Gukesh is sole leader, Pragg gives one away

Wijk Aan Zee: World Champion D Gukesh crashed through the defences of compatriot Leon Luke Mendonca in the ninth round to jump into sole lead at the Tata Steel Master here. On a day when R Praggnanandhaa lost his first game against Dutch GM Anish Giri, veteran P Harikrishna also found himself under the spotlight, falling to Russian-turned-Slovenian Vladimir Fedoseev.

“I’m happy that I played a good game today and there are still four rounds left so I’m not thinking much about the standings. I’m just happy as to how I am playing,” Gukesh said after his game.

With the win, Gukesh took his tally to 6.5 points out of a possible nine and a half points ahead of Uzbek Nodirbek Abdusattorov and Russian turned Slovenian Fedoseev, who are both on 6 points.

Praggnanadhaa on 5.5 points shares the fourth spot and it remains to be seen if things are going to get better for the Indian.