2/4/2025 – Indian FM Vedant Panesar scored an unbeaten 6/9 to win the Tata Steel Chess Qualifiers 2025. This triumph earned him a place in the Challengers section of the 2026 edition. He finished a half point ahead of the field. FM Leandro Slagboom and FM Tim Grutter, both from the Netherlands, scored 5½/9 each. They secured second and third place respectively. The top three prizes were New in Chess book vouchers worth €90, €60 and €40 each respectively. More than the prize fund, advancing to the Challengers is a big deal for the champion. Photo: Lennart Ootes / Tata Steel Chess
new: Fritz 20
Your personal chess trainer. Your toughest opponent. Your strongest ally. FRITZ 20 is more than just a chess engine – it is a training revolution for ambitious players and professionals. Whether you are taking your first steps into the world of serious chess training, or already playing at tournament level, FRITZ 20 will help you train more efficiently, intelligently and individually than ever before.
YOUR PERSONAL CHESS COACH - Whether you’re taking your first steps into the world of club chess, or already playing at a tournament level: with FRITZ, you can train more efficiently, intelligently and with a more personalised approach than ever before. FRITZ is more than just a chess engine – it’s a training revolution! Whether you’re taking your first steps into the world of club chess, or already playing at a tournament level: with FRITZ, you can train more efficiently, intelligently and with a more personalised approach than ever before.
In this course, IM Nico Zwirs presents the Reversed Sicilian as a powerful and practical weapon for White
€39.90
Vedant secures spot in Challengers 2026
Vedant Panesar has fulfilled all the criteria to receive the IM title. However, he did not want to claim it. He directly wants to get the GM title once he earns it. In the post-tournament interview, he mentioned that he probably earned his 14th IM norm here.
It was not only his first tournament in 2025 but also his first time in Wijk aan Zee and the Netherlands. He definitely had a great debut and would like to get back next year as a GM in the Challengers section.
Doesn’t every chess game get decided by mistakes? Absolutely. But most players never truly comprehend that they are making the same kind of mistakes over and over again.
The Qualifiers' champion entered the tournament as the second seed, only behind Dutch IM Nico Zwirs. Vedant scores three wins and six draws for a 6/9 score, leaving Dutch FMs Leandro Slagboom and Tim Grutter tied for second place with 5½ points each. Slagboom entered the final round sharing the lead with Vedant, but lost his game with the black pieces against his compatriot Kobe Smeets.
Interview with Vedant Panesar | Video: Tata Steel Chess Tournament
Tudor v. Vedant (round 7)
Vedant's favourite game of the tournament was his round-7 encounter against 2375-rated Romanian FM Henry Edward Tudor. Vedant mentioned in the post-tournament interview that he set up a stalemate trick 15 moves before it actually happened.
White is winning in the above position. However, he needed to be careful - 50.g4?? allowed White to fall into the stalemate combination 50...Rf1+ 51.Kg2 R5f2+ 52.Kg3 Rf3+!
The rooks are a liability for Black, as getting rid of them earns him a half point.
53.Rxf3 Rxf3+ 54.Kh4 Rh3+ (diagram) 55.Kxh3 and it's a draw due to stalemate.
No wonder it is Vedant's favourite, despite him being lost for the majority of the game.
From Mating with a queen; a rook; two bishops; a knight and a bishop; to the basics of pawn endgames – here you will gain the necessary know-how to turn your endgame advantages into victories!
Shahid AhmedShahid Ahmed is the senior coordinator and editor of ChessBase India. He enjoys covering chess tournaments and also likes to play in chess events from time to time.
YOUR PERSONAL CHESS COACH - Whether you’re taking your first steps into the world of club chess, or already playing at a tournament level: with FRITZ, you can train more efficiently, intelligently and with a more personalised approach than ever before.
The Benko Gambit is back at the very highest level - and it's easy to see why. Black sacrifices a pawn to seize the initiative on the queenside, obtaining long-lasting pressure, active pieces and open files that make life difficult for White.
The Hyper-Accelerated Dragon is fast, from the very first moves, your bishop heads to g7, seizes the long diagonal, and turns into the most feared piece on the board.
It rewards players who love initiative and clear attacking plans.
The Hyper-Accelerated Dragon is fast, from the very first moves, your bishop heads to g7, seizes the long diagonal, and turns into the most feared piece on the board.
It rewards players who love initiative and clear attacking plans.
The Hyper-Accelerated dragon is fast, from the very first moves, your bishop heads to g7, seizes the long diagonal, and turns into the most feared piece on the board.
It rewards players who love initiative and clear attacking plans.
“Mate is great!” – Tactical training with Oliver Reeh, “The 8th rank” – Andy Woodward analyses his game against Magnus Carlsen from TePe Sigeman 2026, “A modern Nimzo-Indian” – Andrei Volokitin introduces readers to "his" system and much more!
Chess is a concrete game. There is no way around training your calculation skills. Improve your visualization, pattern recognition and learn calculation techniques such as reciprocal thinking with this course.
This compact course is designed specifically for practical play. Instead of overwhelming you with endless theory, it focuses on the critical lines, typical plans, and recurring tactical ideas.
€19.90
We use cookies and comparable technologies to provide certain functions, to improve the user experience and to offer interest-oriented content. Depending on their intended use, analysis cookies and marketing cookies may be used in addition to technically required cookies. Here you can make detailed settings or revoke your consent (if necessary partially) with effect for the future. Further information can be found in our data protection declaration.
Pop-up for detailed settings
We use cookies and comparable technologies to provide certain functions, to improve the user experience and to offer interest-oriented content. Depending on their intended use, cookies may be used in addition to technically required cookies, analysis cookies and marketing cookies. You can decide which cookies to use by selecting the appropriate options below. Please note that your selection may affect the functionality of the service. Further information can be found in our privacy policy.
Technically required cookies
Technically required cookies: so that you can navigate and use the basic functions and store preferences.
Analysis Cookies
To help us determine how visitors interact with our website to improve the user experience.
Marketing-Cookies
To help us offer and evaluate relevant content and interesting and appropriate advertisement.
