Gukesh loses to Carlsen in Freestyle Chess
The 18-year-old reigning classical world champion didn’t win a single game in nine rounds but still managed to sneak into the top eight and qualify for the knockout stage
Bengaluru: Magnus Carlsen defeated Gukesh in Round 9 of the Freestyle Chess (chess 960) Grand Slam Tour in Weissenhaus, Germany in their first meeting since the 18-year-old Indian turned classical world champion in December. The Norwegian world No.1 squeezed a win out of what appeared to be an equal endgame with the Black pieces.
Gukesh did not win a single game of the nine rounds played in the rapid format during the round robin stage of the tournament. He still managed to sneak into the top eight and avoid elimination thanks to Vladimir Fedoseev and Levon Aronian ensuring themselves the bottom two spots.
Position 931 was picked at random for Round 9 of the round robin stage, with White castled long. Chess 960, also known as Fischer Random chess, randomises the starting position of the pieces on the back rank and reduces the role of opening theory. The number ‘960’ in the name of the format is drawn from the number of possible starting positions.
Gukesh, with the White pieces, was at the board early ahead of his game against the five-time classical world champion, while other players broke into two groups (those with white and black pieces) and analysed the starting position. Ten minutes are allowed before every game for players to discuss.
The knockout stage next will be played in the classical time control with 90 minutes and a 30-second increment per move. Alireza Firouzja topped the standings after nine rounds of rapid chess while Gukesh finished at the bottom of the qualified players, in eighth spot.
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