Dommaraju Gukesh continued his unbeaten run as the chess world champion, but he really had to earn his draw against Nodirbek Abdusattorov in round 6 of the Tata Steel Chess Masters in Wijk Aan Zee on Friday evening. The Uzbek player had built up a match-winning advantage through the middle game, but in the end, Gukesh's defence came to the fore, as he pulled off the draw that was needed, at the very least, for him to keep pace with the leaders at the tournament.
Abdusattorov remained half a point above Gukesh after this result, level on points with R Praggnanandhaa in the lead, who himself couldn't quite make an opening against Wei Yi, in a round where decisive results were scarce. Six out of the seven games in Round 6 finished in draws, with only Alexey Sarana managing to secure a victory - a fine one against the hig-flying Vladimir Fedoseev, who had been having an excellent tournament thus far.
Arjun Erigaisi, meanwhile, continues to wait for his first win at the Tata Steel Masters. It's now a run that has seen him lose his place as India no.1 in the live ranking to Gukesh. He remains at the bottom of the standings with 1.5 points, following a draw against Fabiano Caruana.
The other two Indians in action at the tournament - Pentala Harikrishna and Leon Luke Mendonca - also could only manage draws, against Dutch players Jordan van Foreest and Max Warmerdam respectively.
Roudn 7 will begin at 6:30pm IST on Saturday evening.
Round 6 Results at 2025 Tata Steel Chess Masters
Dommaraju Gukesh 0.5-0.5 Nodirbek Abdusattorov
R Praggnanandhaa 0.5 -0.5 Wei Yi
Arjun Erigaisi 0.5 -0.5 Fabiano Caruana
Vincent Keymer 0.5 -0.5 Anish Giri
Pentala Harikrishna 0.5 -0.5 Jordan van Foreest
Leon Luke Mendonca 0.5 -0.5 Max Warmerdam
Alexey Sarana 1-0 Vladimir Fedoseev
Standings after Round 6
R Praggnanandhaa: 4.5
Nodirbek Abdusattorov: 4.5
Dommaraju Gukesh: 4
Vladimir Fedoseev: 3.5
Pentala Harikrishna: 3.5
Alexey Sarana: 3.5
Fabiano Caruana: 3
Vincent Keymer: 3
Wei Yi: 3
Anish Giri: 2.5
Jordan van Foreest: 2
Max Warmerdam: 2
Leon Luke Mendonca: 1,5
Arjun Erigaisi: 1.5