NEW DELHI: Following one of the most highly anticipated clashes of Round 10, India’s Gukesh Dommaraju maintained his lead at the top of the Masters leaderboard at the 2025 Tata Steel Chess Tournament, defeating Dutchman Max Warmerdam on his home soil in Wijk aan Zee on Wednesday.
Defending with the black pieces, Gukesh responded to the King’s Pawn Opening with an out-of-the-box Pirc Defense. Showing early aggression, the youngest-ever World Chess Champion captured Warmerdam’s first piece, the Queen’s Pawn, with Cxd4.
With the Chennai-born grandmaster maintaining his aggressive stance, continued pressure from his pieces ultimately provoked a blunder from the 24-year-old Dutchman.
As Gukesh captured Warmerdam’s rook with Qxc8 on move 27, Warmerdam, in a desperate attempt to attack Gukesh’s queen, played Rc1.
The advantage was now entirely in Gukesh’s hands, and he capitalised immediately, playing Nxg3 on move 30. With no escape from the mounting pressure, Warmerdam resigned, sealing Gukesh’s second consecutive win in the 87th edition of the “Wimbledon of Chess”.
The game between Slovenia’s Vladimir Fedoseev and Praggnanandhaa Rameshbabu was another thriller. One of the tournament’s most formidable, in-form players, Fedoseev had already defeated Arjun Erigaisi, Fabiano Caruana, Vincent Keymer, and Pentala Harikrishna, suffering only one loss — to Alexey Sarana — before facing Praggnanandhaa in this Round 10 matchup.
An unconventional Tarrasch Defense with the Two Knights Variation saw Fedoseev, defending with black, deploy his pieces in an early offensive.
However, as he concentrated on stacking up his pieces on the left side of the board, Praggnanandhaa remained composed, refraining from an overzealous push and ensuring he retained the upper hand.
With the queens traded off by move 36, Praggnanandhaa delivered a decisive rook check before successfully promoting his d8 pawn to a queen.
With that, the game was effectively over, giving the Indian grandmaster a much-needed victory after his crushing defeat to Dutch No. 1 Anish Giri on Tuesday.
Elsewhere, Arjun Erigaisi mounted a recovery with a much-needed draw against Germany’s Vincent Keymer, while last year’s Challengers winner, Leon Luke Mendonca, held off Giri in a 30-move battle.
Meanwhile, Nodirbek Abdusattorov, Gukesh’s closest rival in the standings, secured a crucial win over Alexey Sarana with the white pieces. Pentala Harikrishna and Fabiano Caruana, after a gruelling 68-move duel, agreed to a draw.
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In the Challengers section, it was a tough day for the Indian contingent as Vaishali Rameshbabu and Divya Deshmukh both suffered defeats, losing to table-topper Thai Dai Van Nguyen and Frederik Svane, respectively.
39-year-old Erwin l’Ami edged past 11-year-old Argentine sensation Faustino Oro in a hard-fought game, while China’s 14-year-old Lu Miaoyi played to a draw against Türkiye’s formidable Ediz Gurel.
Tata Steel Chess Tournament 2025: Round 10
- Masters standings: Gukesh (7.5), Nodirbek Abdusattorov (7.0), Praggnanandhaa (6.5), Vladimir Fedoseev (6.0), Fabiano Caruana (5.5), Wei Yi (5.5), Anish Giri (5.0), Alexey Sarana (5.0), Pentala Harikrishna (4.5), Jorden van Foreest (4.0), Vincent Keymer (4.0), Max Warmerdam (3.5), Arjun Erigaisi (3.0), Leon Luke Mendonca (3.0).
- Challengers standings: Thai Dai van Nguyen (7.5), Erwin l’Ami (7.0), Aydin Suleymanli (6.5), Benjamin Bok (6.5), Frederik Svane (6.0), Miaoyi (5.5), Ediz Gurel (5.5), Kazybek Nogerbek (5.5), Nodirbek Yakubboev (5.0), Vaishali (5.0), Arthur Pijpers (4.5), Faustino Oro (2.5), Divya Deshmukh (2.0), Irina Bulmaga (1.0).
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