Prague Chess Festival
Prague, March 3: Desperately seeking his first victory in the tournament, reigning world champion D Gukesh will take on compatriot Aravindh Chithambaram in the sixth round of the Masters section of the Prague International Chess Festival on Wednesday.
With just 1.5 points coming through three draws and a couple of losses, this is another slump for Gukesh that saw him slip to number 17 in the live world rankings. The world champion needs to make adjustments quickly before it’s too late in the event.
Gukesh’s first loss was against tournament leader Jorden van Foreest, where he was doing well until a certain point, while his second defeat against Nodirbek Abdusattorov was a positional mistake under time pressure from what seemed like a won position.
Gukesh is set to play Iranian Parham Maghsoodloo, Vincent Keymer of Germany and David Anton Guijarro of Spain in the last three rounds.
Aravindh has had a lone victory but that was also from a worse position against American Hans Moke Niemann.
The Indian defending champion broke into top-level chess right here last year after winning this tournament, but his struggles this year make Gukesh a huge favourite in their clash.
Jorden van Foreest has been a revelation recently. The Dutchman has said he is surprised by his own results.
However, with four wins and a single loss, he is the only player to have played all decisive games thus far, making him the favourite as the tournament enters the business end.
Following the Dutch Grandmaster is local hero David Navara, who has done incredibly well so far to be on 3.5 points despite being the last seed.
Meanwhile, Abdusattorov, Gukesh, and Aravindh are currently sharing the last three spots with Niemann.
In the Challengers’ section, Divya Deshmukh has shown a lot of promise, sitting on 2.5 points out of a possible five; however, the limelight has been stolen by Czech International Master Vaclav Finek, who holds the sole lead with 4 points from five games.
Divya’s victory over Ganguly in the previous round merits attention, as it is hard to recall when Ganguly – a several-time Indian champion and former second to Viswanathan Anand – last lost to an Indian woman player.
Ganguly also seeks serious redemption, as he has garnered just one point and is at the bottom of the table. (PTI)
