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Dommaraju Gukesh, the world champion, lost the Game 1 of the quarter-final with the white pieces against American GM Fabiano Caruana in the Freestyle Chess Grand Slam Tour 2025, Weissenhaus event in Germany, on Sunday, February 9. With that, Indian GM is on the verge of exiting the tournament, if he isn’t able to win the Game 2 with the black pieces, to force a tie-breaker this evening after struggling for the last few days on the board.
Notably, during an enthralling battle between two of the top players in the chess world, Dommaraju Gukesh had found a winning line, but he instead opted to strengthen his king’s position, which allowed Fabiano Caruana to make a comeback. The American managed to offer a queen exchange, to not only equalise the position, but also force Dommaraju Gukesh into unwanted territory.
Gukesh resigned against Caruana after his king got overwhelmed by rook and pawn
After Dommaraju Gukesh promoted a pawn to a queen in the endgame, he still ended up in a tough spot, allowing Fabiano Caruana to turn a drawn game firmly in his favour. Following a couple of inaccuracies in the position from Gukesh, his king got overwhelmed by the rook and pawn of Caruana, and it led to a prompt resignation from the Indian GM.
Despite the difficult loss, Dommaraju Gukesh is still in contention to make it through to the semi-final of the Freestyle Chess Grand Slam Tour 2025, Weissenhaus event. For that to happen, he needs to bring his A game to the floor with the black pieces, to secure a win, which will help him force a tie-breaker against Fabiano Caruana, in which anything can happen in a blink of an eye.
Moreover, if Dommaraju Gukesh is unable to qualify through to the semi-final stage, then he will be contesting for 5-8 positions in the final points table of the tournament.
