Freestyle Chess Grand Slam: Gukesh forced to resign after just 18 moves against Caruana; Carlsen reaches semi-finals

Chess world champion and Indian Grandmaster D Gukesh was eliminated from the title race of the ongoing Freestyle Chess Grand Slam Tour Weissenhaus leg on Monday (10 January). Gukesh was knocked out after losing both legs of the quarter-finals, resigning in Game 2 of the last eight match after just 18 moves against American Grandmaster Fabiano Caruana.

Meanwhile, Magnus Carlsen, Vincent Keymer, and Javokhir Sindarov were the other players who joined Caruana in the semi-finals. While Carlsen defeated Nodirbek Abdusattorov for the second time in the quarter-finals, Keymer won his tie with a draw against Alireza Firouzja. Javokhir Sindarov stunned Hikaru Nakamura by clinching the rapid playoffs 2-0 after two draws in the quarter-finals.

How Gukesh blundered against Caruana

Having already lost Game 1 of the quarter-finals , Gukesh needed a win against Caruana on Monday to force tie-breakers. However, the 18-year-old Indian chess sensation, who defeated Ding Liren in the World Chess Championship 2024, was at a disadvantage playing with black pieces.

Caruana created early pressure by capturing Gukesh’s pawns on d4 and f5. This opened a chance for Gukesh to move his Bishop and capture the white pawn on a2 but he played 6… g6?!. The computer engine did not support the move and felt that 6… Bxa2 was the right pick.

This wasn’t the only mistake that Gukesh committed in the match. As per the analysis by lichess.org, Gukesh blundered on the 17th move as well when he played 17… c5?! but the computer felt 17… Nd7 was the best move.

With the computer engine giving a massive advantage to Gukesh and Caruana opting for kingside castling, the Indian GM resigned with no hopes of eking out a win.

Caruana had a pawn advantage and a solid defence where his King was well protected. This forced Gukesh to resign after just 18 moves as he may have felt it was better for him to take rest and recharge his batteries.

Gukesh will now compete in the 5th-8th place playoff.

Gukesh has not won a single game so far in the Weissenhaus leg of the Freestyle Chess Grand Slam Tour 2025 and only progressed to the quarter-finals by clinching the last qualifying spot after playing out seven draws and suffering two losses in the round-robin stage.

Cals will face Keymer in the semi-final while Caruana will take on Sindarov in his last four tie.