Latest news with #LouisRapidandBlitz
News18
3 days ago
- Sport
- News18
St. Louis Rapid And Blitz: D Gukesh Downs Fabiano Caruana And Wesley So To Climb To Fourth
Teenage Indian World champion D Gukesh climbed to the fourth place in the table at the St. Louis Rapid and Blitz as he got the better of the American duo of Wesley So and Fabiano Caruana despite his shock defeat at the hands of Leinier Dominguez Perez on Thursday. Gukesh started the day with a loss, for the third straight day, and yet managed a fourth spot, with 18 blitz games still to be played in the USD 1,75,000 prize-money tournament, which is part of the Grand Chess Tour. Caruana topped the rapid round with 14 points, despite a loss against Gukesh. Following him is Levon Aronian, now representing the USA, with 13 points. Maxime Vachier-Lagrave from France is in third place with 11 points, just one point ahead of Gukesh, who has had a mixed performance so far. Dominguez, Wesley So, and Uzbekistan's Nodirbek Abdusattorov share the fifth spot with nine points, two points ahead of Liem Le Quang from Vietnam. American Sam Shankland is ninth with five points, while Grigoriy Oparin is last with just three points. Gukesh had a promising position against Dominguez but faltered in the final stages of the middle game, allowing Dominguez to invade the seventh rank, which proved decisive. Gukesh also had a decent position with significant compensation for a pawn against Wesley So. So was unable to handle the pressure and succumbed in the penultimate round of rapid. In the final round, Caruana nearly outplayed Gukesh, but a critical oversight cost him dearly, shifting the advantage decisively in Gukesh's favour. D Gukesh (Ind) lost to Leinier Dominguez Perez (Usa); Levon Aronian (USA) beat Sam Shankland (USA); Nodirbek Abdusattorov (Uzb) drew with Maxime Vachier-Lagrave (Fra); Grigoriy Oparin (USA) lost to Fabiano Caruana (USA); Liem Le Quang (Vie) drew with Wesley So (USA). Round 8: Wesley lost to Gukesh; Caruana beat Liem; Dominguez drew with Vachier-Lagrave; Shankland drew with Abdusattorov; Oparin lost to Wesley. Gukesh beat Caruana; Liem drew with Aronian; Abdusattorov beat Dominguez; Oparin lost to Shankland; Wesley beat Oparin. Standing after Round 9 (Rapid): 1. Caruana (14); 2. Aronian (13), 3. Vachier-Lagrave (11); 4. Gukesh (10); 5-7: Dominguez, Abdusattorov, Wesley (9 each); 8: Liem (7); 9. Shankland (5); 10. Oparin (3).
News18
4 days ago
- Sport
- News18
St. Louis Rapid And Blitz: D Gukesh Slumps To Surprise Defeat Against Sam Shakland, Fabiano Caruana Takes Lead
World Champion D Gukesh had to endure a testing day at the St. Louis Rapid and Blitz, as he could only manage a couple of draws and was handed another defeat, leaving the Indian teenager middling at the 5th place in the 10-man tournament. American Sam Shankland got the better of Gukesh in the fourth round, before the Indian followed it up with a couple of draws against Maxime Vachier-Lagrave of France and Nodirbek Abdusattorov of Uzbekistan. Fabiano Caruana, the highest-ranked American in the competition, dramatically took the lead by conceding only one draw and defeating the overnight leader, Levon Aronian, in the final game of the day, securing a two-point lead. Aronian, like Gukesh, managed only two draws and lost one game. With three rounds left in the rapid section, Caruana, scoring 10 points out of a possible 12, appears poised to win this segment, which would give him an advantage in the upcoming blitz section consisting of 18 rounds in a double round-robin format. Aronian remains close behind in second place with eight points, sharing the spot with fellow American Wesley So. Vachier-Lagrave holds fourth place with seven points, while Gukesh shares the next position with Leinier Dominguez Perez, another US import originally from Cuba. Nodirbek Abdusattorov from Uzbekistan and Liem Le Quang from Vietnam share the seventh spot with five points. Two points further back is Grigoriy Oparin, who also switched his federation to the United States. At the bottom is Sam Shankland, who secured the lone win against Gukesh, netting him two points. The Indian ace performed well by winning two consecutive games after losing to Aronian in the opening round, but faced a tougher opponent in the second round. Against Shankland, Gukesh attempted complications that backfired, as the American's tactical skills allowed him to gain a piece through precise calculation in the middle game. Gukesh opted for a draw against Vachier-Lagrave and did not find many opportunities against Abdusattorov, leading to a king-versus-king position after 60 moves. Round 4 Results: Leinier Dominguez Perez (Usa) drew with Levon Aronian (Usa); Sam Shankland (Usa) beat D Gukesh (Ind); Nodirbek Abdusattorov (Uzb) beat Grigoriy Oparin (Usa); Maxime Vachier-Lagrave (Fra) drew with Liem Le Quang (Vie); Wesley So (Usa) drew with Fabiano Caruana (Usa). Round 5 Results: Gukesh drew with Vachier-Lagrave; Wesley drew with Aronian; Caruana beat Shankland; Liem drew with Abdusattorov; Dominguez drew with Oparin. Round 6 Results: Abdusattorov drew with Gukesh; Caruana beat Aronian; Shankland lost to Vachier-Lagrave; Liem drew with Dominguez; Wesley beat Oparin. Standing after round 6: 1. Caruana (10); 2-3. Aronian, Wesley (8 each); 4. Vachier-Lagrave (7); 5-6. Gukesh, Dominguez (6 each); 7-8: Liem, Abdusattorov (5 each); 9. Oparin (3) 10. Shankland (2).
