In his first tournament after winning the World Championship, Gukesh Dommaraju has taken the sole lead after the ninth round of the Tata Steel Masters tournament. While the other two former co-leaders, Praggnanandhaa Rameshbabu and Nodirbek Abdusattorov, both dropped points - Abdusattorov drawing with black against Fabiano Caruana and Praggnanandhaa suffering a defeat against Anish Giri - the world champion secured a full point against Leon Luke Mendonca. Out of a Spanish Opening, Mendonca held his own with black for a long time, but shortly before the time control, Gukesh gained the upper hand.
Leon Luke Mendonca v. Gukesh Dommaraju | Photo: Tata Steel Chess / Jurriaan Hoefsmit
Praggnanandhaa Rameshbabu was taken down by Anish Giri | Photo: Tata Steel Chess / Jurriaan Hoefsmit
Giri's victory against Praggnanandhaa was the result of a fine positional game out of a Catalan Opening. In the endgame, Giri converted a small but lasting advantage into a win.
Vladimir Fedoseev is now sharing second place | Photo: Tata Steel Chess / Jurriaan Hoefsmit
The in-form Vladimir Fedoseev also secured another full point. He had opened with the London System, was gifted an exchange by Harikrishna, but had to keep his king in the centre. The white king survived, and Fedoseev was able to capitalise on his material advantage with attacking play.
The Dutch duel between Jorden van Foreest and his occasional second Max Warmerdam ended in a draw. The same result was seen in the game between Serbian GM Alexey Sarana and German star Vincent Keymer.
The game between Wei Yi and Arjun Erigaisi also ended drawn.
Round 9 results
In the Challengers, Thai Dai Van Nguyen defended his lead with a draw against Kazybek Nogebek, as his closest pursuer, Erwin l'Ami, was also unable to secure more than half a point against Nodirbek Yakubboev.
Frederik Svane also drew against Arthur Pijpers. The game featured the Dragon Variation, where Pijpers, facing the 9.Bc4 line, managed to find a safe equalising path.
Further draws occurred in the games between Lu Miaoyi and Aydin Suleymanli, as well as Vaishali Rameshbabu against Divya Deshmuk.
Additionally, the ninth round of the Challengers saw two victories with the black pieces. Ediz Gürel defeated Faustino Oro, while Benjamin Bok overcame Irina Bulmaga.
Round 9 results
