THE HAGUE, Feb. 2 (Xinhua) -- Rameshbabu Praggnanandhaa of India claimed victory in the 87th edition of Tata Steel Chess Tournament in Wijk aan Zee, the Netherlands on Sunday, after beating his compatriot Gukesh Dommaraju in a tiebreak.
In the decisive tiebreak, both Praggnanandhaa and Dommaraju won one blitz match, after which Praggnanandhaa grabbed the win in a sudden death. For the 19-year-old Indian, one of the brightest young talents in chess and currently ranked 13th in the world, it was his first Tata Steel Chess Tournament title.
Gukesh, the current and youngest world chess champion in history after defeating Chinese Ding Liren in the 2024 World Chess Championship, started as a favorite in the 13th and final regular match round on Sunday.
However, 18-year-old Dommaraju lost to his compatriot Arjun Erigaisi with the white pieces, while playing with black pieces, Praggnanandhaa went down to German Vincent Keymer. Both young Indians therefore stayed on 8.5 points and a title-deciding tiebreak had to conclude on the winner of the tournament in Wijk aan Zee.
Last year's tournament winner Wei Yi from China finished the event with a draw against Slovenian Vladimir Fedoseev. The current No. 9 on the world ranking ended Tata Steel Chess in a joint 5th position with seven points. ■
