R Praggnanandhaa emerged victorious as he narrowly defeated D Gukesh in the tie-breaker of the Tata Chess Masters held in Wijk aan Zee, Netherlands. This outcome came as a significant surprise to Gukesh, who, as India's top player, had not anticipated finding himself in such a position, especially after having held a sole lead at one point. However, a decline in his performance towards the end allowed Praggnanandhaa to catch up, leading to a tie-breaker following the results of Round 13.

Arjun Erigaisi played a pivotal role in the tournament by defeating title contender Nodirbek Abdusattorov in the preceding round, thereby ending a 24-game winless streak at the Tata Masters. He continued his impressive form with a remarkable victory over Gukesh on Sunday. Meanwhile, Vincent Keymer, who had supported Gukesh during his World Championship success, managed to defeat Praggnanandhaa, providing Gukesh with a glimmer of hope, although tie-breakers have not historically favored him, as was demonstrated.

Arjun Erigaisi reacts after defeating D Gukesh

After his victory against Gukesh, Arjun Erigaisi expressed his elation and noted that his confidence had been restored. The grandmaster had begun the tournament poorly, resulting in the loss of his position as India’s top player to Gukesh. “Yes, definitely. After yesterday’s win, I felt quite confident today. Following such a challenging start, I was quite under-confident until yesterday,” he remarked.

Reflecting on his performance in Wijk aan Zee, he commented, “I believe that in the very first game, I should have opted to trade queens and transitioned into the opposite color bishop endgame. Instead, I continued with queen e8, which, in hindsight, was a poor decision. The game against Fedoseev was particularly crucial; I made a tactical blunder that he immediately capitalized on, which was a significant setback.”

Arjun exhibited remarkable dominance against Gukesh, achieving a decisive victory with an impressive accuracy of 98.8%. Throughout the initial 11 rounds of his campaign, he struggled significantly, suffering four losses and seven draws, which resulted in a decline of over 30 rating points and a drop of two positions in the world rankings. However, unexpectedly, he regained his confidence and skill, culminating in victories over two tournament leaders in the final rounds.

As per the current live Elo rankings, he holds the position of World No. 5 and India No. 2, with a rating of 2776.7. He concluded 2024 as India's top player, but his disappointing performance led to a loss of that title to Gukesh.

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