Gukesh has been held to a draw at Grand Swiss by 14-year-old Yagiz Kaan Erdogmus, defeated by 16-year-old American GM Abhimanyu Mishra, and now lost to Ediz Gurel, another 16-year-old from Turkey.
In chess circles, there’s an informal club whose membership grows somewhat each year. The Mikhail Chigorin Club is named after the Soviet Union player who competed in two World Championship matches against Wilhelm Steinitz but lost both times. To acquire membership in the Mikhail Chigorin Club, defeat a reigning world champion in a classical chess game.
Three players have already joined the club in the FIDE Grand Swiss event in Samarkand, Uzbekistan, with Ediz Gurel becoming the latest after defeating world champion Gukesh Dommaraju in round seven. Previously, Abhimanyu Mishra and Nikolas Theodorou had joined the club.
Even after a rest day at Wednesday’s FIDE Grand Swiss competition, teenage world champion Gukesh’s fortunes remained unchanged. He lost his third game in a row, this time to Turkey’s youthful prodigy, Ediz Gurel. The 18-year-old Chennai kid who became the youngest world champion in chess history last year has been tested by even younger grandmasters at the Grand Swiss competition in Samarkand.
Gukesh has been crowned king of the sport of 64 squares in less than a year, but it already feels like he has a target on his back. And those attempting to bring the 19-year-old down are getting younger and younger. So far at Grand Swiss, he has drawn with 14-year-old Yagiz Kaan Erdogmus, been defeated by 16-year-old American GM Abhimanyu Mishra, and recently lost to another 16-year-old from Turkey, Ediz Gurel. He also played a draw with Arjun Erigaisi. In addition to his losses against Mishra and Gurel, he lost to Greek grandmaster Nikolas Theodorou.
On Friday, in round 8, Gukesh will face compatriot Divya Deshmukh, who has made the courageous choice to compete in the Grand Swiss open section rather than the women’s section. Divya has already qualified for the Women’s Candidates Tournament by winning the Women’s FIDE World Cup in July.
“It was a crazy tough game,” Gurel told FIDE in an interview following his victory over Gukesh.
When asked about facing the world champion in a traditional match, Gurel stated, “I was quite pleased to see the pairings. It’s always a pleasure to play the world champion, whether I lose or not. Yeah, he’s not performing well in this tournament, but I believe he’ll get through. He’s an excellent player, a world champion!”
On Thursday, Gukesh had the upper hand after Gurel’s blunder on move 27 and the exchange of queens on move 29. But on move 40, just as he exceeded the time control threshold, Gukesh made a mistake that tilted the balance. Two moves later, Gukesh traded a bishop for two pawns, which proved to be too much of an advantage to overcome in the endgame.
The competition is living up to its reputation as dangerous to established hierarchy. Arjun Erigaisi, who, like Gukesh, was a pre-tournament favourite, was defeated by German grandmaster Matthias Bluebaum, who has exactly 100 rating points less than the Indian. Arjun made a mistake and lost a piece in the game. Bluebaum’s triumph propelled him to the top of the standings, joining Nihal. Bluebaum has defeated Praggnanandhaa earlier in the competition.
