World Champion D Gukesh endured a difficult outing at the St. Louis Rapid and Blitz tournament, managing only one win and four draws in the blitz section to fall to joint sixth after the opening nine rounds of the second phase.
With only nine blitz games remaining, Gukesh will need a strong finish to remain in contention in the fourth leg of the prestigious Grand Chess Tour.
Levon Aronian of the United States surged into sole lead with a score of 6/9 in the first blitz phase, overtaking overnight leader and compatriot Fabiano Caruana. Aronian now sits on 19 points overall, two points clear of Caruana, who remains second. France’s Maxime Vachier-Lagrave stands third with 16.5 points.
Uzbek prodigy Nodirbek Abdusattorov produced an impressive recovery, matching Aronian’s blitz score to move into joint fourth alongside American Wesley So on 15 points.
Gukesh and Vietnam’s Liem Le Quang sit tied for sixth place on 13 points, three ahead of Leinier Dominguez Perez of the United States. Russia’s Grigoriy Oparin moved up to ninth on nine points, just ahead of Sam Shankland on 7.5.
Also read: Gukesh beats Caruana, jumps to fourth spot
The young Indian, who defeated Dominguez in round five, dropped valuable points in four other games and suffered defeats against Wesley So, Liem Le Quang and Vachier-Lagrave, while being held to draws by Aronian and Caruana.
Caruana, who had dazzled in the rapid section, struggled in the blitz and finished the day winless, conceding three losses. Aronian was the day’s most dynamic player, scoring four wins and a draw to reclaim the lead. Vachier-Lagrave maintained the most solid performance, remaining undefeated across the nine blitz rounds with two wins and seven draws.
The USD 175,000 event is one of the most competitive tournaments on the Grand Chess Tour calendar and has consistently attracted the world’s strongest rapid and blitz players.
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