D Gukesh fights back from the brink of a defeat to hold Alireza Firouzja to a 91-move draw in Game 1 of the seventh-place playoff. Home favourite Vincent Keymer meanwhile defeats Fabiano Caruana in Game 1 of the final in 33 moves while Magnus Carlsen and Hikaru Nakamura defeat Uzbekistani GMs Javokhir Sindarov and Nodirbek Abdusattorov respectively.

D Gukesh will play Fabiano Caruana in the quarterfinals of the Freestyle Chess Grand Tour event in Weissenhauss, Germany, on Sunday.

World champion D Gukesh exited the Freestyle Grand Slam Chess after his second quarterfinal loss to Fabiano Caruana in Hamburg. Gukesh, needing a win, blundered a pawn early, leading to his resignation in just 18 moves.

World champion D Gukesh will take on Fabiano Caruana of the United States in the two-game quarter-final after the latter picked the Indian in a unique format typical of Freestyle Chess Grand Slam, in Hamburg,

Finishing eighth among 10 participants, Gukesh just about made it to the knockout stage edging out Vladimir Fedoseev of Slovenia and Levon Aronian of United States, the last two finishers in the round-robin stage that was played under rapid-chess rules.

D Gukesh was in sensational form on Thursday, as he staged a sensational comeback to hold Alireza Firouzja to a draw, in their 7th position playoff match at the Weissenhaus leg of the ongoing Freestyle Chess Grand Slam Tour.

Remarkably, Gukesh’s heart rate even when he was completely losing against Nakamura and was making moves with as little as three seconds on the clock was around 90 beats per minute while his American opponent’s heart was bouncing around at 145 BPM.

While Gukesh is out of the quarterfinal, his time in Weissenhaus still continues, as he will battle for the fifth to eighth ranking spots, playing the loser of the Hikaru Nakamura vs Jakovhir Sindarov quarterfinal tie.

Gukesh lost the second leg on Monday, sealing his exit from the tournament. Gukesh will now play for the 5th-8th place Playoff.