World Champion Gukesh loses 4 out of 6 games on day one of Paris Freestyle Chess

Two Indians, including World Champion D Gukesh, had a horrible day one at the Paris leg of the Freestyle Chess Grand Slam Tour on April 7. Gukesh had just one win in six rounds, while he lost four games.

Gukesh was placed 10th among the 12 participants after the completion of six rounds. Meanwhile, Vidit Gujrathi, who recently got married, and Hungarian Richard Rapport were at the bottom of the table with just a point apiece.

Five more rounds in the round-robin rapid format will be played on April 8, following which the top eight will qualify for the knockout stages. India’s Arjun Erigaisi and R Praggnanandhaa were sixth and seventh respectively at the end of day one.

World No. 1 Magnus Carlsen and Uzbek star Nodirbek Abdusattorov shared the lead with 5 points each, while Frenchman Maxime Vachier-Lagrave was third on 4.5 points, followed by Russia's Ian Nepomniachtchi on 4. Erigaisi and American Hikaru Nakamura were tied on 3.5 points each, while Praggnanandhaa and Fabiano Caruana had 2.5 points each.

The Indian show
Erigaisi was the best player among the four Indians in the contest on the opening day. He defeated Fabiano Caruana and Magnus Carlsen in the opening two rounds. Erigaisi lost to Gukesh in round three, which was the World Champion's only win on the day. Erigaisi and Praggnanandhaa played out an exciting draw in round five.

Praggnanandhaa had two wins on the day, against compatriot Vidit and Nepomniachtchi, while he lost to Rapport, Carlsen and Vachier-Lagrave. Vidit, who had a great chance against Carlsen in round one, ended up losing in the end game. His only win on the day came in round two against Gukesh.

Carlsen defeated Gukesh in their round four clash. Gukesh had also lost to the Norwegian in the first leg of the Freestyle Chess Grand Slam Tour at Weissenhaus in Germany in February.

Last week, Carlsen claimed that Gukesh would struggle to reach the knockout stages. So far, his assessment has been spot on.