India’s chess ace D Gukesh had expressed modest expectations for the FIDE World Rapid Championships. However, two days into the event, the classical world champion exceeded his own predictions, positioning
himself among the frontrunners after nine rounds on Sunday.
The teenager was tied for seventh place with 12 others at 6.5 points, while Russian Grandmaster Vladislav Artemiev and Hans Niemann led with 7.5 points each. Artemiev achieved this by defeating world No. 1 and five-time world rapid champion Magnus Carlsen (seven points), who subsequently fell to joint third with three others.
On Saturday, Gukesh displayed remarkable resilience, staying just one point behind the leaders along with Arjun Erigaisi (6.5 points), even as R Praggnanandhaa and Nihal Sarin (both on six points) dropped to joint 20th.
During the sixth round, Gukesh, playing black, faced a strong challenge from Anish Giri. Despite being cornered by the Dutch Grandmaster’s superior rook formation, Gukesh managed to secure a draw in 57 moves. He then drew with former European champion Alexey Sarana before winning against Spaniard David Anton in the day’s penultimate round.
Gukesh’s only defeat came when he blundered on the 34th move with white against former world rapid champion Nodirbek Abdusattorov of Uzbekistan.
Artemiev, displaying a giant-killing form, defeated Erigaisi in the opening round of the day and achieved a rare victory over Carlsen, marking the Norwegian’s only defeat in nine rounds and propelling Artemiev to the top of the table.
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The final four rounds of the 13-round ‘Open’ section are scheduled for Sunday.
In the women’s section, defending champion Koneru Humpy surged to the top with six points after seven rounds. With one more round to go on Sunday in the 11-round women’s competition, the standings could still change significantly.
Harika Dronavalli and this year’s women’s World Cup winner Divya Deshmukh were joint second with 5.5 points each, part of a cluster of 12 players. R Vaishali, after her second tournament loss, was joint 22nd with 4.5 points.
(With inputs from Agencies)
