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Playing the King pawn game, Gukesh tried the Bishop’s opening that has not been very popular of late in elite-level tournaments. Photo: Special Arrangement
World Cup winner Javokhir Sindarov played out a draw with sole leader and Uzbek compatriot Nodirbek Abdusattorov leaving the latter still in command on six points.
Sindarov was joined in the second spot by Jorden van Foreest of Holland on 5.5 points, along with Yagiz Kaan Ergodmus of Turkey.
The trio is followed by Niemann with four rounds still to come in the event.
Gukesh, Praggnanandhaa and Arjun continue to struggle with four points apiece, and for the World champion, it was another heart-breaking result with white pieces.
Playing the King pawn game, Gukesh tried the Bishop’s opening that has not been very popular off-late in elite level tournaments.
Bluebaum was quite up to the task in finding his counterplay right from the opening and came up with some imaginative display as Gukesh’s light squared Bishop found itself trapped by its own forces.
The initiative was in favour of the German, and he played fearlessly to win a rook for a minor piece, after which it was just a matter of a few more moves. Gukesh resigned on his 37th turn.
Praggnanandhaa defeated Aravindh Chithambaram, outplaying the former in what should have been a drawable rook and pawns endgame. This was Pragg’s first victory in the tournament, and one wonders if it came too late in the day.
The day’s most impressive game was played by Jorden van Foreest, who has been a former winner of this super-tournament. The Dutchman has been the best performing player of his country after Anish Giri for some time, and here he is displaying his best form this year.
Vincent Keymer of Germany learnt the same at his own expense as Jorden launched a huge assault against his king right from the early stages of the middle game arising out of an irregular queen pawn game.
Foreest sacrificed a piece in the middle of the board to rip the position apart and then continued attacking black’s king with all his might till Keymer caved in. The game lasted just 26 moves.
The most inspiring story thus far has been Yagiz Kaan Erdogmus, who won another game, defeating Thai Dai Van Nguyen of the Czech Republic. At just 14, Erdogmus is set to be written in the history books as the strongest ever 14-year-old player in the world if not more.
Arjun played the white side of an English opening, wherein his attempts to complicate matters as per his preference did not materialise once again in the tournament.
After a decent start, the top-seeded player here has been struggling, and it wasn’t a tough guess for Niemann who has played some really outstanding games here.
The opening fizzled out with black giving up the right to castle in favour of quick development and Arjun realized very soon that it could be dangerous to hope for something out of nothing. The chess engines predicted a draw vide repetition and the players did the same in a mere 22 moves.
Results round 9: D. Gukesh (Ind, 4) lost to Matthias Bluebaum (Ger, 5); R Praggnanandhaa (Ind, 4) beat Aravindh Chithambaram (Ind, 2.5); Anish Giri (Ned, 4.5) drew with Vladimir Fedoseev (Slo, 4.5); Arjun Erigaisi (Ind, 4) drew with Hans Moke Niemann (Usa, 5); Javokhir SIndarov (Uzb, 5.5) drew with Nodirbek Abdusattorov (Uzb, 6); Jorden van Foreest (Ned, 5.5) beat Vincent Keymer (Ger, 4); Thai Dai Van Nguyen (Cze, 3) lost to Yagiz Kaan Erdogmus (Tur, 5.5).
Published – January 29, 2026 02:37 am IST
