Defending champion R Praggnanandhaa suffered his second consecutive defeat at the Tata Steel Masters Chess as he went down to Nodirbek Abdusattorov of Uzbekistan, while world champion D Gukesh was held to a draw by Jorden van Foreest of the Netherlands in Wijk Aan Zee on Sunday.
Praggnanandhaa, who enjoyed a prolific run through much of 2025, appeared to run out of steam as a seemingly drawable endgame slipped away against the Uzbek grandmaster. With no points from his first two games, the Indian currently occupies the bottom of the standings and faces a steep task in the remaining 11 rounds.
Gukesh, meanwhile, was involved in a hard-fought encounter with van Foreest and settled for his second successive draw, taking his tally to one point.
Top seed Arjun Erigaisi, who had defeated Praggnanandhaa in the opening round, attempted to press for victory against Thai Dai Van Nguyen of the Czech Republic but failed to breach his opponent’s defences. The draw kept Erigaisi in joint lead on 1.5 points, alongside Hans Moke Niemann of the United States and Abdusattorov.
Aravindh Chithambaram, the fourth Indian in the field, also drew his game against Yagiz Kaan Erdogmus of Turkey, moving to one point from two rounds.
Also read: Tata Steel Masters Chess: Gukesh draws with Sindarov
With three players at the top on 1.5 points, nine others are in close pursuit a half-point behind. Local favourite Anish Giri is placed 13th on half a point, just ahead of Praggnanandhaa.
In his game, Praggnanandhaa opted for the Queen’s Gambit Declined and appeared comfortable in equalising with the black pieces. Abdusattorov waited patiently before capitalising on an error by the Indian on his 31st move, emerging a pawn up in a rook-and-pawn endgame.
Despite expert opinion suggesting the position remained drawable, Praggnanandhaa failed to find the necessary precision and resigned on his 60th move.
Erigaisi, too, employed the Queen’s Gambit but found himself under some pressure in the early middlegame. Although he attempted a repetition that was declined by Nguyen, the contest eventually simplified into a rook-and-pawn ending that ended peacefully.
Gukesh pressed hard with the white pieces against van Foreest, but the Dutchman defended resolutely. Following an irregular opening, the game entered a complex middlegame, with Gukesh sacrificing a bishop to force perpetual checks.
Chithambaram escaped from trouble against Erdogmus after a Sicilian Defence, while Vladimir Fedoseev of Slovenia recovered from his opening-round loss by defeating Vincent Keymer of Germany.
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