The prestigious Tata Steel Chess Tournament 2025 has concluded in the Dutch town of Wijk aan Zee. In the Challengers section – second in importance only to the Masters – 20-year-old Kazbek Nogerbek delivered a solid performance, scoring 7½ points out of 13 and sharing 6th-8th place in the final standings, DKnews.kz reports.
Despite a tough start, losing his first game in what is widely regarded as one of the most prestigious chess tournaments, Nogerbek – who made his debut in Wijk aan Zee as the 2024 U20 World Chess Champion (rated 2514) – showed resilience and fighting spirit. Over the next 12 rounds, he accumulated 7½ points, securing four victories (including a win in the final round) and drawing seven games. His impressive tournament performance rating (TPR) of 2606 resulted in a +16.2 Elo gain, highlighting his strong debut at this elite event.
Challengers Tournament: Vietnamese-Czech Grandmaster Takes the Crown
The Challengers tournament was won by Thai Dai Van Nguyen (2668), a 23-year-old Czech Grandmaster of Vietnamese descent, who has made a name for himself not only as a chess player but also as a DJ, actor, and TV host. Scoring 9½ points, he secured first place and a coveted spot in next year’s Tata Steel Masters tournament.
Azerbaijan’s 19-year-old national champion, Aydin Suleymanli (2623), also finished with 9½ points, but lost out on first place due to a worse Sonneborn-Berger tiebreak score.
The third place went to Erwin l’Ami (2614), the 2022 Dutch Champion, who finished with 8½ points.
Tata Steel Chess Masters 2025: Praggnanandhaa Triumphs in a Thrilling Playoff
In the Masters tournament, both 18-year-old reigning World Champion Dommaraju Gukesh (2777) and his compatriot Rameshbabu Praggnanandhaa (2741) suffered losses in the final round but still finished as joint leaders. According to the tournament rules, this led to a playoff for the title.
The playoff format consisted of two blitz games (3+2), and in case of a tie, an Armageddon game (where White has 2 minutes 30 seconds, Black gets 2 minutes, but a draw counts as a win for Black).
Both Gukesh and Praggnanandhaa won their respective blitz games with White, forcing an Armageddon decider, where Praggnanandhaa won the draw for the White pieces. The 19-year-old Indian Grandmaster then secured victory, becoming the 87th Tata Steel Chess Tournament champion.
Uzbekistan’s Nodirbek Abdusattorov (2768) finished just half a point behind the leaders, securing third place.
Meanwhile, India’s highest-rated player, Arjun Erigaisi (2801), had a tough tournament, finishing 10th with 5½ points. However, he managed to salvage some pride with two spectacular victories in the final rounds – defeating both Abdusattorov and Gukesh.
