7 days ago
D Gukesh braves storm for St. Louis Rapid & Blitz shoot, American GM brushes rain from world champ's jacket: Watch video
D Gukesh braved relentless rains and storms to be on time for an interview and photoshoot at the St. Louis Chess Club, the video of which went viral on social media. The chess world champion, Gukesh is currently in the United States to compete in the St. Louis Rapid and Blitz tournament, a part of the ongoing Grand Chess Tour.
In the video posted by Grand Chess Tour on their official Instagram handle, Gukesh along with his father Rajnikanth, were seen running out of their car to reach the St. Louis Chess Club in the middle of the rain. Upon reaching the venue, the Indian duo was welcome by Syrian-born American Grandmaster GM Yasser Seirawan and others.
In fact, it was Seirawan, who brushed off the rain water from Gukesh's jacket to make the youngster ready for the photoshoot. The sweet gesture from Seirawan caught off-guard before allowing his senior to continue. 'Storms can't stop a World Champion!' read the caption in the video.
Gukesh D arrived at the Saint Louis Chess Club for his interview and photoshoot right in the middle of a storm Luckily, our very own GM Yasser Seirawan was there to greet him and give a friendly hand in brushing off the rain from his jacket. Welcome to St. Louis, Gukesh!" the caption added.
Meanwhile, Gukesh bounced back from an opening round loss to American Levon Aronian with wins over Grigoriy Oparin and Liem Le Quang and finished Dai 1 in joint third place. Gukesh was outplayed by Aronian in a complex opening-round battle but rebounded strongly, producing a resounding victory against Oparin before crushing Liem to end the day with four points out of a possible six on Monday.
Gukesh shares the third place with another American, Wesley So, while Vachier-Lagrave and Leinier Dominguez Perez are tied for fifth with three points each. For Gukesh, the first round was a heartbreak as he went down in extreme complexities arising from a Caro Kann defense game.
However, he recovered quickly, defeating Oparin in style. The finale was picturesque out of a Sicilian Rossolimo as the Indian sacrificed his queen to checkmate the Russian turned American.
In the final game of the day, Gukesh, playing black against Liem, entered massive complications again. But, unlike Aronian, Liem faltered under pressure and was left facing a lost position once the dust settled.
