Chess
Freestyle Chess Grand Slam: Gukesh loses to Fabiano Caruana in first quarter-final game
Gukesh will now have to win with the black pieces in the second quarter-final game on Monday.
Gukesh Dommaraju (Photo Credit: Eng Chin An/FIDE)
India's Gukesh Dommaraju is on the verge of a quarter-final exit at the 2025 Freestyle Chess Grand Slam event in Wissenhaus, Germany after having lost his first game against Fabiano Caruana on Sunday.
The 18-year-old world champion surrendered with the white pieces, erring under time pressure in the endgame following a see-saw battle.
Gukesh seemed to have eked out a slight advantage out of the opening but found himself in the backfoot after a slight inaccuracy in the 15th move.
The loss continued a poor run of form for the Indian, who is yet to register a single win in the tournament.
Gukesh still has a chance to qualify for the semi-finals though. He'll need to win the second quarter-final match against Caruana on demand with the black pieces on Monday.
If he manages to do so, Gukesh can force the contest into rapid tie-breaks.
Caruana had opted to play Gukesh in the quarter-finals after he was given the option to choose his opponent, thanks to his third-place finish in the round robin stage.
"I will play the world champion," a confident Caruana had said late on Saturday.
The American Grandmaster even chose to play the first game with the black pieces.
Elsewhere in the quarter-finals, Magnus Carlsen made quick work of Nodirbek Abdusattorov, whereas Alireza Firouzja got the better of Vincent Keymer.
The young Jakovhir Sindarov, meanwhile, held Hikaru Nakamura to a draw.
