against compatriot Arjun Erigaisi in the Tata Steel chess tournament on Sunday. Gukesh, who had defeated the great Chinese master Ding Liren, to be crowned the 18th and the youngest world champion of Singapore chess in December, ended up losing against Arjun despite white pieces, swiring in 31 movements.
It was after starting with the opening of a king’s pawn who turned into a defense of a Petrov: the classic variation, and played some good movements (9. Bg2; 13. D4), initiating a bishop exchange in the 14th blow. Things, however, began to go down for the 18 -year -old GM after canceling the promising start with some doubtful movements (18. RD1; 20. BF4).
The King and Queen of Gukesh were finally trapped by the Arjun towers along the “H” file (1 and 2) in the 31st blow, and at that time, it was for him. Gukesh had recently exceeded Arjun as the best classified Indian player, but on Sunday, it was the latter who reminded his good friend a recall of the competence and the state of mind that made him the one Best players worldwide in the current generation.
🇮🇳 GUKESH D 0-1 ARJUN Erigaisi 🇮🇳
🇮🇳 GUKESH D has undergone his first defeat since he became world champion, losing against 🇮🇳 Arjun Erigaisi in the Tata Steel Masters 2025 final.
This is Arjun’s second consecutive victory. With this result, 🇮🇳 Praggnanandhaa R can secure the tournament… pic.twitter.com/wgqvjr6znz
– International Federation of Chess (@Fide_chess) February 2, 2025
Gukesh missed the opportunity to seal Tata Steel’s chess title with a victory, but was not the only Indian to finish the losing side on Sunday.
R Praggnanandhaa, who was tied with 8.50 points with Gukesh before the final round with the two Indians sharing first place in the Masters classification, lost against the German Grand Master Vincent Keymer while playing with black pieces. Praggnanandhaa, who has only one year more than Gukesh, went after having waged a fierce battle that lasted until the 80th movement.
While Arjun finished 10th with consecutive victories after failing to win a single match in the first 11 laps, Gukesh and Praggnanandhaa remained equally with 8.50 points after losing their last games. Nodirbek Abdusattorov could have joined the two and making a three-piece of three for the title if he had won his last match.
Uzbekistan GM, however, was held in a draw by the Pentala Harikrishna of India, which means that Gukesh or Praggnanandhaa would only become the second Indian to win the prestigious tournament after the legendary Viswanathan Anand.
