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World champion D Gukesh celebrated his 19th birthday by beating World No. 2 Hikaru Nakamura in Norway Chess, recovering from losses to Magnus Carlsen and Arjun Erigaisi.
D Gukesh at Norway Chess (X)
World champion D Gukesh regained momentum on his 19th birthday by defeating World No. 2 Hikaru Nakamura of the United States, earning three points in Norway Chess on Thursday.
Gukesh, who had faced consecutive losses against World No. 1 Norwegian Magnus Carlsen and compatriot Arjun Erigaisi in the first two rounds, placed Nakamura, known for his rapid and blitz prowess, under time pressure to secure a win in 42 moves.
Having struggled with time management in the previous games, Gukesh turned the tables in round three of the six-player double round-robin tournament, putting Nakamura on the clock.
“I feel quite good about the win. I think my time management was much better today. Nakamura had some drawing chances, but overall, it was a good game,” Gukesh remarked post-match.
When asked about his readiness for the Armageddon tie-break as the tournament progresses, Gukesh, whose strength is in classical chess, said, “Yeah, at some point it will come for sure. But right now, I’m just happy with this win.”
Reflecting on his journey to the world title last December, where he defeated Ding Liren of China, Gukesh acknowledged the difficulty of his recent losses.
“Obviously, the last two games were tough. But today, I approached it as a fresh start. I’m glad I played that way,” he noted.
Regarding the impact of his improved time management on the win, he admitted that his previous time management had been “clearly horrible.”
“I’m glad my time management and my game were pretty good today,” he concluded.
(With inputs from PTI)
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