STAVANGER: Moments after throwing in the towel against Arjun Erigaisi at the ongoing edition of Norway Chess on Wednesday, D Gukesh preferred to momentarily hide his eyes away from the crowd, the photographers and the assembled journalists inside the playing hall. The disappointment of a second-straight loss was writ large on his face. After he got up from the gaming chair, he opened the door and stormed past several TV journalists, some of whom had already asked their questions. No questions would be answered today as he speed-walked his way out of the building and into one of the waiting cars.
The tournament may only be three days old but it has been a pretty frustrating experience for Gukesh so far. On Day One, Magnus Carlsen edged him in an endgame thriller after more or less staying level for the vast majority of the game. In the second game against Erigaisi, India No. 1 according to the FIDE ranking, the 18-year-old showed enough gumption and spirit to fight back from a vulnerable position.
Erigaisi may have been up three pawns in the endgame but the TN man still had it under control. That's when he played 56. Bf1 rather than Bd5. Rated as an inaccuracy by the engine, the end was near and Erigaisi didn't need a second invitation. Laser focused, he dialled in to claim his first outright win of the tournament. It was also his second consecutive win over Gukesh in Classical since the latter had become world champion.
The game, the result and the first few days at Stavanger also offered a peek into the mindset of India's two best-ranked players. If Gukesh flat out refused to engage with the media or take some selfies (it's normal for players to leave the hall as soon as possible, especially after a loss), the 21-year-old stayed behind to give bytes to all TV reporters as well as spend some time with the Indian media.
That sort of mood was reflected in the live ratings. While the world champion has lost 9.4 points in two days (and a fall of 19.9 in his last 11 games), his opponent gained 4.8 in as many days.
"He ran into my prep," he said after the game. "I could just play without thinking and he needed to really think hard." That is true. While Erigaisi was blitzing his moves to the middle-game, Gukesh was bleeding time. Here's a sample. For the first 20 moves, Gukesh had used up 90 minutes (his opponent had used 30 minutes and change).
Getting into a time scramble in the middle-game can be deadly at the elite level and it's what led the 18-year-old into a blunder in the 26th move. His Rb6 sent the engines on a tailspin, giving the Warangal-born GM a big advantage.
“If Gukesh gets low on time here, with there being no increment until move 40, he’s just going to get blown away," was how Hikaru Nakamura summed it up when he visited the confessional booth during the match. To be fair to Gukesh, he did claw the game back to level footing before losing it again.
However, two wins in as many days — including one over Wei Yi in Armageddon (shorter time control after drawing the Classical) on Monday — has given Erigaisi the sort of start he wanted 'in one of the stronger tournaments in history because you don't often see the top-five players in an event together'.
Interestingly, the World No. 3 also worked on his mental attributes to be in top shape for this tournament. After falling into bad habits — having one eye on results and performances at Wijk Aan Zee where he lost games and struggled for consistency — earlier in the year, he's now back to 'thinking about process'.
On Thursday, the World No. 3 — nicknamed the beast because of his aggressive instincts — will face Carlsen. If he ruffles the Norwegian's usually unflappable feathers in this format, it could be a significant moment in the Indian's still nascent career.
Round 4
Open
Carlsen v. Erigaisi, Gukesh v. Caruana, Nakamura v. Wei
Women
Tingjie v. Khadem, Wenjun v. Humpy, Vaishali v. Muzychuk
