New Delhi: Indian chess prodigy and reigning world champion D Gukesh scored a morale-boosting win over American grandmaster Hikaru Nakamura at the Clutch Chess: Champions Showdown but still endured a tough outing overall, dropping to the bottom of the standings at the end of Day 2.
The 18-year-old Indian avenged his earlier loss to Nakamura in the Checkmate: USA vs India exhibition event, where the American had courted controversy for theatrically throwing his king after defeat. This time, Gukesh responded with composure and focus, registering a clean victory on the board.
However, the success against Nakamura was overshadowed by a string of disappointing results through the rest of the day. In the fourth round, Gukesh lost both games to world number one Magnus Carlsen. His rematch against Nakamura ended in back-to-back draws, and he then suffered another defeat to Fabiano Caruana before salvaging a half-point in the return game.
At the close of Day 2, Gukesh found himself tied for last place with Nakamura on 7 points. Carlsen leads the standings with 11.5 points, followed by Caruana on 10.5.
Reflecting on the difficult day, Gukesh admitted he was not at his best. He said he was spending too much time on moves and needed to reset before the next round. “Forget what happened and come fresh tomorrow,” he remarked.
Carlsen, meanwhile, described his first win over Gukesh as his “only good game” of the tournament, acknowledging that he had struggled for control in several encounters but was satisfied with the results.
The Clutch Chess: Champions Showdown, featuring some of the world’s elite players, carries a total prize pool of USD 412,000. All games are played under rapid time controls of 10 minutes with a 5-second increment. The top four finishers will share USD 340,000, with an additional USD 72,000 set aside as bonus prizes.
