New Delhi: World champion D Gukesh’s disappointing season continued as the teenager suffered his second successive loss in the ongoing Norway Chess tournament. On Tuesday, Gukesh was outplayed by countrymate Arjun Erigaisi which prevented the youngest world champ from opening his account even after two rounds of the prestigious tournament.
This loss came just a day after he suffered his first round defeat against Magnus Carlsen in a thrilling clash. Gukesh, much like his opening encounter, found himself in trouble early on against Erigaisi as he committed mistakes as time ran out. Erigaisi was exceptional in his play as he took 62 moves to defeat Gukesh forcing him to resign after giving him a check with his knight.
Second loss to Erigaisi in major tournament
This is the second time in this year that Gukesh has lost to Erigaisi in a major tournament and the loses come just before the teenage star would celebrate his 19th birthday on Thursday. On the other hand, Erigaisi justified the invitation given to him by the Norway Chess organisers by beating China’s number one Wei Yi in Armageddon in the first round and then getting the better of Gukesh in over four hours.
His earlier victory over Gukesh came in the Tata Steel Chess tournament earlier this year in Netherlands and the world champion, after his loss to Carlsen found himself under immense 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.
Meanwhile on Wednesday, Gukesh will lock horns against American Grandmaster Hikaru Nakamura, while Erigaisi, on 4.5 points after two games, will take on another American player Fabiano Caruana.
(With PTI inputs)
Norway Chess: D Gukesh suffered this loss just a day after going down in his first round match against Magnus Carlsen in a thrilling clash. Other Sports Sports News: Latest Cricket News, Cricket Live Score, Sports Breaking News from Sports Today
