[Watch] Praggnanandhaa receives a warm reception at Chennai airport after winning Tata Steel Chess Masters 2025

Indian grandmaster R Praggnanandhaa received a hero’s welcome at the Chennai airport upon his return to his soil after winning Tata Steel Chess in the Netherlands. Several fans, Tamil Nadu government officials, and people from the national federation gathered at the airport to receive the champion player on Tuesday.

Notably, on Sunday, February 2, the youngster from Chennai defeated the defending world champion, Gukesh D, to secure his maiden Tata Steel Chess Masters title, making it one of the most important of his career thus far.

“I feel very happy to win this tournament, and it is very nice to see that two Indians, two Tamil Nadu people played in the tie-break in the end. We both played well. Huge congrats to him (D Gukesh) as well, he played really well,” he told the media at the airport.

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Praggnanandhaa held his nerves to win the title

The Indian duo of Praggnanandhaa and Gukesh D ended the 13-round games at the campaign on 8.5 points. However, the former clinched the tie-breaker 2-1 to clinch the title of the most prestigious chess competition.

In the tie-breaker, Praggnanandhaa went for a Trompowsky opening and took the match into sudden death in a must-win situation. Gukesh lost his control just when the draw looked imminent. Pragg was quick to capitalize on the error to secure the crown.

It’s important to note that this win helped Praggnanandhaa to emerge as the first India after legendary Viswanathan Anand to win the Tata Steel Chess trophy.

Notably, Anand won the titles earlier in 2003, 2004, and 2006 editions when the event was known as the Corus Chess Tournament. Also, he secured two more titles in 1989 and 1998 when the competition was known as the Hoogovens Tournament.

The Indian Grandmaster from Chennai will next take part in the Prague Masters, scheduled between February 25 to March 7.