Top seed Arjun Erigaisi began his Tata Steel Chess Masters campaign with a commanding victory over compatriot R Praggnanandhaa, while reigning world champion D Gukesh was held off by a hard-fought World Cup winner Javokhir Sindarov in the opening round on Saturday.
After a delayed start caused by a protest by environmental activists, the world’s oldest running super tournament finally got underway, and the opening round provided enough drama to keep chess fans entertained for nearly five hours.
The first decisive result of the tournament came from Hans Moke Niemann, who mercilessly took advantage of Slovenian Vladimir Fedoseev’s optical errors at the beginning of the middle game. Niemann seized the opportunity immediately and forced Fedoseyev to retire on move 16 after the inevitable material loss.
Another winner of the day was Germany’s Vincent Keymer, who scored an impressive victory over Dutch star Anish Giri. These results made Erigaisi, Keymer and Niemann the first full points leaders, half a point ahead of Gukesh and seven others.
Erigaisi’s win was particularly notable. Facing Queen’s Gambit Accepted against Praggnanandhaa, he took advantage of an early slip in the middle game as the opponent’s king was left stranded in the middle. A precise calculation allowed Erigaisi to launch a decisive attack and wrap up the match in just 32 moves.
Gukesh, playing on black, came close to winning against Sindarov after the Queen’s Gambit Declined essay. A bold queen sacrifice seemed to tip the balance, but Sindarov defended brilliantly and the longest game of the day ended in a draw after 78 moves.
Second Indian in the field Aravindh Chithambaram tied with Germany’s Matthias Bluebaum after 41 moves. In the remaining matches, Yagiz Kaan Erdogmus drew with Nodirbek Yakubboev, while the Netherlands’ Jorden van Foreest shared a point with Thailand’s Dai Van Nguyen.
Results after Round 1 (Indians unless otherwise noted): Javokhir Sindarov (UZB) drew with D Gukesh; Arjun Erigaisi beat R Praggnanandhaa; Aravindh Chithambaram drew with Matthias Bluebaum (GER); Hans Moke Niemann (USA) defeated Vladimir Fedoseev (SLO); Vincent Keymer (GER) beat Anish Giri (NED); Jorden van Foreest (NED) drew with Thai Dai Van Nguyen (CZE); Yagiz Kaan Erdogmus (TUR) drew with Nodirbek Abdusattorov (UZB).
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Issued by:
Amar Panicker
Published on:
January 18, 2026