D Gukesh Rebounds at St. Louis Rapid and Blitz Chess Tournament

St. Louis (USA), Aug 14 (PTI) – World champion D Gukesh showed resilience at the St. Louis Rapid and Blitz, a segment of the Grand Chess Tour, by overcoming an initial setback against Leinier Dominguez Perez of the USA. Despite starting with a defeat, Gukesh bounced back to defeat American counterparts Wesley So and Fabiano Caruana, placing fourth at the conclusion of the rapid section.

In what marks the third consecutive day of starting with a loss, Gukesh found himself in a commendable fourth position with the prospect of 18 blitz games remaining in the USD 175,000 prize-money tournament.

Fabiano Caruana emerged as the leader in the rapid rounds, amassing 14 points despite the blip against Gukesh. Following him closely is Levon Aronian, an Armenian-turned-American, with a total of 13 points. France's Maxime Vachier-Lagrave holds the third position with 11 points, just one point ahead of Gukesh, who has experienced a rather mixed tournament so far.

Sharing the fifth position are Dominguez, Wesley, and Uzbekistan's Nodirbek Abdusattorov, each with nine points, two points clear of Vietnam's Liem Le Quang.

American player Sam Shankland stands at ninth in the rankings with five points, while Grigoriy Oparin, at the bottom, has accumulated just three points.

Gukesh initially held a promising position against Dominguez but faltered in the late middle game, allowing Dominguez to dominate on the seventh rank— a decisive moment in their encounter.

Against Wesley So, Gukesh capitalized on a strong position filled with compensations for a pawn. Wesley, unable to withstand the pressure, succumbed easily in the penultimate round of the rapid segment.

Caruana nearly outmaneuvered Gukesh in the final bout but suffered significantly due to an oversight, which allowed Gukesh to tilt the game decisively in his favor.

Results - Round 7: D Gukesh (Ind) lost to Leinier Dominguez Perez (USA); Levon Aronian (USA) defeated Sam Shankland (USA); Nodirbek Abdusattorov (Uzb) drew with Maxime Vachier-Lagrave (Fra); Grigoriy Oparin (USA) lost to Fabiano Caruana (USA); Liem Le Quang (Vie) drew with Wesley So (USA).

Round 8: Wesley So succumbed to Gukesh; Caruana overcame Liem; Dominguez drew with Vachier-Lagrave; Shankland drew with Abdusattorov; Oparin was defeated by Wesley.

Round 9: Gukesh emerged victorious over Caruana; Liem drew with Aronian; Abdusattorov defeated Dominguez; Shankland won against Oparin; Wesley overcame Oparin.

Standings After Round 9 (Rapid): 1. Caruana (14); 2. Aronian (13); 3. Vachier-Lagrave (11); 4. Gukesh (10); 5-7: Dominguez, Abdusattorov, Wesley (9 each); 8: Liem (7); 9. Shankland (5); 10. Oparin (3).

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