Karthikeyan Murali scores a stunning upset of Maxim Vachier-Lagrave on board two to reach 8/10. After starting with two draws he won 7 out of 8 games — losing only to Hikaru Nakamura. But it wasn't enough to catch Vladislav Artemiev. The Russian won with Black against Yu Yangyi to seal clear first with the stellar score of 8½/10, gaining himself 27 rating points in the process and moving up to number 20 in the world rankings.
In Round 9, Vladislav Artemiev beat David Navara on top board and is back in the sole lead with 7½/9. Maxim Vachier-Lagrave dispatched upstart Kirill Alekseenko and is a half point back along with Yu Yangyi and Karthikeyan Murali. Thirteen players have 6½ out of 9. The tournament will be decided on Thursday with Round 10 and a possible playoff.
Ten rounds are played according to the Swiss system. The time control is 100 minutes for 40 moves, followed by 50 minutes for 20 moves, then 15 minutes until the end of the game plus an additional 30-second bonus per move starting from move one.
The first prize is GBP £25,000. In case of a tie for first, there will be a rapid playoff. The top scoring woman receives £15,000.
Commentary by IM Jovanka Houska and GM Simon Williams
| Name | Pts. | Result | Pts. | Name |
| Yu Yangyi | 7 | 0 - 1 | 7½ | Artemiev Vladislav |
| Karthikeyan Murali | 7 | 1 - 0 | 7 | Vachier-Lagrave Maxime |
| Aronian Levon | 6½ | 0 - 1 | 6½ | Howell David W L |
| Nakamura Hikaru | 6½ | ½ - ½ | 6½ | Grandelius Nils |
| Navara David | 6½ | ½ - ½ | 6½ | Melkumyan Hrant |
| Vitiugov Nikita | 6½ | 1 - 0 | 6½ | Vaibhav Suri |
| Alekseenko Kirill | 6½ | ½ - ½ | 6½ | Adams Michael |
| Lalith Babu M R | 6½ | ½ - ½ | 6½ | Saric Ivan |
| Naiditsch Arkadij | 6 | 0 - 1 | 6½ | Anton Guijarro David |
| So Wesley | 6 | 1 - 0 | 6 | Deac Bogdan-Daniel |
| Le Quang Liem | 6 | 1 - 0 | 6 | Santos Latasa Jaime |
| Mamedov Rauf | 6 | 1 - 0 | 6 | Muzychuk Anna |
| Matlakov Maxim | 6 | 1 - 0 | 6 | Puranik Abhimanyu |
| Lagarde Maxime | 6 | ½ - ½ | 6 | Cheparinov Ivan |
| Gukesh D | 6 | ½ - ½ | 6 | Adhiban B. |
| Eljanov Pavel | 6 | 1 - 0 | 6 | Moroni Luca Jr |
| Edouard Romain | 6 | 1 - 0 | 6 | Gallego Alcaraz Andres Felipe |
| Indjic Aleksandar | 6 | 0 - 1 | 6 | Tan Zhongyi |
| Tari Aryan | 6 | ½ - ½ | 6 | Chandra Akshat |
| Antipov Mikhail Al. | 6 | ½ - ½ | 6 | Moussard Jules |
| Rk. | Name | Pts. | TB1 |
| 1 | Artemiev Vladislav | 8,5 | 2941 |
| 2 | Karthikeyan Murali | 8,0 | 2747 |
| 3 | Vitiugov Nikita | 7,5 | 2779 |
| 4 | Howell David W L | 7,5 | 2705 |
| 5 | Anton Guijarro David | 7,5 | 2696 |
| 6 | Navara David | 7,0 | 2790 |
| 7 | Grandelius Nils | 7,0 | 2771 |
| 8 | Lalith Babu M R | 7,0 | 2767 |
| 9 | Le Quang Liem | 7,0 | 2741 |
| 10 | Saric Ivan | 7,0 | 2736 |
| 11 | So Wesley | 7,0 | 2734 |
| 12 | Yu Yangyi | 7,0 | 2715 |
| 13 | Vachier-Lagrave Maxime | 7,0 | 2708 |
| 14 | Adams Michael | 7,0 | 2706 |
| Alekseenko Kirill | 7,0 | 2706 | |
| 16 | Nakamura Hikaru | 7,0 | 2703 |
| 17 | Edouard Romain | 7,0 | 2692 |
| 18 | Mamedov Rauf | 7,0 | 2681 |
| 19 | Eljanov Pavel | 7,0 | 2673 |
| 20 | Melkumyan Hrant | 7,0 | 2659 |
Battle of the Sexes (full and unedited)!
