Tata Steel Chess Masters 2025: Dramatic Finale and Blitz Playoffs Crown Praggnanandhaa as Champion

In a thrilling conclusion to the 2025 Tata Steel Chess Masters, both leaders suffered defeats in their final classical games of the tournament. Grandmaster Arjun Erigaisi delivered a flawless performance to take down World Champion Gukesh Dommaraju in just 31 moves, while Grandmaster Vincent Keymer emerged victorious in a marathon game against GM Praggnanandhaa Rameshbabu.

The unexpected turn of events set the stage for a tense blitz playoff, where Praggnanandhaa initially faltered by losing the first game to Gukesh. However, he quickly bounced back and secured two consecutive wins to clinch the coveted title.

Meanwhile, in the Challengers section, Grandmaster Thai Dai Van Nguyen emerged as the victor and earned an invitation to the Masters tournament next year.

The 87th edition of the Tata Steel Chess tournament took place in Wijk aan Zee, the Netherlands, with both the Masters and Challengers groups competing in 14-player round-robin tournaments. The time control for the games was 100 minutes for 40 moves, followed by 50 minutes to finish each game, with a 30-second increment from move one.

Stay tuned for more in-depth analysis and coverage of the tournament, including insights from Grandmaster Rafael Leitao on the Game of the Day.