Delhi, 29 January (H.S.): Indian Grandmaster D. Gukesh defeated compatriot Leon Luke Mendonca to consolidate his position as the sole leader in the ninth round of the ongoing Tata Steel Chess Tournament at Wijk aan Zee in the Netherlands.
Gukesh, who recently became the youngest world chess champion, registered his fourth win in 43 moves. With this win, he became the sole leader entering the 10th round with 6.5 points out of a possible nine.
On the other hand, R. Praggnanandhaa, who came in as the leader in the ninth round, lost to local legend Anish Giri. Uzbekistan’s Nodirbek Abdusattorov and Slovenia’s Vladimir Fedoseev have now moved ahead of Praggnanandhaa, taking them to fourth place.
Upcoming matches and player standings
Gukesh’s four upcoming opponents include two Dutch players, Max Warmerdam (2646 rating) and Jordan van Foreest (2680). Apart from this, he will also face a challenge from defending champion Wei Yi (2751) of China.
The tournament is proving to be a tough one for Mendonca as he is yet to register a win. He has five draws and four losses to his credit. Fellow Indian Arjun Erigaisi, who was one of the main contenders in this tournament with an Elo rating of 2801, has also had a disappointing outing so far. His next matches will be against Van Foreest and Abdusattorov, while the tournament will conclude with a crucial all-India clash against Gukesh.
Indian performance in the Challengers section
In the Challengers section, R. Vaishali and Divya Deshmukh played out a draw in the ninth round. Vaishali is now eighth in the standings, while Divya remains second from bottom with one win and two draws. Vaishali remains eighth among 14 contestants with six points.
All eyes are now on Gukesh’s excellent form and the performance of the Indian players, as the final rounds of the tournament are going to prove to be very important.
Hindusthan Samachar
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