Tata Steel Chess 2025: Gukesh takes sole lead by beating Leon Luke Mendonca, Praggnanandhaa loses to Giri

Chess world champion and 18-year-old Indian Grandmaster D Gukesh broke away from a crowded top of the table on Tuesday to take sole lead at the ongoing Tata Steel Chess Masters 2025 in Wijk aan Zee. In his first tournament after winning the World Chess Championship 2024, Gukesh defeated fellow Indian GM Leon Luke Mendonca in round nine to accumulate 6.5 points out of a possible 9 and sit at the top.

Gukesh is half a point ahead of Nodirbek Abdusattorov and Vladimir Fedoseev. Abdusattorov in round nine played out a draw against world No.2 Fabiano Caruana, while Fedoseev defeated India’s Pentala Harikrishna.

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R Praggnanandhaa was among the co-leaders at the start of round nine but was forced to fourth place after losing to local player and Dutch Grandmaster Anish Giri.

In the Challengers section, Thai Dai Van Nguyen remains the sole leader with 6.5/9, while Benjamin Bok has joined GM Erwin l’Ami just half a point behind after defeating Irina Bulmaga. The only other decisive game saw Faustino Oro falter on the move 87 in a pawn-down endgame against Ediz Gurel.

How Gukesh defeated Mendonca

It was the third straight win for Gukesh in the tournament with white pieces, while Mendonca, who has been struggling with health issues had a tough task defending with black pieces.

The world chess champion Gukesh opted for a Ruy Lopez opening followed by Mendonca going for a Morphy Defence. Gukesh castled on the fifth move as Mendonca began moving his pawns in a Columbus Variation. The first capture happened on the 15th move when Mendonca captured the white Knight with 15…Bxe3 followed by Gukesh taking out the black Bishop with his pawn (16.fxe3).

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The game stayed in balance from here until Mendonca started making the mistakes. Under time pressure, he played 31…Bc8? when 31…h5! followed by …h4 and …h3 would have been the best move. Mendonca made the biggest blunder when he played 39… Bd7?? which gave Gukesh a massive advantage.

Mendonca, who qualified for the Masters by winning the Challengers last year at Tat Steel Chess, eventually resigned after Gukesh played 43.Rf2.

“I played a good game today. Still, four rounds left so not thinking much about the standings just happy how I played,” Gukesh said after the match as he crossed 2790 on the live rating.

As he was the only leader at the start of the day to win a match in round nine, Gukesh took a half-point lead in the standings.

His last four matches are against Max Warmerdam, Wei Yi, Jorden van Foreest and Arjun Erigaisi respectively.

Praggnanandhaa vs Giri

Giri scored a convincing win against Praggnanandhaa, who dropped from shared second to fourth place. White had some early pressure out of the opening, but a mistake by black on move 29 allowed Giri to gain a decisive advantage. He smoothly converted the win after the first time control.

Erigaisi, meanwhile, drew his match against defending champion Wei Yi. The Chinese Grandmaster opted for a main line against Arjun’s Ruy Lopez Marshall Gambit but failed to find a breakthrough. Both players also lost their Queens early as the game ended in a draw.

Among the Indians taking part in the Challengers section, Divya Deshmukh played out a draw against compatriot R Vaishali ended in a draw.

Tata Steel Chess 2025 Masters Standings Round 9:

Tata Steel Chess 2025 Challengers Standings Round 9: