MAMALLAPURAM: Grandmaster D Gukesh is on a giant-killing spree. The 16-year-old youngster registered his 8th successive victory at the ongoing 44th Olympiad on Saturday as World No. 5 and 2018 World championship challenger Fabiano Caruana lost to him in 45 moves.
In previous rounds, Gukesh had beaten the likes of Alexei Shirov from Spain and Armenia’s Gabrial Sargissian among others. Gukesh’s win against Caruana not only helped him overtake P Harikrishna as India No. 2 but also rise to No. 20 in the live FIDE world rankings.
Gukesh along with Raunak Sadhwani --- who defeated Leinier Perez Dominguez in 45 moves --- powered India 2 to a crushing 3-1 victory over top seeds USA. On the other two boards, R Praggnanandhaa and Nihal Sarin drew with Wesley So and Levon Aronian respectively. The win takes India 2 to the second spot in the standings with 14 match points, 1 behind Armenia, while USA have slipped to the 16th spot with 12 points. India 1 is placed 9th (12 match points) while India 3 is on 48th spot with 10 points.
Gukesh was understandably pleased with his performance but chose not to look too far ahead. “It has been a very enjoyable experience for me. Caruana is one of my favorite players. I just took it (this game) as a learning experience,” Gukesh said at the end of the match.
The Gukesh-Caruana clash, that lasted almost four hours, saw a Sicilian opening with the American enjoying a clear advantage by the 16th move. Gukesh conceded that he wasn’t at his best in the starting phase. “I was slightly worse (in the opening). I just tried to hold on. After he played B4 (on move 24), I managed to counter him. The key was to not panic as I was looking at this clash as an opportunity (to show) that I can play any position against the strongest opponent,” Gukesh added. Raunak, who defeated World No. 14 Dominguez, felt it was an important win. “It is definitely a great feeling to be able to beat a player of Dominguez’s class.
RB Ramesh, India 2 captain, felt the team exceeded his expectations. “Our players have been in great form and playing well throughout the tournament. I was expecting a 2.5-1.5 score-line against USA but 3-1 is just amazing,” Ramesh mentioned. With just three rounds to go, Ramesh is confident of finishing in the top-three. “Even before the event started, a top-3 finish was what we were aiming for. We knew it wasn’t going to be easy but the way Gukesh is going --- anything is possible,” he said.
While India 2 had a memorable day, India 1 and India 3 in the open category lost their matches. India 1, the second seeds, went down to their counterparts from Armenia 2.5-1.5. On the top board, P Harikrishna lost to Gabrial Sargissian in 102 moves. On other boards, Vidit Gujrathi, Arjun Erigaisi and SL Narayanan drew.
India 3 had a day to forget as well --- losing to Peru 1-3. Surya Shekhar Ganguly and Abhijeet Gupta lost their matches to Emilio Cordova and Renato Terry. SP Sethuraman and Karthikeyan split points with Cristhian Cruz and Deivy Vera Siguenas.
India 1 women draw Ukraine 2-2: India 1 women, the top seeds, were held in their 8th round encounter against Ukraine 2-2. On the top board, Koneru Humpy split points with Mariya Muzychuk, while D Harika drew with Anna Muzychuk. R Vaishali and Tania Sachdev drew with Anna Ushenina and Nataliya Buksa. Despite the draw, India 1 are topping the points table (15 match points) followed by Georgia (14) and Poland (13). India 2 (11) are on 20th place while India 3 is on 26th spot with 11 match points.
India 2 defeated Croatia 3.5-0.5. The wins for the hosts came from Vantika Agrawal, Padmini Rout and Divya Deshmukh against Mirjana Medic, Anarmarija Radikovic and Tereza Dejanovic. Ann Mary Gomes drew her game against Tihana Ivekovic.
However, India 3 lost to Poland 1-3. PV Nandhidhaa and B Pratyusha lost their clashes against Oliwia Kiolbasa and Maria Malicka. Eesha Karavade and Vishwa Vasnawala drew their clashes.
