‘Mere pass panch hai’: Viswanathan Anand roasts R Praggnanandhaa after dramatic Tata Masters tie-breaker win vs D Gukesh

The Tata Chess Masters went down the wire on Sunday as R Praggnanandhaa came out on top against D Gukesh to claim the title in dramatic circumstances. Gukesh and Praggnanandhaa both lost their Round 13 games in Wijk aan Zee, with the defending world champion losing to India No. 2 Arjun Erigaisi. Meanwhile, Praggnanandhaa fell to a defeat against Vincent Keymer, who assisted Gukesh during the World Championship last year.

The title decider was forced to blitz playoffs tie-breaker due to Pragnnanandhaa and Gukesh being level at lead. Gukesh won the first game, but Praggnanandhaa fought back in style to win the next two face-offs.

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Viswanathan Anand roasts R Praggnanandhaa

The result sent social media into a state of meltdown as Gukesh was set to win the title, but lost his form in the final rounds. The India No. 1 was the sole leader at one point. Taking to X, five-time world champion Viswanathan Anand lavished praise on Praggnanandhaa for his victory.

“Indian chess winter at Wijk! Congratulations to @rpraggnachess on winning his first @tatasteelchess event in Wijk aan Zee. The last day was not typical at all of his play. He played many brilliant games, but yesterday he got outplayed, then tenaciously defended a lost position. The tragedy for him was after getting close to the desired goal of a draw he blundered again. @DGukesh had lost a while ago to Arjun, so we were in the unusual situation of both title contenders losing their games and going to the tiebreak. @WacaChess”, he wrote.

“In the tiebreak, @rpraggnachess lost the first game before winning the next two to become the 2025 champion. Given what he had been through, just hanging in there would have been an unimaginable effort”, he added.

Anand also took a dig at Praggnanandhaa, reminding that he won the coveted title five times (1989, 1998, 2003, 2004 and 2006). The phrase was also from his recent viral advertisement with Gukesh. He wrote, “Mere pass panch hai .. IYKYK!”

Also paying tribute to Gukesh, he added, “@DGukesh also ended his tournament with a loss which was not representative of his play in the event and for the second year in a row, he lost the tiebreak. Nonetheless, this performance right after winning the world title confirms he is as hungry as ever!@WacaChess @tatasteelchess”.

Gukesh will have plenty of regrets, especially with his Round 13 defeat to Arjun, which was a rather one-sided affair. Tie-breaker is not the world champion’s forte, and it was proved on Sunday.