D Gukesh Faces Fifth Consecutive Defeat at Prague International Chess Festival as Jorden van Foreest Takes the Lead
World Champion D Gukesh Faces Fifth Consecutive Defeat at Prague International Chess Festival
Prague, Czech Republic – In a stunning turn of events at the Prague International Chess Festival, World Champion D Gukesh suffered his fifth straight defeat, succumbing to Nodirbek Abdusattorov after squandering a winning position. The match, reminiscent of their previous encounter at the Tata Steel Masters, left Gukesh and his supporters reeling as he failed to capitalize on a strong middle game.
Gukesh, employing a new strategy as Black, initially dominated the board, putting pressure on Abdusattorov’s king and creating significant weaknesses. For much of the game, it appeared that Gukesh was on the verge of securing his first victory in the Masters section of the tournament. However, as the clock ticked down, the pressure mounted, leading to critical blunders that allowed Abdusattorov to seize the opportunity and claim victory.
In contrast, Dutch Grandmaster Jorden van Foreest continued his impressive run, notching his fourth win in five rounds. Van Foreest’s victory over Hans Moke Niemann was marked by a single error from the American, which proved decisive. With this win, van Foreest climbed to the 11th spot in the world rankings, showcasing his remarkable form.
The day was filled with decisive games in the 10-player round-robin tournament. Defending champion Aravindh Chithambaram faced his third defeat, falling to Spain’s David Anton Guijarro, while local favorite David Navara delivered an impressive performance against Uzbek player Nodirbek Yakubboev, earning the title of “game of the day.” Iranian Parham Maghsoodloo also secured a win against Germany’s Vincent Keymer.
As the tournament progresses, van Foreest leads with four points, closely followed by Abdusattorov and Navara, who are just half a point behind. Guijarro holds the fourth spot with three points, while Gukesh, Chithambaram, and Niemann find themselves at the bottom of the standings with only 1.5 points each.
In the challengers’ section, World Women’s Cup winner Divya Deshmukh celebrated her first victory of the tournament, defeating fellow Indian Surya Shekhar Ganguly to reach a fifty percent score. Czech player Finek Vanclav continues to lead this section with four points.
As the festival unfolds, all eyes will be on Gukesh to see if he can turn his fortunes around in the upcoming rounds. The chess world watches with bated breath as the competition intensifies in Prague.