Norway Chess: Gukesh moves to joint third spot

D. Gukesh held Anish Giri to a 58-move draw in the classical format and returned to dominate their Armageddon game for a 48-move triumph in the sixth round.

File photo: The draw against Anish Giri gave Gukesh a share of the third spot with Alireza Firouzja, behind Caruana and Hikaru Nakamura. | Photo Credit: Special arrangement

D. Gukesh held Anish Giri to a 58-move draw in the classical format and returned to dominate their Armageddon game for a 48-move triumph in the sixth round of the 11th Norway Chess at Stavanger, Norway, on Monday.

Fabiano Caruana recovered from the setback suffered on the previous day by punishing Nodirbek Abdusattorov for a late error and extending his lead. Caruana, the only winner in the classical games on this day, also regained his World No. 2 rank in live ratings.

Gukesh, busy reinforcing his place in the big league with a series of impressive performances, gave nothing away to Giri. In the Armageddon, Giri’s defence fell to pieces as he stared at a nine-move forced checkmate sequence before deciding to resign.

After the game, Gukesh said, “I’m quite happy with my play, but the results are not very good. My play has been good, so I guess the results will come!”

The result gave Gukesh a share of the third spot with Alireza Firouzja, behind Caruana and Hikaru Nakamura.

The results:

Sixth round: D. Gukesh drew with Anish Giri (Ned); Nodirbek Abdusattorov (Uzb, 6) lost to Fabiano Caruana (USA, 13.5); Aryan Tari (Nor) drew with Magnus Carlsen (Nor); Alireza Firouzja (Fra) drew with Hikaru Nakamura (USA); Shakhriyar Mamedyarov (Aze) drew with Wesley So (USA); Armageddon: Gukesh (8.5) bt Giri (7); Tari (3) lost to Carlsen (7.5); Firouzja (8.5) lost to Nakamura (11); Mamedyarov (8) lost to So (7.5).

Seventh round pairings

Caruana-Gukesh; Carlsen-Firouzja; Nakamura-Mamedyarov; Giri-Tari; So-Abdusattorov.