India, May 10 -- World Champion D Gukesh endured a shaky start to the blitz section but recovered ground with a commanding victory over Poland's Jan-Krzysztof Duda in the ninth round of the Super Rapid and Blitz.

After finishing the rapid section with nine points out of a possible 18, Gukesh collected four more points from the opening nine blitz rounds to take his tally to 13 out of 27 at the halfway stage of the blitz competition.

Hans Moke Niemann of the United States continued to lead the tables despite a very mediocre show on the first day of blitz. The American moved to 16.5 points after scoring 3.5/9 and is now a half point ahead of compatriot Wesley So. The third American Fabiano Caruana shares the third spot with Slovenian Vladi...