World champion D Gukesh and Grandmaster R Praggnanandhaa lost on a dramatic final day but still set up a tie-breaker at the end of the 13th and final round of the Tata Steel Chess tournament here on Sunday. Gukesh lost his first game as the world champion, bowing to some energetic play by compatriot Arjun Erigaisi while Praggnanandhaa went down against Vincent Keymer, whose technique was impeccable on the final day. Interestingly enough, the chess buffs were reminded of the 2013 Candidates tournament where Magnus Carlsen of Norway and Vladimir Kramnik of Russia were leading together but both lost.
Carlsen won on tie-break and went on to beat Viswanathan Anand to be crowned the world champion for the first time.
Despite the loss, Praggnanandhaa will play tie-break games of shorter duration against Gukesh after the two ended with identical 8.5 points each. The other contender Nodirbek Abdusattorov of Uzbekistan was denied the full point by P Harikrishna, who played a hard fought draw.
In the tiebreaker, the players will play two games of three minutes each with a two seconds increment after every move. If the result is still tied then sudden-death games will be played until a winner is found.
Gukesh’s ambition to play out of the rule book did not pay dividends as Erigaisi, playing black, was up to the task in a Petroff defense game. Both players castled on opposite flanks and the dynamics turned in Erigaisi’s favour as he opened up the king side before his king came under serious scrutiny.
Gukesh tried some tricks but it was simply not his day. To Erigaisi’s credit, he turned a forgettable performance into something really worthwhile by winning the last two rounds. In the 12th and penultimate round, Erigaisi had beaten Abdusattorov.
Praggnanandhaa went for the Caro-Kann defense as black and equalised in the ensuing middle game. However, Keymer found his chances once Praggnanandhaa had his Bishop tied down to the defense of his own pawns.
With Bishops of opposite colour on board in a queen and minor piece endgame, Praggnanandhaa had to defend very accurately but it’s never easy with the clock ticking away.
It was on the 43rd move that Praggnanandhaa blundered but Keymer could not find the finishing blow. However, the pressure kept on becoming intense and finally Praggnanandhaa made the decisive error, leading to a trade of the knights.
Keymer blundered again in the game of fluctuating fortunes and it was a near heartbreak for Praggnanandhaa as he failed to find the path to a draw. Another blundered by Praggnanandhaa on the 76th move gave Keymer a full point four moves later.
In the Challengers’ section, R Vaishali ended the hopes of Erwin L’Ami of Holland with a fine victory with white pieces, while Divya Deshmukh played out a draw with Dutchman Arthur Pijpers.
Nguyen Thai Dai Van of the Czech Republic and Ayden Suleymanli of Azerbaijan tied for the top spot on 9.5 points each.
Vaishali finished her event on six points, while Divya ended on 3.5 points.
Results (final round)
Masters: D Gukesh (Ind, 8.5.) lost to Arjun Erigaisi (Ind, 5.5); Vincent Keymer (Ger, 6) beat R Praggnanandhaa (Ind, 8.5); Vladimir Fedoseev (Slo, 7.5) drew with Wei Yi (Chn, 7); Fabiano Caruana (Usa, 6) lost to Max Warmerdam (Ned, 4.5); Anish Giri (Ned, 7) drew with Jorden van Foreest (Ned, 5.5); Alexey Sarana (Srb, 6) drew with Leon Luke Mendonca (Ind, 5); Nodirbek Abdusattorov (Uzb, 8) drew with P Harikrishna (Ind, 6).
Challengers: Miaoyi Lu (Chn, 5.5) lost to Nodirbek Yakubboev (Uzb, 8); Nogerbek Kazybek (Kaz, 7.5) beat Oro Faustino (Arg, 3.5); R Vaishali (Ind, 6) beat Erwin L’Ami (Ned, 8.5); Svane Frederik (Ger, 7.5) drew with Ediz Gurel (Tur, 7.5); Irina Bulmaga (Rom, 1) lost to Aydin Suleymanli (Aze, 9.5); Benjamin Bok (Ned, 8) lost to Nguyen Thai Dai Vam (Cze, 9.5); Arthur Pijpers (Ned, 5.5) drew with Divya Deshmukh (Ind, 3.5).
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