IMAGE: India’s D Gukesh earned his first points in Norway Chess by beating Hikaru Nakamura of the US on Wednesday. Photograph: Norway Chess
World champion D Gukesh brought his campaign back on track on his 19th birthday, defeating world No.2 Hikaru Nakamura of the USA in the third round to open his account even as Arjun Erigaisi suffered his first defeat in the Norway Chess Tournament in Stavanger, Norway, on Thursday.
Gukesh, who suffered back-to-back defeats to world No.1 Norwegian Magnus Carlsen and compatriot Arjun Erigaisi in the first two rounds, put Nakamura — one of the best Rapid and Blitz players — under time pressure to win the game in 42 moves and collect three points.
Playing with white pieces, Gukesh, who was constantly under time pressure in the last two games, was the one who got Nakamura staring at the clock in round three of the six-player double round-robin tournament.
“I feel quite good (about the win). I think my time management was much better today than before. He (Nakamura) had some drawing chances, but I guess, overall, it was good,” said Gukesh as he moved to fifth spot on the points table ahead of Chinese No.1 Wei Yi.
Nakamura realised soon after the start of the game that something had gone wrong early on in a Giuoco Piano opening. He decided to reverse the situation by switching to a kingside attack that could exploit Gukesh’s vulnerability after a difficult start.
However, the Indian wasn’t vulnerable.
Though Nakamura came agonisingly close to a draw, he admitted to relaxing too soon. When the American offered a draw on move 30, he was instead met by a move, which sent him on a downward spiral.
It was a remarkable fightback for Gukesh after two successive defeats and he acknowledged that the previous two days had been tough for him.
“Yeah, obviously the last two games were kind of tough. But today, I just tried to play it as a fresh tournament. Glad I played (like that),” said Gukesh.
Asked if the win on Thursday was a direct consequence of managing the clock better than previous days, he conceded it was “clearly horrible” time management by him in the last two games.
“Glad my time management and my game were pretty good (today),” he added.
Gukesh, whose core strength lies in Classical chess, was also asked if he would be comfortable in the Armageddon tie-break as the tournament progresses.
“Yeah, I mean at some point it will come for sure. But right now, I’m just happy with this (win).”
Arjun Erigaisi loses
After a superb start, Erigaisi suffered a setback as he went down to Grandmaster Fabiano Caruana, while defending champion Carlsen lost the Armageddon tie-break to China’s Wei Yi.
Caruana jumped into sole lead after logging in three more points to take his tally to six, while Carlsen was second on five points and Erigaisi and Nakamura tied for the third position with 4.5 points each.
Caruana began the game with a rare 7.h4 in the French Defence and Erigaisi, playing with black pieces, said later he was optimistic he could pull off a win as “white is a bit underdeveloped” move in French Defence.
However, Caruana said after the match that his Indian opponent’s optimism was the reason behind his loss.
“I was kind of mentally preparing for a draw at some point when he knew the opening very well and we reached an equal endgame, but he thought he was slightly better, and maybe that optimism led him a little bit wrong,” said Caruana.
It has been a remarkable turnaround for Caruana, who now leads the tournament after two classical wins in a row, despite starting with a loss to Nakamura. He also wrested back his world No.3 position on the live rating list from Erigaisi following the win.
Konery Humpy in joint lead
In the women’s competition, two-time World Rapid champion Koneru Humpy, playing with white pieces, emerged joint leader with Ukraine’s Anna Muzychuk on six points following a win over Iranian-Spanish Woman Grand Master Sara Khadem in the third round.
China’s Ju Wenjun got the better of R Vaishali in the Armageddon tie-break.
Results (Round 3): Open: Fabiano Caruana (USA – 6) bt Arjun Erigaisi (Ind – 4.5); D Gukesh (Ind – 3) bt Hikaru Nakamura (USA – 4.5); Magnus Carlsen (Nor – 5) lost to Wei Yi (Chn – 2.5 in Armageddon tie-break).
Women: Koneru Humpy (Ind – 6) bt Sara Khadem (Esp -2 ); Ju Wenjun (Chn – 4) bt R Vaishali (Ind -2) in Armageddon tie-break.
