Stavanger (Norway), May 28 (PTI) World champion D Gukesh finally got his campaign back on track on his 19th birthday, defeating World No. 2 Hikaru Nakamura of the United States to open his account with three points in Norway Chess on Thursday.
Gukesh, who suffered back-to-back defeats to World No. 1 Norwegian Magnus Carlsen and countrymate Arjun Erigaisi in the first two rounds, put Nakamura — one of the best Rapid and Blitz players — under time pressure to win the game in 42 moves.
Gukesh, who was constantly under time pressure in the last two games, was the one who got Nakamura staring at the clock in round three of the six-player double round-robin tournament.
“I feel quite good (about the win). I think my time management was much better today than before. He (Nakamura) had some drawing chances, but I guess, overall, it was good,” he said after the match.
Asked if he would be comfortable in the Armageddon tie-break as the tournament progresses, Gukesh, whose core strength lies in Classical chess, said, “Yeah, I mean at some point it will come for sure. But right now, I’m just happy with this (win).” Gukesh, who beat Ding Liren of China for the world title last December, acknowledged that the last two games, which he lost, were “tough” on him.
“Obviously, the last two games were kind of tough. But today I just tried to play it as a fresh tournament. Glad I played (like that),” he said.
Asked if the win was a direct consequence of managing the clock better than previous days, he conceded it was “clearly horrible” time management in the last two games.
“Glad my time management and my game were pretty good (today),” he said. PTI AM ARI
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