Tata Steel Chess 2026: Praggnanandhaa suffers second straight defeat after another poor game as Gukesh is held to a draw

World champion D Gukesh suffered a second consecutive draw in Round 2 of the ongoing Tata Steel Chess Masters 2026 at Wijk aan Zee in the Netherlands on Sunday, while Indian prodigy R Praggnanandhaa suffered a crushing defeat to Uzbek Grandmaster Nodirbek Abdusattorov.

Remaining Indian Grandmasters in the pool -- Arjun Erigaisi and Aravindh Chithambaram -- were also held to a draw. Hans Niemann, who drew against Matthias Blubaum in the second round, Erigaisi and Abdusattorov are currently in the joint lead with 1.5 points each. Praggnanandhaa is at the bottom, having lost both games so far, while Gukesh is joint second with two draws and one point.

Praggnanandhaa struggles again; Gukesh held to draw

Having lost to Erigaisi in the first round, Praggnanandhaa opted for Queen's Gambit with black pieces and seemed destined for a draw, but ended up making an error on the 31st move with ...d4? when 31...Nd2 was the best option. Subsequent errors on 42nd and 58th moves allowed Abdusattorov to clinch the match in 60 moves, being a pawn ahead in a rook and pawns endgame.

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How Abdusattorov defeated Praggnanandhaa:

Praggnanandhaa's next game is against Thai Dai Van Nguyen of the Czech Republic, where he would hope to bounce back. His recent slide is becoming a concern ahead of the FIDE Candidates 2026. After dominating the major part of 2025, the 20-year-old Chennai player seems to have lost steam in the last few months.

The 19-year-old Gukesh was playing with white pieces against the Netherlands' Jorden van Foreest, and kept the tempo up throughout the match after a messy opening. Gukesh also sacrificed a bishop in the middle game to earn a few checks, but van Foreest showed some dogged defending to eke out a draw after 33 moves.

Gukesh vs van Foreest match:

Gukesh's next match is against fellow compatriot Erigaisi, who played out a draw against Thai Dai Van Nguyen in Round 2.

Chithambaram drew against Yagiz Kaan Erdogmus on Sunday.