Saint Louis: Reigning world champion Gukesh Dommaraju avenged his loss to Hikaru Nakamura in the Checkmate: USA vs India exhibition match, showcasing his composed style as he secured a well-deserved victory over the American grandmaster at the Clutch Chess: Champions showdown here Tuesday.
Nakamura had triggered a major controversy weeks earlier when he took Gukesh’s king and threw it into the crowd after winning the Checkmate: USA vs India exhibition match.
In the parallel mini-match on the opening day of the, Gukesh secured a win over Nakamura with a Ragozin Variation from a QGD. A dominant bishop positioned on d3, supported by pawns on c4 and e4, overwhelmed Black’s position until resistance faltered, ChessBase reports.
Their second game reached a closed pawn formation, and peace was agreed on move 34. After the win, the two players shook hands with a smile, with Nakamura leaving immediately, and Gukesh followed his well-known ritual of calmly rearranging the pieces before getting up.
After winning in the second round, Gukesh emerged as the sole leader after the opening day of the Clutch Chess: Champions Showdown. He scored four points from six games despite starting with a defeat against Magnus Carlsen. The Indian star recovered confidently with three wins and two draws to finish the day at the top.
Carlsen is closely behind with 3.5 points, having started strongly with two wins and two draws before losing to Hikaru Nakamura. Nakamura stands on 3 points, while Fabiano Caruana, who struggled in several encounters, is on 1.5.
The event’s 18-game rapid double round-robin format (10 minutes plus a 5-second increment) will feature escalating point values each day: Wins are worth 1 point on Day 1, 2 on Day 2, and 3 on Day 3.
In Clutch Chess: Champions Showdown, the prize fund will total $412,000, with each game played under a Rapid time control of 10 mins + 5 sec. The four prizes will be awarded in the following order: $120,000, $90,000, $70,000, and $60,000. Additionally, there will be an extra $72,000 in bonus prizes.
The prize from each game drawn will carry over into a Champion’s Jackpot, which only the tournament winner will receive. In the event of a tie for first place, a playoff will be held to decide the winner.
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