D. Gukesh completed a hat-trick of victories when he nailed Dutch Max Warmerdam after Vidit Gujrathi ended his sequence of six draws by delivering a seventh-round shock to Alireza Firouzja in the Tata Steel Masters chess at Wijk aan Zee, near Amsterdam, here on Saturday.
With six rounds to go, Gukesh shared the lead with Anish Giri and his latest conqueror, Nodirbek Abdusattorov at 4.5 points. Vidit, R. Praggnanandhaa and Firouzja were jointly in the fourth spot with four points.
In the Challengers section, Divya Deshmukh ended a three-loss streak with an impressive win over Dutch rival Liam Vorlijk, who defeated Leon Mendonca in the previous round.
Mendonca (4) also tasted victory at the expense of Belgian Stefan Beukema (2) to share the fifth spot at four points. D. Harika (3) came out with a creditable draw against Ukraine’s Anton Korobov (4.5), who shared the second spot behind leader Salem Saleh (5).
The results (seventh round):
Masters: D. Gukesh (4.5) bt Max Warmerdam (Ned. 3.5); Vidit Gujrathi (4) bt Alireza Firouzja (Fra, 4); R. Praggnanandhaa (4) drew with Jorden van Foreest (Ned, 2); Nodirbek Abdusattorov (Uzb, 4.5) bt Anish Giri (Ned, 4.5); Parham Maghsoodloo (Iri, 2) drew with Ian Nepomniachtchi (FIDE, 3.5); Wei Yi (Chn, 3.5) drew with Ding Liren (Chn, 3.5); Alexander Donchekno (Ger, 2) drew with Ju Wenjun (Chn, 3).
Challengers: Leon Mendonca (4) bt Stefan Beukema (Bel, 2); Divya Deshmukh (2.5) bt Liam Vorlijk (Ned, 3); D. Harika (3) drew with Anton Korobov (Ukr, 4.5); Eline Roebers (Ned, 2) lost to Salem Saleh (UAE, 5); Erwin L’Ami (Ned, 4.5) lost to Jaime Santos Latasa (Esp, 4); Marc Andria Maurizzi (Fra, 4.5) drew with Mustafa Yilmaz (Tur, 3); Daniel Dardha (Bel, 3.5) drew with Hans Moke Nielmann (USA, 3.5).
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