 "By losing to Ediz Gurel, world champion D Gukesh earned an unwanted distinction which will haunt him for a while. Images: ChessBase India")
World champion D Gukesh of India looked helpless as he was forced to resign against Turkish 16-year-old Grandmaster Ediz Gurel in Round 7 of the FIDE Grand Swiss 2025 on Thursday in Samarkand. This was his third consecutive loss at the tournament.
It was also the third consecutive time in Uzbekistan that the world champion Gukesh lost to a player who was at least 100 Elo points lower than him .
Guler triumphs over world champion Gukesh
As a result, Gukesh has become the first world champion to lose three consecutive matches against players having at least 100 Elo points less than him. Before losing to Gurel (Elo 2631), Gukesh (2767) lost to Abhimanyu Mishra (Elo 2611) and Nikolas Theodorou (2646) in Rounds 5 and 6, respectively.
By beating Gukesh, the 16-year-old Mishra had also become the youngest ever to beat a reigning world champion in classical chess.
Also Read | Heavy lies the crown: Gukesh’s reign as world champion begins to mirror Ding Liren’s struggles
Playing with Black pieces, world No 6 Gukesh was in trouble early on but made a comeback in the middlegame. However, the world champion committed multiple blunders at the end and was forced to resign after 52 moves.
Interactive on Gurel defeated Gukesh
The video of Gukesh resigning against 16-year-old Gurel is going viral on social media as the Indian chess star suffered another historic defeat.
Gukesh faces Divya’s challenge in Grand Swiss
Interestingly, his next match is against compatriot Divya Deshmukh, who recently won the FIDE Women’s World Cup, and is one of the only two female Grandmasters in the Open section.
India’s Divya secured her second victory in the Open section on Thursday by beating Serbian Grandmaster Velimir Ivic.
Meanwhile, Germany’s Matthias Bluebaum and India’s Nihal Sarin lead the Open section with 5.5 points each after the seven rounds. R Praggnanandhaa’s sister, R Vaishali, continues to lead the Women’s Grand Swiss with six points, with Kateryna Lagno of Russia on 5.5 points and in the second position.