Levon Aronian slipped to second place in the World Chess Candidates Tournament in London after losing to Israel’s Boris Gelfand in Round 9 on Monday.

Aronian now has 5.5 points to Magnus Carlsen’s 6 points.

The eight-man double round-robin tournament being held in London will decide the challenger to the  current world champion Viswanathan Anand.

The tournament resumes on March 27, with Aronian and Carlsen both playing white pieces against Ukraine’s Vassily Ivanchuk and Gelfand, respectively.