D Gukesh Takes Sole Lead at Tata Steel Masters After Round 9 Victory
In his first tournament since being crowned world champion, D Gukesh has surged to the top of the Tata Steel Masters standings with a crucial victory over compatriot Leon Mendonca in the ninth round on Tuesday in Wijk aan Zee, Netherlands.
Orka Sports Team 
With this win, the Indian chess prodigy now sits alone at the top with 6.5 points, pulling ahead after other key results went his way.The day saw Nodirbek Abdusattorov and Fabiano Caruana battle to a hard-fought draw, while R Praggnanandhaa suffered a setback, losing to Dutch GM Anish Giri. This result meant that the three-way tie at the top (where Gukesh had the lead on tiebreaks) was broken, with Gukesh now outright leader.
This was Gukesh’s third consecutive win with the white pieces, further solidifying his position in the tournament. “Happy that I played a good game today,” he said in a post-match interview with WIM Fiona Steil-Antoni.
Meanwhile, Vladimir Fedoseev, who was just half a point behind the leaders, also picked up a crucial win over India’s Pentala Harikrishna. This marked his fourth win in six rounds, keeping him firmly in contention.
Praggnanandhaa, on the other hand, was on the receiving end of Giri’s first victory in the tournament after seven straight draws. This loss pushes Praggnanandhaa down to fourth place with 5.5 points, denting his title hopes.
Elsewhere, Arjun Erigaisi’s struggles continued as he drew with Wei Yi, keeping him at the bottom of the standings alongside Leon Mendonca with just 2.5 points each.
In the Tata Steel Challengers
The all-Indian clash between R Vaishali and Divya Deshmukh ended in a draw. Vaishali now has 5 points, placing her eighth, while Divya remains near the bottom of the standings.
