Wijk Aan Zee: Defending champion R Praggnanandhaa lost his second game in as many days, going down to Nodirbek Abdusattorov of Uzbekistan, even as D Gukesh was held to a draw by Netherlands’ Jorden van Foreest in the Tata Steel Masters Chess here.
Having been at the top of his game for a major part of 2025, Praggnanandhaa seems to be running low on steam as a drawn endgame turned into a painful loss against the Uzbek on Sunday. With no points to show after the first two games, Praggnanandhaa is at the bottom of the table and will have to make a strong comeback in the remaining 11 rounds in order to pose a challenge.
Meanwhile, world champion Gukesh was held to a draw by van Foreest in another hard-fought game. Gukesh took his tally to one point following his second draw. After defeating Praggnanandhaa in the opener, Arjun Erigaisi tried to make a foray against Thai Dai Van Nguyen of Czech Republic but eventually did not succeed in breaking the fortress. The top seeded Indian however remained in joint lead on 1.5 points in the company of Hans Moke Niemann of the United States and Abdusattorov. agencies