Continuing his march, an ever-so-focussed D. Gukesh overpowered China’s Wang Hao to not only inch closer to a quarterfinal spot of the FIDE World Cup but also moved to career-high World No. 7 in the live rankings on Saturday.
Gukesh’s 38-move victory placed him a draw away from setting up a possible clash with top seed Magnus Carlsen, who defeated Ukrainian veteran Vassily Ivanchuk in their first game. The players meet again on Sunday by playing with behind pieces of reverse colours.
Saturday’s victory, worth 4.5 rating points, raised Gukesh’s live rating to a career-high 2761.5 and replaced Anish Giri (2759.6) as the new World No. 7 in live rankings.
Like Gukesh, Arjun Erigaisi also played black and struck by punishing Sweden’s Nils Grandelius for a late error in 53 moves. On a when Vidit Gujrathi, with white pieces, held fourth-seeded Russian Ian Nepomniachtchi and R. Praggnanandhaa split the point with Hungary’s Ferenc Berkes.
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