Chess World Cup: World Champion D Gukesh Bows Out After Losing To Frederik Svane
World champion D Gukesh bowed out of the Chess World Cup, losing the third-round match to Frederik Svane of Germany.
World champion D Gukesh bowed out of the Chess World Cup, losing the third-round match to Frederik Svane of Germany, while Arjun Erigaisi and R Praggnanandhaa made it to the last-32 stage, in Panaji on Saturday. Gukesh lost the second game of the third round under normal time control against a seasoned opponent known to be a fierce competitor. It was an Italian opening wherein Gukesh went wrong in judging the position when it was just about equal. With the world champion landing into a worse knight-and-pawns endgame, it meant that only the black had a chance and Svane made history by showcasing his immaculate skills in the endgame.
Erigaisi and Praggnanandhaa had little trouble securing the last-32 berths, defeating Shamsiddin Vokhidov of Uzbekistan and Robert Hovhannisyan of Armenia respectively.
A draw was enough for Erigaisi to take him to the next round while Praggnanandhaa played a fine game to win after he had drawn the opener on Friday.
Grandmasters P Harikrishna and V Pranav also made it to the last-32 stage, eliminating Daniel Dardha of Belgium and Titas Stremavicius of Lithuania by identical 1.5-0.5 margins.
Having shown sublime form so far, Harikrishna was the first Indian to make the cut as Dardha achieved nothing with the white pieces, and the first game loss against the Indian proved decisive.
It was a similar story for Pranav as he drew with black pieces after winning the first game with white on Friday. Stremavicius tried hard to break through the defences but a calm Pranav forced the game to a draw in the rook-and-pawns endgame.
Diptayan Ghosh went out of contention after losing his way against Armenian Gabriel Sargissian. After getting an easy draw with white pieces in the first game, Diptayan, who had ousted Ian Nepomniachtchi of Russia in the previous round, just could not find his rhythm in the second game and lost 0.5-1.5.
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