Tata Steel 2025 R11: Praggnanandhaa scores a crucial win against Caruana, Gukesh now World no.3
D Gukesh drew with the defending champion, Wei Yi (CHN) to maintain his sole lead 8/11 at 87th Tata Steel Chess Masters 2025. Gukesh is now World no.3 with a live rating 2793.2. R Praggnanandhaa played a fantastic game to beat the World no.2, Fabiano Caruana (USA). Nodirbek Abdusattorov (UZB) drew with Vincent Keymer (GER) to maintain his chase. Both Praggnanandhaa and Abdusattorov are at 7.5/11 each. Leon Luke Mendonca scored his first win of the event against Vladimir Fedoseev (SLO). Pentala Harikrishna defeated Alexey Sarana (SRB). IM Divya Deshmukh scored her second win of the tournament, against IM Irina Bulmaga (ROU). Round 12 starts today at 2 p.m. local time, 6:30 p.m. IST for both Masters and Challengers section. Photo: Jurriaan Hoefsmit/Tata Steel Chess Tournament 2025
Leon scores his first win of the event against Fedoseev
Leon Luke Mendonca's first win of the tournament is a big one against Vladimir Fedoseev. He was having a great tournament until he suffered his second consecutive loss. GM Frederik Svane (GER) defeating GM Thai Dai Van Nguyen (CZE) allowed, GM Erwin L'Ami (NED) to emerge the new sole leader. Erwin go the better of IM Miaoyi Lu (CHN). GM Aydin Suleymanli (AZE) won against GM R Vaishali to move to 7.5/11, a half point behind Erwin 8/11. Both Suleymanli and Thai Dai Van are at 7.5/11 each. So the Challengers section is also heading for an interesting finish.
Caruana - Praggnanandhaa: 0-1
R Praggnanandhaa's (2741) last win in a Classical rated game against Fabiano Caruana (USA, 2803) occured at 12th Norway Chess last year. His most epic win against the World no.2 was at FIDE World Cup 2023 Semifinals. Praggnanandhaa mentioned in the post-game interview that he looked at 6...Bd6 before his game in the morning.
11.0-0-0 is a very interesting idea. It looks nice for White but computer prefers Black in this position.
The 45th Olympiad Gold medalist felt that White should have gone 19.e5 Be7 20.b5 in the above position. It was quite complicated and he was not sure what was going on because there were many interesting options for him like 20...Bd7. 19.Ka2 surprised Black as he did not really consider it.
32.Qe2/d2 were the safe choices for White. He could not find them in time trouble and blundered 32.Qe3?? Nxb3-+ and it was over for White.
Fedoseev - Leon: 0-1
Vladimir Fedoseev (SLO, 2717) and Leon Luke Mendonca (2639) have played two Classical rated games against each other. The first one was drawn back in 2019. Fedoseev won their last encounter at Grand Swiss in 2023. The teenager is relieved to win this game as he doubted if he would manage to win a single win at this tournament. Fedoseev played Catalan with the white pieces. Leon opted for 4...dxc4 which he felt that his opponent did not expect.
White made a mistake of retreating his bishop 27.Be2? Instead, waiting to play Bb5 would have been better to draw the game. 27...Ne4-+ 28.Bf3?? Nxf2 and it's over for White.
Sarana - Harikrishna: 0-1
Alexey Sarana (SRB, 2677) and Pentala Harikrishna (2695) played two Classical rated games against each other. Both ended in draws. However, this time Sarana went for an incorrect exchange.
White made the mistake of exchanging at c4, 25.Bxc4 bxc4 26.Rxc4 Ba4 27.Qxc4 Rxc4 Black won an exchange and eventually the game.
Schedule
Starting from Saturday 18th January to 2nd February, all round starts at 2 p.m. local time, 6:30 p.m. IST. Rest days are same for both Masters and Challengers section - 23rd, 27th and 30th January 2025.
Replay Live stream
Replay Round 11 Masters games
Replay Round 11 Challengers games
Round 11 results
Masters
| Bo. | No. | Rtg | White | Result | Black | Rtg | No. | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 6 | 2680 | GM | Van Foreest, Jorden | ½ - ½ | GM | Erigaisi, Arjun | 2801 | 14 | |
| 2 | 7 | 2777 | GM | Gukesh, D | ½ - ½ | GM | Wei, Yi | 2751 | 5 | |
| 3 | 8 | 2731 | GM | Giri, Anish | 1 - 0 | GM | Warmerdam, Max | 2646 | 4 | |
| 4 | 9 | 2717 | GM | Fedoseev, Vladimir | 0 - 1 | GM | Mendonca, Leon Luke | 2639 | 3 | |
| 5 | 10 | 2803 | GM | Caruana, Fabiano | 0 - 1 | GM | Praggnanandhaa, R | 2741 | 2 | |
| 6 | 11 | 2677 | GM | Sarana, Alexey | 0 - 1 | GM | Harikrishna, Pentala | 2695 | 1 | |
| 7 | 12 | 2733 | GM | Keymer, Vincent | ½ - ½ | GM | Abdusattorov, Nodirbek | 2768 | 13 |
Standings after Round 11
| Rk. | SNo | Name | FED | Rtg | TB1 | TB2 | TB3 | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 7 | GM | Gukesh, D | IND | 2777 | 8 | 0 | 42,25 |
| 2 | 2 | GM | Praggnanandhaa, R | IND | 2741 | 7,5 | 0 | 39,25 |
| 3 | 13 | GM | Abdusattorov, Nodirbek | UZB | 2768 | 7,5 | 0 | 38,75 |
| 4 | 9 | GM | Fedoseev, Vladimir | SLO | 2717 | 6 | 1 | 32,00 |
| 5 | 8 | GM | Giri, Anish | NED | 2731 | 6 | 1 | 31,75 |
| 6 | 5 | GM | Wei, Yi | CHN | 2751 | 6 | 3 | 31,25 |
| 7 | 10 | GM | Caruana, Fabiano | USA | 2803 | 5,5 | 0 | 29,75 |
| 8 | 1 | GM | Harikrishna, Pentala | IND | 2695 | 5,5 | 0 | 25,00 |
| 9 | 11 | GM | Sarana, Alexey | SRB | 2677 | 5 | 0 | 26,75 |
| 10 | 6 | GM | Van Foreest, Jorden | NED | 2680 | 4,5 | 0 | 22,75 |
| 11 | 12 | GM | Keymer, Vincent | GER | 2733 | 4,5 | 0 | 22,00 |
| 12 | 3 | GM | Mendonca, Leon Luke | IND | 2639 | 4 | 0 | 20,50 |
| 13 | 4 | GM | Warmerdam, Max | NED | 2646 | 3,5 | 1 | 16,25 |
| 14 | 14 | GM | Erigaisi, Arjun | IND | 2801 | 3,5 | 2 | 17,75 |
Round 12 pairings
| Bo. | No. | Rtg | White | Result | Black | Rtg | No. | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 14 | 2801 | GM | Erigaisi, Arjun | GM | Abdusattorov, Nodirbek | 2768 | 13 | ||
| 2 | 1 | 2695 | GM | Harikrishna, Pentala | GM | Keymer, Vincent | 2733 | 12 | ||
| 3 | 2 | 2741 | GM | Praggnanandhaa, R | GM | Sarana, Alexey | 2677 | 11 | ||
| 4 | 3 | 2639 | GM | Mendonca, Leon Luke | GM | Caruana, Fabiano | 2803 | 10 | ||
| 5 | 4 | 2646 | GM | Warmerdam, Max | GM | Fedoseev, Vladimir | 2717 | 9 | ||
| 6 | 5 | 2751 | GM | Wei, Yi | GM | Giri, Anish | 2731 | 8 | ||
| 7 | 6 | 2680 | GM | Van Foreest, Jorden | GM | Gukesh, D | 2777 | 7 |
Challengers
| Bo. | No. | Rtg | White | Result | Black | Rtg | No. | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 6 | 2447 | IM | Oro, Faustino | 0 - 1 | GM | Yakubboev, Nodirbek | 2659 | 14 | |
| 2 | 7 | 2429 | IM | Lu, Miaoyi | 0 - 1 | GM | L'Ami, Erwin | 2614 | 5 | |
| 3 | 8 | 2514 | GM | Nogerbek, Kazybek | ½ - ½ | GM | Gurel, Ediz | 2624 | 4 | |
| 4 | 9 | 2476 | GM | Vaishali, Rameshbabu | 0 - 1 | GM | Suleymanli, Aydin | 2623 | 3 | |
| 5 | 10 | 2664 | GM | Svane, Frederik | 1 - 0 | GM | Nguyen, Thai Dai Van | 2668 | 2 | |
| 6 | 11 | 2386 | IM | Bulmaga, Irina | 0 - 1 | IM | Divya, Deshmukh | 2490 | 1 | |
| 7 | 12 | 2583 | GM | Bok, Benjamin | ½ - ½ | IM | Pijpers, Arthur | 2474 | 13 |
Standings after Round 11
| Rk. | SNo | Name | FED | Rtg | TB1 | TB2 | TB3 | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 5 | GM | L'Ami, Erwin | NED | 2614 | 8 | 0 | 38,50 |
| 2 | 2 | GM | Nguyen, Thai Dai Van | CZE | 2668 | 7,5 | 0 | 39,25 |
| 3 | 3 | GM | Suleymanli, Aydin | AZE | 2623 | 7,5 | 0 | 39,00 |
| 4 | 12 | GM | Bok, Benjamin | NED | 2583 | 7 | 0 | 33,25 |
| 5 | 10 | GM | Svane, Frederik | GER | 2664 | 7 | 0 | 32,50 |
| 6 | 4 | GM | Gurel, Ediz | TUR | 2624 | 6 | 1 | 28,00 |
| 7 | 8 | GM | Nogerbek, Kazybek | KAZ | 2514 | 6 | 2 | 28,25 |
| 8 | 14 | GM | Yakubboev, Nodirbek | UZB | 2659 | 6 | 3 | 28,00 |
| 9 | 7 | IM | Lu, Miaoyi | CHN | 2429 | 5,5 | 0 | 28,25 |
| 10 | 13 | IM | Pijpers, Arthur | NED | 2474 | 5 | 0 | 25,25 |
| 11 | 9 | GM | Vaishali, Rameshbabu | IND | 2476 | 5 | 0 | 22,75 |
| 12 | 1 | IM | Divya, Deshmukh | IND | 2490 | 3 | 0 | 13,25 |
| 13 | 6 | IM | Oro, Faustino | ARG | 2447 | 2,5 | 0 | 6,50 |
| 14 | 11 | IM | Bulmaga, Irina | ROU | 2386 | 1 | 0 | 5,25 |
Round 12 pairings
| Bo. | No. | Rtg | White | Result | Black | Rtg | No. | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 14 | 2659 | GM | Yakubboev, Nodirbek | IM | Pijpers, Arthur | 2474 | 13 | ||
| 2 | 1 | 2490 | IM | Divya, Deshmukh | GM | Bok, Benjamin | 2583 | 12 | ||
| 3 | 2 | 2668 | GM | Nguyen, Thai Dai Van | IM | Bulmaga, Irina | 2386 | 11 | ||
| 4 | 3 | 2623 | GM | Suleymanli, Aydin | GM | Svane, Frederik | 2664 | 10 | ||
| 5 | 4 | 2624 | GM | Gurel, Ediz | GM | Vaishali, Rameshbabu | 2476 | 9 | ||
| 6 | 5 | 2614 | GM | L'Ami, Erwin | GM | Nogerbek, Kazybek | 2514 | 8 | ||
| 7 | 6 | 2447 | IM | Oro, Faustino | IM | Lu, Miaoyi | 2429 | 7 |
Time Control
100 minutes for 40 moves, followed by 50 minutes for the remaining moves with 30 seconds increment for each move starting from the first move.
