New Delhi: Magnus Carlsen defeated reigning world champion D Gukesh in the much-anticipated meeting between the duo in the round-robin stage of the ongoing Freestyle Chess Grand Slam Tour at Weissenhaus in Germany. Gukesh went down in his first meeting against the world no.1 since being crowned the youngest world champion at 18 last year.
Both Gukesh and Carlsen had expressed their excitement ahead of their meeting and it was the world no.1 who came out on top while playing with the black pieces. However, Gukesh managed to qualify for the knockout stages of the first event of the Freestyle Grand Slam Tour despite losing to Carlsen in the final round of the qualifiers on Saturday.
It was Gukesh’s second defeat in the tournament as he finished the round-robin stage winless and with just 3.5 points. The 18-year-old Indian Grandmaster had some great opportunities to force a draw against the Norwegian, who is regarded as the best player in the world at the moment. However, Gukesh kept pushing which eventually led to a blunder in his 42nd move as he ended up losing the game.
Gukesh finished with 7 draws and two defeats in the round-robin stage which were enough to earn him qualification for the knockout stage of what is being described as one of the strongest chess events considering its new experimental format. Some of the best players from across the globe are part of the 10-team tournament which is co-founded by Carlsen himself.
D Gukesh lost to world no.1 Magnus Carlsen in their first meeting since the Indian was crowned the new world champion in the Freestyle Chess Grand Slam Tour on Saturday. Other Sports Sports News: Latest Cricket News, Cricket Live Score, Sports Breaking News from Sports Today
