Chess: Dommaraju Gukesh recovers from brush with disaster at Wijk aan Zee

The 18-year-old Indian world champion was losing his first-round game in the Netherlands but his Dutch opponent, Anish Giri, blundered fatally when short of time

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Gukesh Dommaraju played and won his first competitive game as world champion last weekend, but only after surviving a close brush with disaster. The 18-year-old Indian, who captured the crown last month from China’s Ding Liren, defeated Anish Giri in the opening round of Tata Steel Wijk aan Zee, the “chess Wimbledon”, after the Netherlands No 1 failed to spot the winning tactic featured in this week’s puzzle. Gukesh arrived in Amsterdam on an overnight flight at 9am, with the game starting five hours later.

He was delayed by attending a ceremony where India’s President, Droupadi Murmu, presented him with the nation’s highest sporting honour, the Khel Ratna award, which includes a $29,000 prize. The award has previously been won by India’s first world chess champion, Vishy Anand, as well as by the cricketers Sachin Tendulkar and Virat Kohli. Most grandmasters would settle for an early draw in such circumstances, but Gukesh opted to complicate with an early sacrifice of a knight for two pawns .



Later, both players became acutely short of time, and at the critical moment Giri missed his opportunity in the puzzle diagram. After Wednesday’s fifth round (of 13), Nodirbek Abdusattorov (Uzbekistan) and Praggnanandhaa Rameshbabu (India) led on 4/5, half a point ahead of Vladimir Fedoseev (Slovenia) and Gukesh, who ground out a six-hour endgame win against his former aide Vincent Keymer (Germany). This victory raised Gukesh to No 4 in the live ratings.

The world No 5, India’s Arjun Erigaisi, has been the major disappointment. Wijk aan Zee is turning out an ill-fated destination for the 21-year-old, who shares last place in the table, and also did badly on his previous appearance in 2023. Magnus Carlsen, Norway’s newly married world No 1, who is absent from Wijk aan Zee, will return next month for the FreestyleGrand Slam in North Germany.

Meanwhile, Fide has issued a statement threatening legal action, including against participants, if the Freestyle Tour is designated as a world championship. As the first major event of the year, Wijk aan Zee’s results will be watched closely, especially by Gukesh’s rivals. Some of thembelieve that the Indian teenager had an easy path to the summit due to Ding’s poor form as world champion and his tame concession of the title in the 14th and final game.

Carlsen thinks that Gukesh is too reliant on calculation and is vulnerable to opponents who can create obscure positions where creativity and instinct are paramount. Wijk aan Zee will determine the early front runners to challenge Gukesh on his mandatory 2026 title defence, although Fabiano Caruana, the US champion and world No 2, has already edged ahead of the pack by finishing first in the 2024 Fide Circuit of top tournaments and so qualifying for the 2026 Candidates. To watch Wijk aan Zee live (1pm GMT start, commentary by England’s David Howell and Jovanka Houska), go to YouTube .

Sohum Lohia, England’s No 2 junior after GM Shreyas Royal,is competing in the qualification group, whose winner will play in the 2026 Wijk Challengers. The Londoner, 15, has two IM norms and a 2367 Fide rating, and is in good form followinglast week’s Seville Open, where he scored an unbeaten 7/9, but Wijk aan Zee is harder. In a recent chess.

com Bullet Brawl game, the US grandmaster and commentator Daniel Naroditsky defeated the world No 7, France’s Alireza Firouzja, in five moves with a version of Scholar’s Mate. The feat was achieved by subtle use of a pre-move, the internet chess device where you commit to your next turn before your opponent makes his move. The best-known pre-move sequence is 1 d4 g6 and now White pre-moves2 Bh6?!in the hope that Black will automatically play 2.

..Bg7?? when 3 Bxg7 also wins the h8 rook.

Naroditsky v Firouzja went 1 e4 e5 2 Bc4 Nc6 3 Qf3?! Nf6 4 Qh5?!? (pre-move) Bc5?? (Firouzja was also moving at lightning speed) 5 Qxf7 mate. Related: The Guardian view on Magnus Carlsen’s power play: checking chess’s ruling body in style | Editorial Five grandmasters, including the British and English champion, Gawain Jones, and the former Russian Nikita Vitiugov, have already entered the annual £5,000 British Rapidplay at Peterborough on 1-2 March.More than 200 players competed last year.

Full details of how to join this popular event are here . Chess has long suffered from an imbalance of male and female players, but there are encouraging signs that this is changing. A UK record entry of 336 competitors will take part on Saturday in the ECF Girls Schools Team Championships semi-finals at St Catherine’s, Bramley, Surrey.

The event, with teams of three in under-11 and under-19 sections, is now in its 10th year. Its popularity reflects the influence of Netflix’s The Queen’s Gambit, the success of many female streamers and commentators, and the rising profile of women players in Olympiads and other top international events. The London Women’s Chess Club , founded in 2023, is also growing fast.

The club, which meets on Saturday afternoons at the Old Diorama Arts Centre, near Euston, recently lost by only a narrow 13-11 margin to the UK Parliament team. New members of all ages and abilities are welcome. 3956 : 1.

..Ng4! (threat Qxg2 mate) 2 Rxe4 (2 Qxh6+ Nxh6 stops mate, but loses on material) Qb6+! 3 Kh1 Qb1+! and Black mates.

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