Arjun Erigaisi takes on Praggnanandhaa in the third round of the Tata Steel Chess Tournament at Wijk aan Zee. (PHOTO: Tata Steel Chess via Jurriaan Hoefsmit)
Arjun Erigaisi was handed defeat in the third round of the Tata Steel chess tournament by good friend Praggnanandhaa in 60 moves. While Pragg held the upper hand in most of the game, the end came with checkmate being inevitable with Arjun Erigaisi’s king standing in the middle of the board without any protection while Praggnanandhaa’s pieces surrounded it.
The defeat means that Arjun Erigaisi has not won a single game at the Tata Steel event since winning the Challengers section in 2022 with a jaw-dropping score of 10.5 out of 13. He had in fact won the event that year with a round to spare.
That win had secured Arjun Erigaisi a spot in the Tata Steel Masters section the next year. But he went through the 2023 edition without a single victory and has continued that streak in 2025. He did not play at Wijk aan Zee last year.
In the previous rounds at the Tata Steel chess tournament, Arjun Erigaisi lost to veteran Indian star Pentala Harikrishna in round 1 while being held to a draw in round 2 by home favourite Anish Giri.
INTERACTIVE: How Pragg defeated Arjun Erigaisi
Much is expected from Erigaisi this year, especuially since he has trained his sights on qualifying for the Candidates tournament. He is currently the top ranked Indian player in the world, with a rating of 2801 and a world ranking of No 4, just one spot ahead of Gukesh in the December 2024 published ratings.
Gukesh and Caruana play draw
In other games involving Indians, Gukesh managed to play out a draw against World No 2 Fabiano Caruana while youngster Leon Luke Mendonca held the veteran Pentala Harikrishna to a draw.
The result means that Gukesh is still unbeaten since becoming world champion.
In the challengers section, Divya Deshmukh lost to Aydin Suleymanli while Vaishali lost to Kazakhstan’s Kazybek Nogerbek.
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