NEW DELHI: Following a rest day in Wijk aan Zee on Monday, the 2025 Tata Steel Chess Tournament returned with a bang as Gukesh Dommaraju of India became the sole leader in the Masters standings after defeating compatriot Leon Luke Mendonca in a 43-move game on Tuesday.
Mendonca, who qualified for the Masters this time by winning the Challengers title in the 86th edition of the Tata Steel Chess Tournament last year, had a challenging task ahead, defending with the black pieces against the current World Chess Champion.
Almost two months older than Gukesh, Leon has struggled with health issues during this tournament. Earlier, he also visited the doctor prior to his Round 3 match against Pentala Harikrishna.
On Tuesday, he chose the Morphy Defense in a game that began with the Ruy López Opening. After Gukesh castled on the fifth move, Mendonca responded aggressively by pushing his pawns in the Columbus Variation.
However, Gukesh opted to maintain his piece structure, and the first capture occurred when he sacrificed his opponent’s knight with Bxe3 on move 15.
The game remained evenly balanced up until move 30. However, on move 31, Mendonca’s Bc8 marked his first misstep. Another mistake came on move 32 with Rd8, and a third error, Bd7 on move 39, gave Gukesh a decisive advantage as he used his queen to dominate Mendonca’s central position.
By the 43rd move, with Gukesh playing Rf2, Mendonca, sensing there was no escape, resigned immediately.
This victory propelled Gukesh to claim sole leadership in the Masters standings. At the same time, the previous co-leader Nodirbek Abdusattorov settled for a draw against Fabiano Caruana, and Praggnanandhaa Rameshbabu suffered a heavy defeat to Dutch No. 1 Anish Giri.
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In the longest-running game in the Masters section, Praggnanandhaa tried to hold his ground against Giri until the very last moment. However, Giri, determined not to take his foot off the paddle, handed the Indian GM his first loss of the tournament in Wijk aan Zee on Tuesday.
The game started with a Catalan Opening, during which Praggnanandhaa initially advanced his rook before retreating and pushing his pawns.
His first significant mistake came on move 17 when he pushed his pawn to e5. As pieces, including queens, were traded off and the complexity of the game began to evade, Pragg played Rd8.
Since losing his opening game against Gukesh, Giri hadn’t lost another game on home soil. Capitalising on Praggnanandhaa’s mistake was no challenge for the Dutchman, who expertly pinned the Indian GM to the left side of the board with some impressive moves.
As the game entered the endgame, Praggnanandhaa finally accepted defeat on his 64th move and resigned.
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In a morale-boosting result for Indian supporters, Arjun Erigaisi, who had been struggling for form, managed a commendable draw against defending Masters champion Wei Yi of China. Meanwhile, Pentala Harikrishna faced a defeat against Vladimir Fedoseev of Slovenia.
In the Challengers section, an all-Indian clash between IM Divya Deshmukh and GM Vaishali Rameshbabu ended in a draw. The 11-year-old Argentine sensation Faustino Oro put up a strong fight against Ediz Gurel of Türkiye but eventually had to resign in the longest game of the day. Meanwhile, the sole leader in the respective section, Thai Dai Van of Czechia, drew with Kazybek Nogerbek of Kazakhstan.
Tata Steel Chess Tournament 2025: Round 9
- Masters Standings:
D Gukesh (6.5), Nodirbek Abdusattorov (6.0), Vladimir Fedoseev (6.0), Praggnanandhaa (5.5), Alexey Sarana (5.0), Fabiano Caruana (5.0), Wei Yi (5.0), Anish Giri (4.5), Pentala Harikrishna (4.0), Jorden van Foreest (3.5), Vincent Keymer (3.5), Max Warmerdam (3.5), Arjun Erigaisi (2.5), Leon Luke Mendonca (2.5).
- Challengers Standings: Thai Dai van Nguyen (6.5), Erwin l’Ami (6.0), Benjamin Bok (6.0), Aydin Suleymanli (5.5), Kazybek Nogerbek (5.5), Miaoyi (5.0), Frederik Svane (5.0), Vaishali (5.0), Ediz Gurel (5.0), Nodirbek Yakubboev (4.5), Arthur Pijpers (3.5), Faustino Oro (2.5), Divya Deshmukh (2.0), Irina Bulmaga (1.0).
