Chess
Tata Steel Chess: Gukesh beats Mendonca to claim sole lead
Praggnanandhaa and Harikrishna slipped behind after losing their respective ninth-round matches.
After round 9, Gukesh has taken a solo lead at the Tata Steel Masters 2025. (Photo Credit: Eng Chin An)
World Champion GM Gukesh Dommaraju continued his unbeaten streak with a win over Leon Mendonca in round 9, securing the sole lead on the leaderboard of the 2025 Tata Steel Masters in the Netherlands on Tuesday.
Meanwhile, R Praggnanandhaa lost to home favorite Anish Giri, dropping from joint first to fourth place with 5.5/9 points. Pentala Harikrishna, on the other hand, suffered his third defeat of the tournament.
Gukesh takes sole lead
Facing his compatriot, Gukesh played a solid game from the start. After Leon made a few mistakes in the middlegame, he capitalized without giving any chances and strengthened his lead.
With this ninth-round victory, he now holds a half-point lead over the chasing pack. He will next face Max Warmerdam from the Netherlands with the black pieces in round 10, aiming to maintain his advantage.
On the other hand, both Praggnandhaa and Pentala Harikrishna, having black pieces, faced a defeat in their respective matches. Arjun Erigaisi's search for a win continued as he played a draw against Wei Yi of China.
In the Challengers event, R Vaishali and Divya Deshmukh played out a 37-move draw in an all-Indian clash. Vaishali (5/9) and Divya (2/9) are currently in the 8th and 13th positions respectively.
Thai Dai Van Nguyen of the Philippines is currently leading the challengers' event with 6.5/9 points and will take on Vaishali in the next round whereas Divya will be up against German player Frederik Svane.
