Grand Chess Tour: Gukesh finishes fifth, Anand tied seventh in blitz event
Zagreb. Young Indian Grandmaster D Gukesh finished fifth in the third stage of the 2023 Super United Rapid and Blitz chess tournament, while compatriot Viswanathan Anand finished tied seventh in the event. Gukesh, who was an average performer on the opening day in the blitz section, made a strong comeback on the second day scoring 6.5 points. He defeated top players like Anand, Fabiano Caruana (USA) and Jan-Krzysztof Duda (Poland) during this period. Gukesh, who defeated Anand for the first time in the tournament in the rapid category, defeated the five-time world champion in 34 moves in the blitz on Sunday.
The 17-year-old Indian started the second day of the blitz section with a win over Richard Rapport (Romania) and then surprised the veteran by defeating Caruana. However, he could not overcome the challenge of top-ranked player Magnus Carlsen (Norway). He then made a good comeback with a win over Anand. Gukce suffered a loss to Alireza Feroza but went on to post a hat-trick of wins. The player registered wins over Constantin Lupulescu (Romania), Duda and Ivan Saric (Croatia). He drew against Ioan Nepomniachtchi and ended the tournament with a score of 19.5 points (rapid + blitz).
Also read: Sunil Gavaskar Turns 74: Know about the special and memorable moments of the Little Master’s career
Anand started the tournament on a bright note in the rapid section but could not maintain his momentum. He scored only three points on the first day of the blitz and then scored 3.5 points on the second day. The seasoned Indian ended his campaign with 16.5 points. World number one Carlsen shot 26 out of a possible 36 to claim the top prize and $40,000 (about Rs 33 lakh) as prize money. He had an incredible performance (winning all nine matches) in the blitz section. Nepomniachtchi (22.5) was second, while Caruana (21.5) was third and Firouza (21) was fourth.
