R Praggnanandhaa Loses Again; D Gukesh Draws With Jorden Van Foreest At Tata Steel Masters

Last Updated:January 19, 2026, 10:16 IST

R Praggnanandhaa loses to Nodirbek Abdusattorov in Tata Steel Masters Chess as D Gukesh draws with Jorden van Foreest.

R. Praggnanandhaa was outplayed by Nodirbek Abdusattarov (PTI Photo)

Defending champion R Praggnanandhaa lost his second match in as many days, succumbing to Nodirbek Abdusattorov of Uzbekistan, while D Gukesh was held to a draw by the Netherlands’ Jorden van Foreest in the Tata Steel Masters Chess.

Having excelled for most of 2025, Praggnanandhaa seems to be losing momentum as a drawn endgame turned into a painful defeat against the Uzbek on Sunday.

With no points from the first two games, Praggnanandhaa is at the bottom of the table and must make a strong comeback in the remaining 11 rounds to mount a challenge.

Meanwhile, world champion Gukesh was held to a draw by van Foreest in another hard-fought game, taking his tally to one point following his second draw.

After defeating Praggnanandhaa in the opener, Arjun Erigaisi attempted to breach Thai Dai Van Nguyen’s defences but did not succeed. The top-seeded Indian, however, remains in joint lead with Hans Moke Niemann of the United States and Abdusattorov, all on 1.5 points.

The fourth Indian competitor, Aravindh Chithambaram, played out a draw with Yagiz Kaan Erdogmus of Turkey, also bringing his tally to one point out of a possible two.

With three players ahead, nine others are closely pursuing, just half a point behind, with local star Anish Giri in 13th spot with half a point, just ahead of Praggnanandhaa.

Praggnanandhaa employed the Queen’s Gambit Declined and initially had no trouble equalising with the black pieces. Nodirbek waited for the position to open up and gained a pawn in the rook and pawns endgame after the Indian erred on his 31st move.

Despite significant technicalities, experts believed the endgame should have resulted in a draw. However, Praggnanandhaa could not find a way to equalise and surrendered on his 60th turn.

Arjun also employed the Queen’s Gambit and faced difficulties in the early stages of the middle game. He even attempted a repetition of moves, which Nguyen rejected, leading to another rook and pawns endgame and a draw.

Gukesh pressed hard with his white pieces against Foreest, who effectively maintained counter-play. After an irregular opening sequence, the game became complicated, and Gukesh sacrificed a Bishop to force perpetual checks.

Aravindh Chithambaram was fortunate to escape defeat against young Yagiz Kaan Erdogmus of Turkey in a Sicilian Defence game, while Vladimir Fedoseev of Slovenia bounced back after an uncharacteristic defeat in the opener by beating Vincent Keymer of Germany.

Results round 2: D Gukesh (1) drew with Jorden van Foreest (Ned, 1); Thai Dai Van Nguyen (Cze, 1) drew with Arjun Erigaisi (1.5); Nodirbek Abdusattorov (Uzb, 1.5) beat R Praggnanandhaa (0); Yagiz Kaan Erdogmus (Tur, 1) drew with Aravindh Chithambaram (1); Matthias Bluebaum (Ger, 1) drew with Hans Moke Niemann (Usa, 1.5); Vladimir Fedoseev (Slo, 1) beat Vincent Keymer (Ger, 1); Anish Giri (Ned, 0.5) drew with Javokhir Sindarov (Uzb, 1)

(With PTI Inputs)

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