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.

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

Grandmaster Rameshbabu Praggnanandhaa didn't envisage such a "crazy day" with eight hours of world class performance after which he pipped reigning World Champion D Gukesh to win his maiden Tata Steel Chess Tournament.

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.

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

Wijk aan Zee was a triumph for the rising generation. Praggnanandhaa Rameshbabu, who defeated Gukesh 2-1 in speed games after they shared first place with 8.5/13, Uzbekistan’s Nodirbek Abdusattorov, who finished third half a point behind,

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.