World Champion D Gukesh celebrated his 19th birthday with a spectacular victory at the Norway Chess Tournament, silencing his critics and making a b comeback in the tournament.
Sports News: World Champion D Gukesh registered a memorable win at the Norway Chess Tournament on his 19th birthday. After losing his first two matches, he made a b comeback, defeating world number two Hikaru Nakamura from the USA and securing three valuable points. This victory was particularly significant because Nakamura is considered a giant in rapid and blitz chess, but Gukesh defeated him in 42 moves by putting him under time pressure.
Strategic Victory Against Nakamura
In the match played on Thursday, Gukesh displayed confidence from the start of the game. He defeated Nakamura in 42 moves, even putting an experienced player like Nakamura under time pressure. Notably, in the previous two matches, Gukesh himself had lost due to time constraints, but this time he maintained control of the game.
Gukesh said after the match, "This victory has brought immense relief. I paid special attention to my time management, and it yielded good results today. Nakamura certainly had some chances to draw, but overall my game was balanced."
Comeback After a Difficult Start
Gukesh started the tournament with consecutive losses against Magnus Carlsen and Arjun Erigaisi. This was a mentally challenging time for him. But the victory against Nakamura has put him back in the competition. He said, "Forgetting the last two matches, I saw today's match as a fresh start. I will try to maintain this rhythm in the upcoming matches as well."
Norway Chess is a prestigious tournament with only six players participating, played in a double round-robin format. After the third round, Fabiano Caruana is at the top with six points. He achieved this position by defeating Erigaisi. Magnus Carlsen is in second place with five points. Nakamura and Erigaisi are jointly in third place with 4.5 points each.
Caruana, who lost to Nakamura in the opening match, is now at the top of the tournament with two consecutive wins, and has also overtaken Erigaisi in the live ratings to become the world's number three player.
Indian Hopes Remain in the Women's Section
In the women's competition, India's veteran player Koneru Humpy continued her excellent performance. She defeated Iran's Sara Khadem in the third round and remains jointly at the top with Ukraine's Anna Muzychuk with six points. On the other hand, R Vaishali was defeated by China's Ju Wenjun in the Armageddon tiebreak.
