ST. LOUIS, (USA) Aug 12: Reigning world champion D Gukesh bounced back from an opening round loss to American Levon Aronian with wins over Grigoriy Oparin and Liem Le Quang, finishing the first day in joint third place at the St. Louis Rapid and Blitz tournament, which is a part of the Grand Chess Tour.
Gukesh was outplayed by Aronian in a complex opening-round battle but rebounded strongly, producing a resounding victory against Oparin before crushing Liem to end the day with four points out of a possible six on Monday.
With each rapid win worth two points, Aronian took the early lead by winning all three games on the opening day.
Fresh from his triumph in the recently concluded Freestyle Chess tournament in Las Vegas.
The American GM beat key rivals Nodirbek Abdusattorov of Uzbekistan and Maxime Vachier-Lagrave of France to maintain a perfect score.
Aronian sits on six points, followed closely by compatriot Fabiano Caruana on five after two wins and a draw.
Gukesh shares the third place with another American, Wesley So, while Vachier-Lagrave and Leinier Dominguez Perez are tied for fifth with three points each.
Liem and Oparin are next on two points, Nodirbek has one, and Sam Shankland is last after losing all his games.
For Gukesh, the first round was a heartbreak as he went down in extreme complexities arising from a Caro Kann defense game.
However, he recovered quickly, defeating Oparin in style.
The finale was picturesque out of a Sicilian Rossolimo as the Indian sacrificed his queen to checkmate the Russian turned American.
In the final game of the day, Gukesh, playing black against Liem, entered massive complications again.
But, unlike Aronian, Liem faltered under pressure and was left facing a lost position once the dust settled. (PTI)
