New Delhi: Indian grandmaster and reigning world champion D Gukesh claimed his second consecutive victory at the Norway Chess on Thursday, as he beat American grandmaster Fabiano Caruana in a thrilling Armageddon tie-break in Round 4 of the grand event, being held in Stavanger.
It was Gukesh's first Armageddon of the event as he celebrated his 19th birthday in style, stopping Caruana's winning streak and ending the day on a high.
For most of the fourth round, World No. 3 Caruana enjoyed a pawn advantage against the teenage Indian but missed his chance to convert it into a significant advantage in an engrossing chess clash that went on for more than four hours, courtesy of Gukesh's exceptional defensive skills. To break the stalemate, the Armageddon tie-break was applied.
Gukesh, who played with white pieces and held a huge three-minute advantage in Armageddon, got 10 minutes for his whites while black got seven. He came out of a tricky situation during the Classical game that sluggishly moved ahead less than 15 minutes earlier and overpowered Caruana on the clock to take 1.5 points from the match.
For the unversed, a Classical format win earns the players three points in this double round-robin format tournament, while a draw fetches them one point each. However, the players have to immediately engage in the Armageddon tie-break to break the deadlock.
Gukesh has now climbed to 4.5 points and is tied fourth with compatriot Arjun Erigaisi in the six-player field led by five-time world champion Carlsen, who is in sole lead with eight points, followed by Caruana on seven and American GM Hikaru Nakamura on 5.5.
What did Gukesh say after the victory?
After his thrilling come-from-behind victory against Caruana, Gukesh said that he doesn't really enjoy playing on his birthday but would humbly accept this crucial win, which has surely boosted his morale. "Most of my birthdays, I end up losing the game, so glad it did not repeat in the classical. When I was playing, I felt fine, but when I was losing, I was like, 'ok, not again,'" Gukesh said, as quoted by PTI.
Early in the contest, the youngest world champion found himself with a pawn down in a very tricky position. The unforgiving time control was in place, where only an increment of 10 seconds per move is provided instead of 30 seconds after the 40th move which can make the situation go quickly out of control, but Gukesh kept his nerves and emerged from the tough situation with pure grit, taking the game to a Armageddon tie-break, something he doesn't do very often.
"The Classical game could have easily gone bad, but luckily, I managed to save it in the time scramble, and then Armageddon was very good," Gukesh later said.
Erigaisi loses to Carlsen
Meanwhile, Arjun Erigaisi had succumbed to Magnus Carlsen's intuitive skills in what was a mixed day for the Indians in the 'Open' category of Norway Chess. The world No. 1 Norwegian had lost two Armageddon battles in the last two rounds but made a strong statement with a win over Erigaisi in the fourth round on his home turf. Showcasing his tactical superiority against India's no. 2 Erigaisi, who played with black pieces, he earned a full three points.
Erigaisi faced a second consecutive setback after he gave up his third-round clash to Caruana on Wednesday. Carlsen started with an English Opening and was content with the outcome, but less with the speed with which he was playing.
Carlsen explained his hesitation to make quicker moves later as he said it was down to the number of choices he faced in an unfamiliar position. "You get presented with more and more difficult choices and eventually you go wrong," defending champion Carlsen had said.
Results (Round 4):
Open - Magnus Carlsen (Nor, 8 points) beat Arjun Erigaisi (Ind, 4.5 points); D Gukesh (Ind, 4.5 points) beat Fabiano Caruana (USA, 7 points) in Armageddon tie-break; Hikaru Nakamura (USA, 5.5) lost to Wei Yi (Chn, 4) in Armageddon tie-break.
Women - Sara Khadem (Esp, 5) beat Li Tingjie (Chn, 4); Ju Wenjun (Chn, 5.5) beat Koneru Humpy (Ind, 7) in Armageddon tie-break; R. Vaishali (Ind, 3.5) beat Anna Muzychuk (Ukr, 7) in Armageddon tie-break.
