R Praggnanandhaa took the sole lead of the Tata Steel Chess Masters in Wijk Aan Zee with his third straight win, this time defeating 18-year-old Leon Luke Mendonca, while played out a battling six-hour, 70 move epic against Alexey Sarana to earn a draw. Arjun Erigaisi suffered a heart-breaking loss after dominating much of his game against Vladimir Fedoseev, while Pentala Harikrishna remained in contention with a win of his own over Max Warmerdam Playing with white pieces, Praggnanandhaa earned his third straight win of the Tata Steel Chess Masters to move into the sole overall lead of the tournament with 3.5/4 so far.
Curiously all three of his wins have come against his Indian counterparts, although he still has to face Gukesh. Fresh off an , Praggnanandhaa played a highly accurate game against Mendonca, who was in a fair amount of trouble after the Ruy Lopez opening. The Goan youngster was forced into an inaccuracy in his 24th move, with his knight allowing Praggnanandhaa an opening, which he went on to capitalise on.
Mendonca fought bravely, but the writing was on the wall and he resigned on the 46th move. Dommaraju Gukesh remained unbeaten as world champion after a gruelling six-hour, 70 move contest against Alexey Sarana. Playing with black pieces, Gukesh was constantly second to Sarana, who had the advantage for much of the game (and more material), but Gukesh found accurate moves when needed to force a draw, thus keeping him in contention with a score of 2.
5/4 so far..