Chess
Tata Steel Chess: Gukesh opens with victory, Praggnanandhaa settles for a draw
Gukesh Dommaraju won his first game as world champion while his world championship second, Pentala Harikrishna also won.
Gukesh Dommaraju (Photo Credit: Eng Chin An/FIDE)
World Champion Gukesh Dommaraju won in his first game after his World Championship triumph. He took a joint lead at the 2025 Tata Steel Chess Tournament after the first round in the Netherlands, on Saturday.
Gukesh's World Championship seconds, Vincent Keymer of Germany and Pentala Harikrishna, also earned victories to end the day in a joint top position with Gukesh. Meanwhile, R. Praggnanandhaa played out a draw.
A comeback win for D Gukesh
Gukesh took down the Dutch GM Anish Giri in the opening round. Anish had a significant lead from the middlegame as he put a lot of pressure on Gukesh in a topsy-turvy game.
However, on move 35, Anish made a major blunder and was forced to exchange his queen due to a check. After this, Gukesh was in a completely winning position from an almost losing position.
Although the quality of the match wasn't great, as both players had an accuracy below 90%, Gukesh still managed to grind out a win to continue his winning streak in classical chess.
Meanwhile, R Praggnanandha held on to a 46-move draw against Uzbekistan's Nodirbek Abdusattorov in a three-fold position at his first-round encounter.
Harikrishna beats Arjun Erigaisi
In another exciting match of the day, an all-Indian clash, GM Pentala Harikrishna defeated World No. 4 Arjun Erigaisi with very solid gameplay in a marathon 63-move match.
Harikrishna, who helped Gukesh at the World Championship, didn't give Arjun any chance in the match and kept his advantage throughout to showcase his experience and grind out the win.
On the other hand, another of Gukesh's seconds, Vincent Keymer of Germany, also claimed a victory in the first round, defeating another young Indian player, Leon Luke Mendonca.
