24 February 2023

Levon Aronian and Dommaraju Gukesh Keep Leading Race at WR Chess Masters

The final round is ahead.

Photo: Lennart Ootes
Photo: Lennart Ootes


The penultimate eighth round of the WR Chess Masters super tournament is completed in Düsseldorf. Levon Aronian made a mistake as Black in the middlegame of his game against Andrey Esipenko. However,  the Russian didn't manage to convert his advantage due to a severe time pressure. A draw followed after Black's 36th move. Wesley So lost to Vincent Keymer with the white pieces. The games Giri - Abdusattorov, Nepomniachtchi - Praggnanandhaa, and Gukesh - Duda were drawn.

Levon Aronian and Dommaraju Gukesh are sharing the lead before the final round, in which they will face each other. Ian Nepomniachtchi is in third place. 

 

 
Standings after Round 8:

1-2. Dommaraju Gukesh, Levon Aronian - 5
3. Ian Nepomniachtchi - 4.5
4-5. Vincent Keymer, Wesley So - 4
6-10. Jan-Krzysztof Duda, Andrey Esipenko, Anish Giri, Nodirbek Abdusattorov, Rameshbabu Praggnanandhaa - 3.5. 

Round 9 pairings:

Aronian - Gukesh, Keymer - Nepomniachtchi, Abdusattorov - So, Duda - Giri, Praggnanandhaa - Esipenko.  

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