World chess champion Gukesh Dommaraju secured a hard-fought victory over 14-year-old prodigy Yagiz Kaan Erdogmus in Round 10 of the Tata Steel Chess 2026 tournament. The match, marked by mutual blunders and time pressure, ended with Erdogmus in tears after resignation. Gukesh's win marked his third success in the event.
In a dramatic encounter at the Tata Steel Chess tournament in Wijk aan Zee, world champion Gukesh Dommaraju, a 19-year-old from India, defeated Turkish prodigy Yagiz Kaan Erdogmus on Wednesday. Coming into Round 10, Erdogmus had impressed by defeating players like Arjun Erigaisi, Jorden Van Foreest, and Thai Dai Van Nguyen, while drawing against top talents including Nodirbek Abdusattorov, Aravindh Chithambaram, Hans Niemann, Vincent Keymer, and Praggnanandhaa R.
Gukesh, however, had struggled earlier, suffering three losses in nine rounds: a draw after nearly beating Javokhir Sindarov in Round 1, a blunder against Abdusattorov in Round 6, and defeats to Anish Giri and Matthias Bluebaum. He had even shown frustration with noisy fans in Round 1, asking the arbiter to intervene.
Erdogmus started strongly, using home preparation to gain a 20-minute clock advantage by move 7 and 30 minutes by move 9. But he spent 50 minutes on his 11th move, a recurring issue in classical games where he excels more in blitz. By move 21, he had just 12 minutes left, with no increment until move 40.
The game's turning point came on move 27, when Gukesh's bishop to a6 was a blunder, but Erdogmus, under severe time pressure, erred by capturing with his rook instead of stronger options like rook to d1 or queen to e8—moves Gukesh later called "winning on the spot for his opponent."
"But lucky for me, he did not find it. We both missed it. I’ve had so many unlucky moments here… always good to get some luck back," Gukesh said in a post-game interview with chuckles.
Erdogmus fought on but resigned while shielding teary eyes, as Gukesh paced calmly. Surprised to learn Erdogmus's age, Gukesh reflected: "It was a nice feeling to be the youngest player in tournaments I played in. Now it’s not the case anymore. I’ve been really impressed by him. What he’s been doing over the last one year has been impressive." He added jokingly, "Today I wanted to teach him some lessons."
This victory recalled last year's FIDE Grand Swiss, where Gukesh let a winning position slip to a draw against Erdogmus. In other Round 10 results, Arjun Erigaisi lost to Vincent Keymer in 41 moves—his third defeat—while Praggnanandhaa drew with Hans Moke Niemann.
