Gukesh Dommaraju poses with trophy during a procession held to honor him on becoming the World youngest chess champion in Chennai, India, Tuesday, Dec. 17, 2024. (AP Photo)
World Champion Gukesh Dommaraju, Vincent Keymer, Fabiano Caruana, Nodirbek Abdusattorov, and Praggnanandhaa Rameshbabu are joint leaders of the Tata Steel Chess standings after the second round in Wijk aan Zee.
Gukesh is still unbeaten after becoming the youngest world champion in history last month in Singapore. After defeating Anish Giri in the opening round, the 18-year-old held Vladimir Fedoseev to a draw on Sunday in round 2 to stay unbeaten into his reign as the 18th world champion of the sport.
Gukesh was not at his best in the whole game. But he did defend resolutely to grind out a draw with black pieces against Vladimir Fedoseev, who had defeated Magnus Carlsen in the Chess Olympiad.
World no. 2 Fabiano Caruana picked up his first win of 2024, after he defeated Jorden van Foreest.
Meanwhile, Praggnanandhaa defeated Pentala Harikrishna to join Gukesh at top of the points table.
Another India in the fray, Arjun Erigaisi was also held to a draw by Anish Giri. Arjun put the Dutchman under significant pressure on the board but failed to clinch the win and had to settle for a draw after 51 moves. Arjun had lost to the veteran Pentala Harikrishna in the opening round.
Leon Luke Mendonca, the lowest rated Indian player in the Masters field suffered another loss as Uzbekistan’s Nodirbek Abdusattorov defeated him.
In the challengers section, GM Vaishali Rameshbabu drew with Lu Miaoyi while IM Divya Deshmukh drew against Thai Dai Van Nguyen.
Standings after Round 2
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