CHENNAI: It was a heart-wrenching moment for newly-crowned world champion D Gukesh minutes before R Praggnanandhaa beat him in the final round of the prestigious Tata Steel Masters at Wijk aan Zee, Netherlands, on Sunday. He had a slight edge before squandering it and losing in Sudden Death. He leaned back on his chair, tilted his head back and looked distraught as Chess Olympiad teammate Praggnanandhaa shook his hands after securing the title in a thrilling tie-breaks. Chess can be pulsating when two great minds meet and Wijk aan Zee just produced one.
The enormity of the title can be gauged when one places it against the record. Praggnanandhaa became only the second Indian to win the crown after the legendary Viswanathan Anand (2006). The new champion said later to the official website that it was a 'crazy day'. "I am still shaking, it was such a crazy day. I don't know how to express. I didn't really expect to win. Somehow things went my way," Praggnanandhaa said adding that he should buy something for Arjun (for beating Gukesh earlier). "At some point I thought Gukesh was better," he admitted.
Chennai boys Gukesh and Praggnanandhaa who were the two leaders in the 14-player round-robin event were tied at the end of 13 classical rounds. However, both lost their last classical games on Sunday to finish with 8.5 points each.
Gukesh, who was unbeaten till the last round lost a classical game for the first time as World Champion when he went down to Grandmaster Arjun Erigaisi in 31 moves. Praggnanandhaa also lost to Grandmaster Vincent Keymer, Gukesh's second at the world championship match, in a marathon game in Round 13.
Gukesh got the upper hand in the two-game blitz tiebreaker, winning the first game with white pieces. Gukesh only needed a draw in the second blitz tiebreaker to bag the title. However Praggnanandhaa bounced back to win the blitz games.
In the tiebreaker, the players faced off in two games of three minutes each, with a two-second increment per move. Gukesh and Pragg were forced into a Sudden Death when they remained tied on points after two rounds of tie-breaks. The game seemed to be heading into a draw in the final 10 seconds, but a late blunder from Gukesh saw Praggnanandhaa win.
''Very happy to know that Pragg won the Tata Masters title. It is a strong and good tournament and we are pleased with his performance. This win will propel him to do well throughout the year,'' said Rameshbabu, Praggnanandhaa's father
GM Srinath N, coach of the Indian team that won a gold medal at the Chess Olympiad, was all praise for Praggnanandhaa. ''Good to see Pragg get back into the flow. He is very strong but wasn't in peak form in classical in the last few months. But his strength was never in doubt and he scored a well deserved victory. The win was excellent. Pragg held his nerve brilliantly in the critical moments in the tie-break,'' Srinath said.
At one stage towards the end both Gukesh and Pragg were going neck and neck and suddenly Gukesh lost the plot. ''Gukesh lost the plot somewhere in the knight Endgame where he was trying to push for a win. He was slightly better in the lead up to the Endgame and had more time. But Pragg was very resourceful and turned the table unexpectedly in the last few seconds. Both the players deserved to win, but we had to have one champion and the tie breaker decided just that even though the margin between both of them was minuscule,'' observed Srinath.
Next Gukesh will be seen in action next in the high profile Freestyle Chess. Many chess buffs wonder whether the loss at the Tata Steel Masters will affect the world champion mentally. GM Srinath who knows the mind and psyche of the young Indian chess players insists that Gukesh is strong willed. ''Gukesh will play normally (at the Freestyle chess). This defeat will not have any effect on his upcoming tournaments as he is mentally very strong,'' opined Srinath.