Tenacious Gukesh grabs the lead
Gukesh Dommaraju emerged as the sole leader after the opening day of the Clutch Chess: Champions Showdown in Saint Louis. He scored 4 points from six games despite beginning with a defeat against Magnus Carlsen. The Indian star recovered convincingly with three wins and two draws to end the day on top.
Carlsen follows closely on 3½ 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, sits on 1½.
The format consists of three double round-robins across as many days, with each victory becoming more valuable as the tournament advances. Draws are not permitted before Black’s 60th move, reinforcing the organisers’ intention to reduce early peace offers and foster ambitious play.
The very best players in the world fighting at the elegant new facilities of the Saint Louis Chess Club | Photo: Lennart Ootes
Round 1
Nakamura 1-1 Caruana
The all-American mini-match between Nakamura and Caruana saw each player win once with the white pieces. In the first game, Caruana illustrated how a “good bishop” can triumph in a materially balanced position with queens still on the board and pawns sitting on different colour complexes.
With six pawns per side still on the board, his light-squared bishop gradually increased pressure until Nakamura’s defences collapsed.
Nakamura hit back in the rematch, choosing the King’s Indian Defence, a system he himself used extensively earlier in his career. Both players sacrificed the exchange during a sharp middlegame, yet Nakamura navigated the complications more effectively to gain the full point.
Carlsen 1½-½ Gukesh
Meanwhile, Gukesh and Carlsen played a wildly fluctuating first game. In a position that seemed promising for White due to his distant a-pawn passer, inaccuracies by Gukesh allowed Carlsen to get counterplay.
The key tactical resource 31…Bc5 allowed Carlsen to trade his worst-placed piece for Gukesh’s strong central bishop.
After 32.Bxc5 there would have come 32…Ne5 with the threat of …Ne5-f3+, forcing White into material concessions and checkmate patterns.
Thus, Gukesh correctly entered the sequence 32.Qd3 Bxd4 33.cxd4 Ra1, but then erred with the natural-looking 34.Rd1
This rook manoeuvre loses immediately to 34…Nh4, since 35.gxf4 fails to 35…Qg4+ (grabbing the rook on d1 next) and 35.Ne3 fails to 35…Nf3#.
However, the Norwegian surprisingly missed this winning continuation and played 34…Nf4 instead, after which Gukesh resigned!
The Indian star did not realise that 35.Ne3 defends in this line – after 35…Nxd3 36.Rxa1 (diagram), the passed pawn on the a-file gives White enough compensation.
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Free video sample: Forcing moves
The tense first game in the most anticipated matchup of the event | Photo: Lennart Ootes
Round 2
Carlsen 1-1 Caruana
In the second set of mini-matches, the Carlsen-Caruana rivalry resumed with two long struggles. In the first, Caruana pressed in a queen and knight endgame thanks to his extra pawn, but Carlsen defended resourcefully to split the point.
Their rematch featured a related material structure, though more complex. A misstep by Caruana – who was already slightly worse – allowed 46…Qa1, seizing the initiative with threats on the first rank.
Carlsen steered the game into a favourable pure knight ending and demonstrated the required technique to convert.
Gukesh 1½-½ Nakamura
In the parallel mini-match, Gukesh achieved a deserved win over Nakamura from a Ragozin Variation out of a QGD. A dominant bishop planted on d3, protected by pawns on c4 and e4, suffocated Black’s position until resistance collapsed.
Their second game reached a closed pawn formation and peace was agreed on move 34.
Hikaru Nakamura | Photo: Lennart Ootes
Round 3
Nakamura 1½-½ Carlsen
In what has become one of the most enthralling rivalries in the chess world – especially in online blitz games – Nakamura defeated Carlsen with the black pieces after the Norwegian erred with 27.g5, when 27.f5 was the correct way to challenge Black’s structure.
After 27…hxg5, the natural 28.fxg5 fails to 28…Bxg5 29.Rxf7 Bxe3+ 30.Kh1 Rxf7 (diagram) and Black wins despite having given up the queen.
Carlsen instead played 28.Bxf6, but after 28…Qxf6 29.Re5 Bb5 30.Rd1 gxf4, he was already in deep trouble. Resignation followed only four further moves later.
Their second encounter ended after just 15 moves.
Gukesh 2-0 Caruana
Gukesh, meanwhile, delivered the first 2-0 sweep of the competition at the expense of Caruana. In the opener, Caruana’s decisive mistake came with 25.c5, overlooking the necessary 25.Nd4 which would likely have forced perpetual check after 25…Qxg3+ 26.Kh1 Qh3+ 37.Qg3+, etcetera.
Following 25…dxe2 26.Qxe2 dxc5 27.Qg2 cxb4+, only 28.Rf2 defended the king.
Black ended up with three pawns for a knight following simplifications, getting a strong initiative in the quick-paced game. The rest of the game was not without mistakes, but Gukesh still prevailed in what turned out to be a well-fought 65-move encounter.
The day concluded with a swift attacking win by Gukesh, highlighted by the powerful 33.Bf6, which opened lines toward the black king and secured his third victory of the session (find below the game annotated by GM Karsten Müller).
After a good day at the office, the prodigious world champion takes a selfie with a chess fan and her well-groomed pet | Photo: Lennart Ootes
