D Gukesh or R Praggnanandhaa? Who will win Tata Steel Chess 2025? Scenarios explained – Firstpost

The 87th edition of the Tata Steel chess tournament in the Netherlands reached its 13th and last round and seems to take place on Sunday for an exciting conclusion. The defending world champion Gukesh Domomiraju and Ramehbabu praggnanandhaa are currently sharing the head, and the two young people have a strong chance of becoming the second Indian after the legendary Viswanathan Anand for winning the prestigious annual tournament.

GUKESH, world n ° 3, is one of the only two players in the current tournament not to lose a single match so far, the other being the great Chinese master Wei Yi, who had won the tournament the year last. Yi, however, is found in sixth place after winning a single 12 -round victory, while Gukesh has won five victories so far.

Praggnanandhaa’s victory over the Russian-Serbian GM Alexey Sarana a turn on Saturday on Saturday allowed him to go to the level with Gukesh, who was held in a dead end by the Dutch GM Jorden Van Forest. Meanwhile, Arjun Erigaisi recorded his first victory for the tournament after a series of draws and defeats, beating Nodirbek on Saturday to sit in 12th place in 14 players.

With the final round currently underway in the Dutch city of Wijk Aan Zee, 40 kilometers northwest of the capital Amsterdam, we take a look at some of the scenarios that await Gukesh and Praggnanandhaa:

Gukesh and Praggnanandhaa win

If Gukesh beat the compatriot Erigaisi on Tour 13 and Praggnanandhaa obtain a similar result against the German Grand Master Vincent Keymer, the two players will finish 9.50 points. In this case, a BLIP-TUE -Blip will be played between the two players to determine the champion of the 2025 edition.

One of the two victories, the other draws / loses

The two players are tied on 8.50 points for the moment, which means that if one of them wins and the other is held in a draw or resigned, the tournament will have an undisputed champion. Whether gukesh or pragg is something that remains to be seen and will be confirmed later on Sunday.

Gukesh and praggnanandhaa shoot / lose

If the two players end up drawing their respective matches, then the winner of the TATA 2025 steel chess tournament will be an Indian – just that Gukesh and Praggnanandhaa will then play a Blitz break to determine the champion.

An equal break will also take place if the two players lose their match. The only difference is that Nodirbek could join them and make a break in equality of three if he beats Pentala Harikrishna on the last round on Sunday, because he is currently third in the masters’ ranking with 7.5 points.