World Champion D. Gukesh beat American Grandmaster Fabian Caruana in the ninth and final round to take fourth place in the Super Rapid and Blitz events. He maintained a welcome return to form after struggling in the last few months. The Indian is tied for fourth with 18 more laps to go in the lightning section that follows the fast event.
Nineteen-year-old Gukesh opened the final day of the rapid section with a loss to French Grandmaster Maxime Vachier-Lagrave before drawing with Slovenia’s Vladimir Fedoseev in the penultimate round.
Wild card American Hans Moke Niemann once again proved his naysayers wrong as he emerged as the surprise winner of this section with a total of 13 points. Niemann finished a full point ahead of compatriot Wesley So, who finished second ahead of Fedoseev in 11th.
“My quick action was inconsistent. I played well but missed a few chances. There were also games where I struggled and managed to save. The tournament could have been better,” Gukesh told ‘Saint Louis Chess Club’. Gukesh, Caruana and Duda Jan-Krzystzof of Poland tied for fourth place with nine points, and the main battle is likely to be between these six players once the blitz begins.
“In the blitz, just play fast and pray. That’s going to be my strategy,” he said.
Gukesh ran into early trouble against Caruana, who played the black side of Benoni’s defence. The American won a pawn early in the middle game, but Gukesh kept himself in the hunt by creating queenside counterplay.
It was on turn 38 that Caruana definitely blundered and missed a small tactic that allowed Gukesh to get a rook on a bishop. The rest was a matter of technique and the Indian won after another 11 moves.
Round 9 results with points😀 Gukesh beat Fabian Caruana ; Radoslav Wojtaszek drew with Hans Mok Niemann; Vladimir Fedoseev defeated Maxime Vachier-Lagrave; Javokhir Sindarov drew with Firoujza Alireza; Duda Jan-Krzystzof drew with Wesley SO.
– The end
Issued by:
Saurabh Kumar
Published on:
08 May 2026 16:37 IST
