World champion D Gukesh defeated Dutch Grandmaster Max Warmerdam to maintain his sole lead with 7.5 points after the 10th round of the Tata Steel Chess Tournament. It was another significant day for Gukesh, who is approaching the 2800-rating mark. The win with black was straightforward as Warmerdam faltered after the game had been even for a long time. In a closed Sicilian, Gukesh took advantage by capturing a couple of pawns, leading to Warmerdam’s resignation in 34 moves.
Standings and Key Results
The youngest world champion is a half point ahead of nearest rival Nodirbek Abdusattorov of Uzbekistan. Holding the sole third spot is R Praggnanandhaa on 6.5 points after a finely crafted victory over Vladimir Fedoseev of Slovenia.
Arjun Erigaisi’s hunt for an elusive victory continued for the 10th day running as he drew with Vincent Keymer of Germany.
P Harikrishna defended a slightly worse rook endgame to hold his fort against top seed Fabiano Caruana of the United States, while Leon Luke Mendonca played out a draw with Anish Giri.
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Praggnanandhaa’s Brilliant Victory
Praggnanandhaa came up with a dominating performance against Fedoseev who chose the Tarrasch defense as black. The opening saw Praggnanandhaa getting a structural advantage and he nurtured it quite well in the middle game.
The game was devoid of drama towards the end as Praggnanandhaa sacrificed all his pawns to make a new queen on board. The calculation was perfect and it was all over in 48 moves.
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Keymer Holds Erigaisi to a Draw
Keymer showcased his opening preparation to hold Erigaisi easily. The closed Ruy Lopez did not put up enough challenge and Keymer sacrificed a pawn early to maintain parity. Erigaisi had to give the pawn back in the middle game and the position just petered out to be level.
Harikrishna Holds Caruana to a Draw
Harikrishna had to face some stiff resistance against Caruana who played black. Down a pawn in the rook and pawns endgame, Harikrishna made use of his remaining resources and drew after 68 moves.
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Challengers’ Section Update
In the Challengers’ section, R Vaishali went down fighting against tournament leader Nguyen Thai Van Dai of the Czech Republic while Divya Deshmukh lost another game in the event against Frederik Svane of Germany. Vaishali, on five points, shares the ninth spot and Divya, on two, is on 13th spot in the 14-players round-robin tournament.