Gukesh struggles, finishes last in Freestyle Chess Grand Slam

Gukesh thus concluded his forgettable campaign in the tournament at Weissenhaus resort without a single win

Hamburg: World champion D Gukesh finished last after losing to Iranian-French grandmaster Alireza Firouzja in the second game of their seventh-place playoff match at the Freestyle Chess Grand Slam here.

Gukesh thus concluded his forgettable campaign in the tournament at Weissenhaus resort without a single win. After a lost battle that ended in a draw on the first day, the ball was in Gukesh’s court to do well as the white pieces, but clearly, the world champion had run out of steam to lose in 30 moves.

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The test of time started in the middle of the game when Gukesh made a mistake and had to part with his queen for two pieces. While Firouzja made good use of his material advantage. Meanwhile, local favourite Vincent Keymer won the first edition despite being touted as a rookie at the start.

The German winning the first leg over many of his fancied rivals is good news for the event’s sponsors who started it keeping in mind the chess connoisseurs. It is no secret that FIDE, the world’s apex chess body, does not like Chess 960, also known as Fischer Random Chess, or the Freestyle Chess. But it is here to stay.

Pre-tournament favourite Magnus Carlsen won his second game on the trot at the expense of Javokhir Sindarov of Uzbekistan – the other big find of the tournament. Sindarov had gotten in after the withdrawal of Viswanathan Anand and proved himself more than worthy of the invite by reaching the Semis.

However, with Carlsen on song, the Uzbek did not stand a chance and was punished for the second day in a row by the world’s best player. Hikaru Nakamura won his mini-match 2-0 against another Uzbek Nodirbek Abdusattorov to end in the fifth spot.

Results: Vincent Keymer (Ger) beat Fabiano Caruana (USA) 1.5-0.5; Nodirbek Abdusattorov (Uzb) lost to Hikaru Nakamura (USA) 0-2; Alireza Firouzja (Fra) beat D Gukesh (Ind) 1.5-0.5; Javokhir Sindarov (Uzb) lost to Magnus Carlsen (Nor) 0-2.

Final standings: 1. Vincent Keymer; 2. Fabiano Caruana; 3. Magnus Carlsen; 4. Javokhir Sindarov; 5. Hikaru Nakamura; 6. Nodirbek Abdusattorov; 7. Alireza Firouzja; 8. D Gukesh.