India, Jan. 30 -- 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 Russ...