Erigaisi hands world champion Gukesh second defeat in two days in Norway Chess

Stavanger: World champion D Gukesh finds himself in deep trouble as compatriot Arjun Erigaisi broke through his defences in the second round to move into joint lead, while Hikaru Nakamura stunned Magnus Carlsen in the Armageddon tie-break on an eventful day in Norway Chess here.

Labelled as the favourite in the six-player double round-robin 'Open' category, Gukesh is scraping the bottom of the points table having lost the opening two rounds. World No.4 Indian Erigaisi has emerged the joint leader with American Grandmaster Nakamura on 4.5 points.

In an all-Indian tension-filled clash, Erigaisi, playing with white pieces, seized the early initiative but Gukesh's resilient defence created a somewhat equal endgame.

As the clock became a decisive factor, the position erupted into chaos before Erigaisi finally broke through to secure victory in a slugfest that lasted over four hours.

Erigaisi, who had also spoilt Gukesh's party at the Tata Steel Chess earlier this year by taking a game away from him just when he looked set to win the title, again dealt a huge body blow to the teenage world champion -- who turns 19 on Thursday, beating him in 62 moves.

Erigaisi, playing here for the first time, forced Gukesh to resign after giving him a check with his knight.

The victory for the 21-year-old, who achieved his peak rating of 2801 making him the 15th highest-rated player in history and only the second Indian after Viswanathan Anand to ever to cross the 2800 threshold in December, had on Monday overcome Chinese GM Wei Yi in Armageddon to secure 1.5 points.

Erigaisi, who enjoys a stunning 6-0 record in Classical wins against Gukesh, was "surprised" why Gukesh took so much time in the initial moves to find himself under time pressure.

Just before the 17th move, Gukesh found himself behind his opponent on the clock by more than one hour.

"I'm a bit surprised Gukesh is thinking this early on...the way he played this c3 move quite early on, I think it's not known at the highest level or it is not popular," said Erigaisi.

He will play American GM Fabiano Caruana in Round 3, while Gukesh will hope for a revival against Nakamura, one of the best in rapid and blitz chess.

Carlsen vs Nakamura

The much-anticipated clash between world No.1 Carlsen and No.2 Nakamura began with a deceptively quiet classical game. The Norwegian defending champion emerged satisfied from the opening.

However, after a series of precise moves on both sides, the game dissolved into a draw.

In the Armageddon, Carlsen got a dangerous attack out of the opening and seemed to have everything under control.

However, Armageddon can be unpredictable, and after a mistake in the endgame Nakamura found a brilliant move, winning the game.

Humpy, Viashali lose

In the women's section, Ukrainian Anna Muzychuk claimed a convincing victory over two-time world rapid champion Koneru Humpy. The Ukrainian gained a structural advantage from the opening and methodically increased the pressure.

However, both players made several mistakes in the endgame. Eventually, it was Koneru who made the last mistake, as a result of which Muzychuk won the game.

The other two women's games -- between R. Vaishali Rameshbabu and China’s Tingjie Lei, and Spanish-Iranian player Sarasadat Khademalsharieh vs Ju Wenjun, ended in draws.

Lei Tingjie and Wenjun Ju then won their Armageddon games, winning the extra half-a-point.

The tournament's scoring system gives three points to the winner in the Classical format. If the Classical game is drawn, the players gain one point each and then play for another half-point in Armageddon.

Results:

Open: Arjun Erigaisi (Ind – 4.5) bt D Gukesh (Ind – 0) Hikaru Nakamura (USA – 4.5) bt Magnus Carlsen (Nor - 4) in Armageddon; Wei Yi (Chn - 1) lost to Fabiano Caruana (USA – 3).

Women: Sarasadat Khademalsharieh (Esp -2) beat with Ju Wenjun (Chn – 2.5) in Armageddon; R Vaishali (Ind) lost to Lie Tingjie (Chn -3) in Armageddon; Anna Muzychuk (Ukr – 4.5) bt Koneru Humpy (Ind - 3).