Norway Chess: Gukesh surrenders to Nakamura; Caruana in lead

The Indian youngster had a bishop and a knight against Nakamura’s bishop-pair, the teenager resigned when in danger of being two pawns down.

Gukesh D lost the lead at the Norway Chess after a loss against Hikaru Nakamura on Wednesday. | Photo Credit: B. Jothi Ramalingam/The Hindu

D. Gukesh blundered in time-trouble, missed a chance to recover against Hikaru Nakamura and lost in 71 moves in the second round of the 11th Norway Chess in Stavanger, Norway, on Wednesday.

Starting the round as a co-leader, the Indian youngster fell short of finding resources from the white side to save the game. In the end, when Gukesh had a bishop and a knight against Nakamura’s bishop-pair, the teenager resigned when in danger of being two pawns down.

Overnight joint-leader Fabiano Caruana became the sole leader after prevailing in the Armageddon game against Anish Giri. The players drew their classical time-format game.

On a day when four of the five first-round losers emerged triumphant, Shakhriyar Mamedyarov was unlucky to be declared lost-on-time after looking good to win against Alireza Firouzja.

Results

Second round: D. Gukesh (3) lost to Hikaru Nakamura (4); Anish Giri (Ned) drew with Fabiano Caruana; Aryan Tari (Nor, 1) lost to Nodirbek Abdusattorov (Uzb, 4); Magnus Carlsen (Nor) drew with Wesley So (USA); Alireza Firouzja (Fra, 3) bt Shakhriyar Mamedyarov (Aze, 1.5); Armageddon: Carlsen (1.5) bt So (2.5); Giri (2.5) lost to Caruana (4.5).

Third round pairings: Mamedyarov-Gukesh; Caruana-Tari; Nakamura-Carlsen; Abdusattorov-Firouzja; So-Giri.