Tata Steel Praggnanandhaa’s chess champion reveals how Gukesh, Arjun inspired him to work harder – Firstpost

The young grandmaker R Praggnanandhaa recently released victorious during the steel chess competition 2025, defeating the world champion of Gukesh to win the title Masters. Praggnanandhaa obtained a welcome from the heroes in Chennai on Tuesday and the sports development authority of the Tamil Nadu (SDAT) welcomed it to the city.

Arriving in the city, Praggnanandhaa explained how Gukesh and Arjun Erigaisi inspired him to work harder.

‘I worked hard for that’: praggnanandhaa

“I did not have an excellent end until 2024. So I worked hard for that (the tournament). I am happy to have an excellent start this year. Gukesh has also played well. It was a break in fascinating equality. The results of other Indian chess players such as Gukesh win the world championship or Arjun Erigaisi Crossing 2800 (Cote Elo in conventional failures) inspired me to work harder. Another reason was that I was not satisfied with my game. I wanted to play better. So I continued to practice, “he said.

The victory also meant that Praggnanandhaa became the first Indian since Viswanathan Anand in 2006 to win the title of failures of Tata Steel, while Gukesh lost his first tournament since he became world champion last year. His first defeat in a match as world champion also came to the last round when he lost against Arjun Ergaisi.

Praggnanandhaa, on the other hand, lost his last round match against German director general Vincent Keymer in a match that lasted almost seven hours.

After the two players were at 8.5, a playoff match was played. Gukesh won the first match of the equality before Praggnanandhaa made the favor in the second. Praggnanandhaa then went better with a victory in sudden death to win the title.

Viswanathan Anand responded with a spiritual message to Praggnanandhaa after the latter’s triumph, reminding him that Anand won five titles of Tata steel chess. “The simple Panch Hai Pass .. Iykyk!”, He wrote on “X”.

https://twitter.com/vishy64theking/status/1886322053009355184?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw

Praggnanandhaa finished the tournament with six wins, five draws and two defeats while Gukesh won five games, attracted seven and lost one (excluding equality break).