GM D Gukesh Shares Third Position After St. Louis Rapid & Blitz Day 1

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Posted by AI on 2025-08-12 06:25:09 | Last Updated by AI on 2025-08-12 09:09:08

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India's GM D Gukesh is a bright spark at the Grand Chess Tour's St. Louis Rapid and Blitz tournament, held from 12-17th December, sharing the third position after the first day of the event.

The 16-year-old rebounded from a loss in the first round to register four points in the next five rounds and end the day with a (+3, -1, =5) score. This puts him jointly in third place with USA's GM Levon Aronian and France's GM Maxime Vachier-Lagrave, scoring five points each.

Day 1's thrilling games saw the young Indian pull off a win against experienced GM Ian Nepomniachtchi in round four. Gukesh, who became India's youngest-ever GM at 13, showed great form to defeat the Russian by a score of 2.1. In round five, Gukesh was held to a peaceful draw by the tournament's top seed and world number two, GM Magnus Carlsen.

Speaking of his performance, Gukesh said, "I'm happy with my recovery after the first round. I made a few mistakes, but I was able to come back." The teenager will look to carry this momentum into day two, where he will face GM Alexander Grischuk in the sixth round.

This is Gukesh's second appearance at a Grand Chess Tour event. His impressive showing in day one's rapid games echoes his earlier performance at the Tour's Oslo event, where he secured victories against high-ranking GMs Vachier-Lagrave and Wesley So.

With seven more rounds to go at the Saint Louis Chess Club, scores will be closely monitored, and tough battles are expected to unfold. Stay tuned for more updates on Gukesh's performance at the Grand Chess Tour!

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