Chess: Dommaraju Gukesh recovers from brush with disaster at Wijk aan Zee The 18-year-old Indian world champion was losing his first-round game in the Netherlands but his Dutch opponent, Anish Giri, blundered fatally when short of time.
The 18-year-old Indian, who captured the crown last month from China’s Ding Liren, defeated Anish Giri in the opening round of Tata Steel Wijk aan Zee, the “chess Wimbledon”, after the Netherlands No 1 failed to spot the winning tactic featured in this week’s puzzle.
After Wednesday’s fifth round (of 13), Nodirbek Abdusattorov (Uzbekistan) and Praggnanandhaa Rameshbabu (India) led on 4/5, half a point ahead of Vladimir Fedoseev (Slovenia) and Gukesh, who ground out a six-hour endgame win against his former aide Vincent Keymer (Germany).
Gukesh Dommaraju played and won his first competitive game as world champion last weekend, but only after surviving a close brush with disaster.
The award has previously been won by India’s first world chess champion, Vishy Anand, as well as by the cricketers Sachin Tendulkar and Virat Kohli.
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