Despite beating reigning world champion D Gukesh in the blitz tie-breaks to to win the prestigious Tata Steel Chess tournament in Wijk aan Zee, Netherlands, R Praggnanandhaa will not be in action in the opening event of the 2025 Freestyle Chess Grand Slam Tour in Germany.

After scripting a memorable tale of success in Tata Steel Masters 2025 in Wijk aan Zee, Grandmaster Rameshbabu Praggnanandhaa received a warm welcome in Chennai.

In the second game, Gukesh had a fine position but was gradually outplayed. In the third game, the decider, Praggnanandhaa was again on the defensive with his white pieces but then found some nice moves and Gukesh got overambitious in a position that would have been a draw otherwise.

Praggnanandhaa received a warm welcome upon his arrival in Chennai on Tuesday and he reflected on the tournament win

Gukesh’s first loss as world champion was followed by Pragg’s defeat, leaving both tied at the top. Pragg won the tiebreaker against Gukesh to clinch title

Gukesh Dommaraju ascended to World No. 3 after drawing against reigning champion Wei Yi at the Tata Steel Chess Tournament 2025. Rameshbabu Praggnanan

After losses in Round 13, D Gukesh and R Praggnanandhaa played out a tie-breaker in the 2025 Tata Steel Chess Masters, with the former coming good in sudden-death to win.

It worked out for him then as he was crowned the youngest world chess champion. It did not on Sunday at the 2025 Tata Steel Masters – his first competition since winning the wor