Gukesh stuns Carlsen with comeback win in Norway Chess showdown
The win on Sunday propelled 19-year-old Gukesh to third position with 8.5 points and he is just one point shy of joint leaders Carlsen and American Grandmaster Fabiano Caruana.
PTI
-
World champion D Gukesh
Stavanger, 2 June
World champion D Gukesh got his revenge on
Magnus Carlsen as he pounced on a blunder by the world no.1 to defeat him for
the first time in a classical game, leaving the Norwegian superstar so
frustrated that he banged his fist on the board after Round 6 of Norway Chess
Tournament here.
The win on Sunday
propelled 19-year-old Gukesh to third position with 8.5 points and he is just
one point shy of joint leaders Carlsen and American Grandmaster Fabiano
Caruana.
"There wasn't
much I could do. It was just clearly lost (his position)...luckily he (Carlsen)
got into a time scramble," the reticent Chennai-lad said after the
eagerly-watched contest.
"First Classical
win over Magnus, not the way I expected (or) wanted it to be but I will take it.
I was just trying to make moves (today) which kind of were tricky for
him," he explained.
"...99 out of
100 times I would lose… just a lucky day," Gukesh later told the
tournament broadcasters.
Five-time world
champion Carlsen seemed to have the upper-hand almost throughout the
four-hour-long contest but a critical mistake allowed Gukesh to turn the tables
on the Norwegian and secure a remarkable win.
Carlsen realised his
mistake but by then it was too late. The Norwegian superstar vented his
frustration by banging his fist on the table, causing the chess board to be
dishevelled.
Disbelief and
frustration was writ large on his face as he shook hands with Gukesh before
placing all the pieces back on the board and walking away patting the winner on
the back.
Gukesh was calm
personified amid all this. He closed his eyes for a moment after the rather
tense handshake with a clearly upset Carlsen.
The victory had come
after a crushing Round 1 loss to iconic player which had cast a shadow on
whether Gukesh would be able to overcome Carlsen's challenge in the reverse
game.
Arjun Erigaisi,
following an Armageddon tie-break win against China's Wei Yi, is tied fourth
with Hikaru Nakamura on 7.5 points in a tournament where virtually all the six
players have a chance of winning the prestigious title.
Leave a Reply
Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *