IMAGE: World champion D Gukesh lost to countryman Arjun Erigaisi in Norway Chess on Tuesday. Photograph: Norway Chess
World champion D Gukesh’s disappointing season continued on Tuesday with the teenager losing his second successive match in Norway Chess — this time to countrymate Arjun Erigaisi – and failing to open his account after two rounds of the prestigious tournament in Stavanger.
A day after he lost to Magnus Carlsen in a thriller, Gukesh found himself being troubled by Erigaisi early and committing mistakes as time ran out.
Erigaisi finally defeated Gukesh in 62 moves, forcing his opponent to resign after giving him a check with his knight.
This is the second time this year that Gukesh, who will be turning 19 on Thursday, has lost to Erigaisi in a major tournament.
Erigaisi, on the other hand, has justified the invitation given to him by the Norway Chess organisers by beating China’s No.1 Wei Yi in Armageddon in the opening round and then getting the better of Gukesh in over four hours.
Erigaisi, who beat Gukesh in Tata Steel Chess earlier this year in Wijk aan Zee, Netherlands, to spoil his chances of winning the elite tournament, opted for a d4 (Queen’s pawn opening), while Gukesh, playing with black again, responds with a Nimzo Indian defence.
The world champion, following his defeat to Carlsen on Tuesday, found himself under time pressure as early as the 17th move when he trailed Erigaisi by 1 hour and 20 minutes on the clock.
By the 44th minute, Gukesh had just a few seconds left on the clock, while Erigaisi had more than 10 minutes, thus putting extreme pressure on the world champion.
On Wednesday, Gukesh will play American Grandmaster Hikaru Nakamura, while Erigaisi, on 4.5 points after two games, will take on another American Fabiano Caruana.
