Chess
Tata Steel Chess Wijk aan Zee: Arjun, Praggnanandhaa lose as Indians continue to struggle
Gukesh Dommaraju played out a draw with Aravindh Chitambaram.
R Praggnanandhaa (Photo credit: Grand Chess Tour/Twitter)
The struggles continued to grow for Indian Grandmasters at the 2026 Tata Steel Chess Masters in Wijk aan Zee as Arjun Erigaisi and Praggnanandhaa Rameshbabu both fell to loses in their respective Round 11 matches on Friday.
Erigaisi, who had the white pieces, was outplayed by the 2025 FIDE World Cup winner Javokhir Sindarov. The Uzbek Grandmaster went on to joint the leader Nodirbek Abdusattorov at top of the standings as the race for the title heats up.
Praggnanandhaa, meanwhile, lost out to Vincent Keymer of Germany, marking his third loss in the tournament.
The reigning world chess champion Gukesh Dommaraju, on the other hand, played out a draw with the white pieces against fellow Indian Aravindh Chitambaram.
With just two rounds of play left, Gukesh is the best placed Indian at the eighth spot with 5.5 points after 11 rounds.
Reigning Tata Steel Masters champion Praggnanandhaa has 4.5 points and is placed 11th.
Aravindh and Erigaisi occupy the 12th and 13th spot with 4 points apiece in what is a 14-player field.