World champion D Gukesh endured a shocking defeat to Uzbekistan's Nodirbek Abdusattorov in the sixth round of the Tata Steel Chess Tournament due to a critical one-move blunder. The Indian grandmaster pushed his rook from g6 to g5, leaving a pawn undefended and allowing a fork on his king and rook. This marked Gukesh's first loss of 2026 and at Wijk aan Zee.
In a dramatic turn during the sixth round of the Tata Steel Chess Masters on January 25, 2026, in Wijk aan Zee, Netherlands, D Gukesh faced old rival Nodirbek Abdusattorov. The game, which appeared headed for a draw, unraveled when Gukesh, low on time and pushing aggressively, made a fatal error. He advanced his rook to g5, exposing his f6 pawn to Abdusattorov's queen on f5. Abdusattorov quickly captured the pawn, forking Gukesh's king and rook, prompting immediate resignation.
Gukesh sat motionless for nearly five minutes afterward, covering his face in torment and avoiding eye contact or post-game analysis, a stark contrast to his usual engaging demeanor with opponents. This blunder echoed a painful history; Abdusattorov had previously beaten Gukesh in the 2022 Chennai Olympiad, costing India a gold medal. Prior to this, Gukesh had drawn his first four games before defeating Thai Dai Van Nguyen in round five.
Abdusattorov expressed sympathy in a post-game interview: “I feel very sorry for him. It’s a terrible feeling. I’ve done it myself many times. So it’s an absolutely horrible feeling.” He described the game as normal until Gukesh's nervous push led to the error. Indian International Master Soumya Swaminathan commented on the Chessbase India stream: “Honestly, it’s very hard to recover from a game like this. Really hard. This was just a lapse of concentration.”
Other Indian players had mixed results: Arjun Erigaisi salvaged a draw against Germany's Matthias Bluebaum after the German overlooked a winning move; R Praggnanandhaa drew with Slovenia's Vladimir Fedoseev; and Aravindh Chithambaram held Javokhir Sindarov of Uzbekistan to a draw. After round six, Abdusattorov leads with 4.5 points, followed by Sindarov at 4 points. Gukesh drops to 3 points, tied with several others, as seven rounds remain in this classical tournament—Gukesh's first of 2026 before defending his world title later in the year.
