The world champion D. Guksh still looked in good contact when he defeated his compatriot Leon Luke Mendona in the ninth round of the Tat Steel Chess tournament in Wijk Aan Zee in the Netherlands on Tuesday.
Guksh, who last month became the youngest chess champion in the world in Singapore, defeating Dinga Lyrene in the final, assured the fourth victory in the tournament in just 43 moves.
The result meant that Guksh was the only leader entering the 10th round of the Masters section, from 6.5 points from possible nine, in the so -called Wimbledon Chess.
Meanwhile, R. Praggnanandhaa, who came to the ninth round as a leader, lost to the local favorite Anish Giri and remains the fourth in the classification, for the nodirbek Abdusatttorov from Uzbekistan and Vladimir Fedoseewa from Sloveii.
The next four opponents of Guksh are two Dutch, Max Wanderdam (rated 2646) and Jorden Van Foreest (2680). He will also have to face the strict challenge of last year’s defending master, Wei Yi (2751) from China.
On the other hand, Mendonca has not yet won, with five draws and four losses in his name.
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Another Indian Arjun Erigaisi, who came to the tournament as one of the favorites with the Elo 2801 rating, also had a similar fate. In the next two rounds he faced Van Foreest and Abdusattorov before he ended the tournament in the clash with Gukash.
In the Challengers Challengers section, R. Vaishali and Divya Deshmukh took a draw in the ninth round, and the previous ones took eighth place in the classification.
Divya won once and twice, sitting the second from below, while Vaishali, with six points, is eighth among 14 competitors.
Round 9 results:
Masters section:
D. Guksh (6.5), Noddabatttorov (6), Vladimir Fedosseve (6), R. Pragganha (5.5), Alexa (5), 5), 5). Vintcent Kymer (3.5), Max Wanderda (3.5), Arjun Erigas (2.5), Leon Mendon (2.5).
Guide section:
Thai Dan Van Nguyen (6.5), Erwin i’ammi (6), Benjamin Bakk (6), Aydin Suleymanli (5.5), Kazybek Nogerbek (5.5), Miaza, 5). (4.5), Arthur Pijapers (3.5), Foorn ORO (2.5), Divia Bulmmh (2).
