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‘Didn't pay particular attention to Praggnanandhaa's game': D Gukesh after taking top spot in Tata Steel Masters
After beating Mendonca in the ninth round to take the solo lead, D Gukesh said he was happy with the way he was playing at the Tata Steel Masters.
World Champion D Gukesh is not thinking too much about the standings despite climbing to the solo lead spot at the Tata Steel Masters at Wijk Aan Zee in The Netherlands after beating Leon Luke Mendonca in the ninth round. The 18-year-old youngest world champion broke the defences of Mendonca in a match that lasted 43 moves.
After the match, Gukesh said he was happy with the way he was playing. "I'm happy that I played a good game today and there are still four rounds left so I'm not thinking much about the standings. I'm just happy as to how I am playing," Gukesh said after his game.
With the win, Gukesh took his tally to 6.5 points out of a possible nine and a half points ahead of Uzbek Nodirbek Abdusattorov, and Russian-turned-Slovenian Fedoseev, who are both on 6 points.
Praggnanadhaa on 5.5 points shares the fourth spot and it remains to be seen if things are going to get better for the Indian.
The convincing was more significant from an Indian perspective because it came on a day when R Praggnanandhaa lost his first game against Dutch GM Anish Giri, veteran P Harikrishna also found himself under the spotlight, falling to Russian-turned-Slovenian Vladimir Fedoseev.
Gukesh was also asked if he checks the other games while playing, whether it depends on his own game, and how he does it. The Grand Master said he could not pay much attention to Praggnanandhaa's game.
"When you're playing a game, it takes a lot of time. You generally walk around. In that sense, yeah, I was looking at the other games," said the 18-year-old Chennai lad.
"I wasn't really paying particular attention to Pragg's game because they were co-leading. But just I was looking at all the games. I mean, it also depends if the position is really complicated and you don't know what is happening, then you try to focus more," he said.
