Gukesh faces second defeat in two days in Norway Chess, loses to India’s Arjun

Labelled as the favourite in the six-player double round-robin 'Open' category, Gukesh is scraping the bottom of the points table having lost the opening two rounds

Stavanger (Norway): World champion D Gukesh finds himself in deep trouble as compatriot Arjun Erigaisi broke through his defences in the second round to move into joint lead, while Hikaru Nakamura stunned Magnus Carlsen in the Armageddon tie-break on an eventful day in Norway Chess here.

Labelled as the favourite in the six-player double round-robin ‘Open’ category, Gukesh is scraping the bottom of the points table having lost the opening two rounds. World No.4 Indian Erigaisi has emerged the joint leader with American Grandmaster Nakamura on 4.5 points.

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In an all-Indian tension-filled clash, Erigaisi, playing with white pieces, seized the early initiative but Gukesh’s resilient defence created a somewhat equal endgame.

As the clock became a decisive factor, the position erupted into chaos before Erigaisi finally broke through to secure victory in a slugfest that lasted over four hours.

Erigaisi, who had also spoilt Gukesh’s party at the Tata Steel Chess earlier this year by taking a game away from him just when he looked set to win the title, again dealt a huge body blow to the teenage world champion — who turns 19 on Thursday, beating him in 62 moves.

Erigaisi, playing here for the first time, forced Gukesh to resign after giving him a check with his knight.

The victory for the 21-year-old, who achieved his peak rating of 2801 making him the 15th highest-rated player in history and only the second Indian after Viswanathan Anand to ever to cross the 2800 threshold in December, had on Monday overcome Chinese GM Wei Yi in Armageddon to secure 1.5 points.

Erigaisi, who enjoys a stunning 6-0 record in Classical wins against Gukesh, was “surprised” why Gukesh took so much time in the initial moves to find himself under time pressure.
Just before the 17th move, Gukesh found himself behind his opponent on the clock by more than one hour.

“I’m a bit surprised Gukesh is thinking this early on…the way he played this c3 move quite early on, I think it’s not known at the highest level or it is not popular,” said Erigaisi. He will play American GM Fabiano Caruana in Round 3, while Gukesh will hope for a revival against Nakamura, one of the best in rapid and blitz chess.