D Gukesh was devastated after his tie-breaker defeat to R Praggnanandhaa at the Tata Chess Masters, in Wijk aan Zee.

Indian grandmaster R Praggnanandhaa achieved a remarkable comeback to defeat world champion D Gukesh 2-1 in the tiebreaker at Tata Steel Chess Tournam

In the second game, Gukesh had a fine position but was gradually outplayed. In the third game, the decider, Praggnanandhaa was again on the defensive with his white pieces but then found some nice moves and Gukesh got overambitious in a position that would have been a draw otherwise.

The tiebreaker was necessitated after Gukesh lost to fellow Indian Arjun Erigaisi while Praggnanandhaa went down to Vincent Keymer of Germany

In the tie-breaker between two Chennai players played in the blitz format, Pragg was the underdog because of exhaustion.

The World Champion D Gukesh faced a tough contest against Grandmaster R Pragnanandhaa in the Tata Steel Masters 2025 Chess final held at Wijk aan Zee, Netherlands. The event was between two Indian stars, which ended with same points after 13 rounds. Pragnanandhaa needed a draw to clinch the title, which he successfully did.

Gukesh’s first loss as world champion was followed by Pragg’s defeat, leaving both tied at the top. Pragg won the tiebreaker against Gukesh to clinch title

Praggnanandhaa becomes only the second Indian after Viswanathan Anand to win the Tata Steel Chess Masters title.