World Champion D Gukesh crashed through the defenses of compatriot Leon Luke Mendonca in the ninth round to jump into sole lead at the Tata Steel Master here.

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.

“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.

Results round 9 Masters: Anish Giri (Ned, 4.5) beat R Praggnanandhaa (Ind, 5.5); D Gukesh (Ind, 6.5) beat Leon Luke Mendonca (Ind, 2.5); Vladimir Fedoseev (Slo, 6) beat P Harikrishna (4); Jorden van Foreest (Ned, 3.5) drew with Max Warmerdam (3.5); Wei Yi (Chn, 5) drew with Arjun Erigaisi (Ind, 2.5); Alexey Sarana (Srb, 5) drew with Vincent Keymer (Ger, 3.5); Fabiano Caruana (Usa, 5) drew with Nodirbek Abdusattorov (Uzb, 6).