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The ninth round was a critical one to determine some of the sole leaders. In the under-14 open section it is Aydin Suleymanli who seems to be firmly in the driver's seat with 7½/9.
Speaking to ChessBase India after the game, Aydin said, "My coach (Farid Abasov) said to me that my opponent is a tactical player. Hence, I must play positionally. This is the reason why I chose the French Winawer." It turned out to be the right decision as Abinandhan couldn't really match Suleymanli's positional acumen. The game ended in a smooth positional win for the Azeri youngster, who is now the sole leader in the under-14 open section.
Aydin Suleymanli (right) managed to beat the giant killer of the tournament Abinandhan | Photo: Amruta Mokal
Aydin Suleymanli speaks about his win over Abinandhan
Sreeshwan suffered another loss in round 9 | Photo: Amruta Mokal
This time against the talented Russian youngster Marc Morgunov.
Vietnamese wonder Vo Pham Thien Phuc | Photo: Amruta Mokal
We are aware about Abinandhan's exploits at the event, but do you know about Vo Pham Thien Phuc? The Vietnamese youngster has performed admirably at the event to gain 239 Elo points and is currently on 7.0/9
| Name | Vo Pham Thien Phuc |
| Starting rank | 60 |
| Rating | 1807 |
| Rating national | 0 |
| Rating international | 1807 |
| Performance rating | 2438 |
| FIDE rtg +/- | 256,0 |
| Points | 7,5 |
| Rank | 6 |
| Federation | VIE |
| Ident-Number | 0 |
| Fide-ID | 12411396 |
| Year of birth | 2006 |
Vo Pham Thien Phuc's astonishing performance at the World Youth 2019
| Rd. | Bo. | SNo | Name | Rtg | FED | Pts. | Res. | |
| 1 | 15 | 15 | Arhan Chethan Anand | 2167 | IND | 5,0 | s 1 | |
| 2 | 18 | 21 | Poltorak Sebastian | 2130 | POL | 5,0 | w ½ | |
| 3 | 15 | 7 | FM | Petkov Momchil | 2333 | BUL | 6,0 | s ½ |
| 4 | 19 | 31 | Fardet Elouan | 2010 | FRA | 6,0 | w 1 | |
| 5 | 10 | 20 | CM | Luczak Filip | 2136 | POL | 6,0 | w ½ |
| 6 | 10 | 18 | CM | Nikhil Magizhnan | 2160 | IND | 4,5 | s 1 |
| 7 | 6 | 10 | Pranav V | 2308 | IND | 6,0 | w 1 | |
| 8 | 3 | 1 | FM | Sreeshwan Maralakshikari | 2449 | IND | 7,0 | s ½ |
| 9 | 3 | 8 | FM | Chyzy Jakub | 2327 | POL | 6,0 | w 1 |
| 10 | 1 | 3 | IM | Suleymanli Aydin | 2426 | AZE | 8,0 | s ½ |
Eline Roebers beat Katerina Nasyrova to move to the sole first spot | Photo: Amruta Mokal
Rakshitta Ravi suffered a loss at the hands of Ayan Allahsverdiyeva and was pushed to the fourth spot. Bat-Erdene Mungunzul won her game against Astghik Hakobyan to move to the second spot.
Aronyak Ghosh caused the biggest upset of the day, by defeating the in form Hans Niemann | Photo: Amruta Mokal
For his efforts Aronyak wins the ChessBase best game of the day award
Kushagra Mohan held Rudik Makarian to a draw and made his maiden IM norm! | Photo: Amruta Mokal
The under-16 section has only five IMs and you need to play three of them in order to make a norm. Kushagra not only played with them, but also scored so well that he achieved the norm with a score of 6.5/9.
Kushagra Mohan speaks about his win over Moksh Doshi in round 8
Nazerke Nurgali was held to a draw by Akshaya Bommini Mounika | Photo: Amruta Mokal
Leya Garifullina was better in her game against Saina, but didn't manage to win | Photo: Amruta Mokal
Praggnanandhaa beat Zaurbitski in round 9 in a long drawn out rook endgame | Photo: Amruta Mokal
Although Pragg had an extra pawn, it seemed as if the game was heading towards a draw. This was until Zarubitski made a big mistake with the move f3. The main drawback of this move is that the second rank opens up. So Black could move his king to c3 or d3 and then play ♜c1 when ♖xa2 would be met with Rc2+, exchanging the rooks and the game would be won.
Praggnanandhaa shows his win against Viachaslau Zarubitski
Shant played a daring piece sacrifice to get the better of Aryan Gholami | Photo: Amruta Mokal
It seems like Black is winning a piece. What is the powerful move that White had prepared?
Find the way to continue White's initiative:
The top seed is now half a point behind Praggnanandhaa | Photo: Amruta Mokal
The tenth round will be interesting as Shant takes on Mitrabha Guha and Pragg is up against Paulius Pultinevicius.
The All-Russian battle at the top board between Shuvalova and Obolentseva ended in a draw | Photo: Amruta Mokal
In spite of this draw, Polina Shuvalova maintained her half point lead over the field as other games also ended in draws. As many as five players are on 6.5/9, half a point behind Polina. It will be exciting finish in this section.
