Tata Steel Chess 2025: Praggnanandhaa beats Arjun Erigaisi in round three

GM Praggnanandhaa secured an important win with white pieces over India's no.1 Arjun Erigaisi in round three of the Tata Steel Chess 2025, on Monday.

With this win, Praggnanandhaa moves to the top of the points table with 2.5 points, level with Nodirbek Abdusattorov, who scored the only other win in round three.

Meanwhile, World champion Gukesh D drew his match against GM Fabio Caruana, whilst Leon Mendonca's match against Pentala Harikrishna also ended in a draw.

Positional excellence from Pragg

Playing with white pieces, Praggnandhaa and Arjun exchanged queens as early as move seven, which for Pragg seemed to be a bit 'shocking.'

"Arjun is known for his trying to play fighting chess and also more complex positions. This (queen exchange) is the only line I didn’t look at today because I didn’t think he would go for it," remarked Pragg after the match.

Arjun did manage to hold down his defense against Pragg's attack but a blunder in move 56 meant victory was certain for Praggnanandhaa, prompting Arjun to resign in move 60.

Thanks to the win, Praggnanandhaa has reentered the top 10 rankings in the live FIDE ratings.

World champion Gukesh D was held to a draw against USA's Fabio Caruana, and the teenage sensation has two points from three rounds.

Vaishali, Divya lose in challengers

Both Indian competitors in the challengers section Vaishali R and Divya Deshmukh suffered defeats in their respective matches today.

Vaishali lost to Kazybek Nogerbek, while Divya succumbed to Aydin Suleymanli.

Vaishali so far has 1.5 points and Divya is yet to register a win in this tournament, stuck in the bottom half of the standings with just 0.5 points.