Gukesh beats world number one Magnus Carlsen in Amches Rapid Chess

India’s 16-year-old Grandmaster D Gukesh defeated world number one Magnus Carlsen in the ninth round of the Emches online rapid chess tournament to become the youngest player to beat a world champion. Chennai’s Gukesh won in 29 moves playing with white pieces. He is now third after 12 rounds behind Poland’s Jan Kristof Duda (25 points) and Azerbaijan’s Shakhriyar Mamedyarov (23 points). Gukesh has 21 marks.

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A day before this, 19-year-old Arjun Arigesi of India defeated Carlsen. Meltwater Champions Chess Tour tweeted, “Gukesh becomes youngest player to beat world champion Carlsen. Well done.” The mchess tournament is part of the Meltwater Champions Chess Tour. Gukesh’s age is 16 years four months and 20 days. The previous record was held by R Praggnanandha, who was 16 years, six months and 10 days old when he defeated Carlsen at the AirThings Masters in February. “It’s always special to beat Magnus but I’m not too proud of this match,” Gukesh was quoted as saying after the memorable win.

Gukesh told PTI, “I am happy with the way I played as a professional. Terming it as an important win, the Chennai player said it is always an exciting challenge to play against Carlsen and that too in the near future. Eager to meet them. “It is definitely an important victory,” he said. Playing with Carlsen is always an interesting challenge and I look forward to playing with him again in the near future.” Asked if there was any special preparation for the match against Carlsen, the Indian Grandmaster said, ” I discussed with my coach Vishnu Prasanna about the playing style of all the players participating in the competition. We made a brief plan of how to play against each participant according to his style of play.

Arigesi also has 21 points and is in fourth place. Vidit Gujrathi is ranked 10th and has been knocked out of the race. Aditya Mittal is ranked 12th who defeated Arigesi in the 12th round but lost the last three matches. P Harikrishna is ranked 15th who has won the only match.