World Champion D Gukesh secured his first win of the Tata Steel Chess Masters 2026 in the fifth round at Wijk aan Zee in the Netherlands.

Gukesh defeated the Czech Republic's Thai Dai Van Nguyen to end his four-game drawing streak. Still, his unbeaten run keeps him just half a point behind leaders Han Moke Niemann, Nodirbek Abdusattorov and Javokhir Sindarov, who have 3.5 points each.

Meanwhile, defending champion R Praggnanandhaa drew his third game in a row and remains in search of his first win. Pragg was held to a draw by Anish Giri in Round 5, to be left with 1.5 points.

Arjun Erigaisi has 2.5 points, while Aravindh Chithambaram, the fourth Indian in the 14-player field, stays at the bottom of the pack, also with 1.5 points.

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Gukesh will take on fierce competitor Abdusattorov in the sixth round on Friday. The 13-round classical event is an annual, prestigious competition. It is popularly called the 'Wimbledon of chess'.

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