On the sixth day of the Freestyle Chess Grand Slam Tour in Weissenhaus, D Gukesh faced the World No. 2, Hikaru Nakamura. Despite the efforts, the current world champion fails to win against Nakamura in the 5th-8th place playoffs. With the Indian challenge already over earlier, he’ll be playing for the 7th position now. Meanwhile, World Number 1 Magnus Carlsen fails to win in the semifinals.
Long ties and quick defeats for Gukesh
The day kicked off with Gukesh playing with the white pieces. The first rapid tiebreaker game between Gukesh and Nakamura turned into a marathon, ending in a 103-move draw. It was a tactical battle where neither player could gain the upper hand. In the second rapid game, Gukesh started strong, showing promise in the early stages. However, a series of blunders, including moves allowed Nakamura to seize the advantage. Eventually, the game ended after 33 moves, pushing Gukesh further from breaking his winless streak against the American player.
Gukesh to fight for 7th place
With this loss, Gukesh now has a total of 10 draws and five losses in this leg of the tournament. Despite the setback, he has one last opportunity to secure a win when he faces Alireza Firouzja in the playoff for the seventh spot. Gukesh will aim to improve upon his Day 1 loss against Firouzja and conclude on a positive note and end the tournament.
Carlsen bows out in semifinals
In the semifinals, Magnus Carlsen went up against Vincent Keymer, while Fabiano Caruana faced Javokhir Sindarov. Caruana’s match with Sindarov was a 7-hour marathon, topping in an Armageddon game where Caruana triumphed with the black pieces to secure his spot in the finals. Meanwhile, Vincent Keymer delivered a surprising defeat to Magnus Carlsen by winning the first game and drawing the second, advancing with a 1.5-0.5 score. The final will now feature Caruana vs Keymer, while Carlsen will play against Sindarov for third place.
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