D Gukesh Holds Third Spot After Day 1 of St. Louis Rapid & Blitz
D Gukesh bounced back from an initial defeat to secure a shared third place at the conclusion of Day 1 in the St. Louis Rapid and Blitz event, part of the Grand Chess Tour.
The reigning world champion, D Gukesh, recovered well from a loss in the first round against American Levon Aronian, going on to register victories over Grigoriy Oparin and Liem Le Quang. This helped him finish Day 1 jointly in third position at the St. Louis Rapid and Blitz tournament.
Gukesh was outmaneuvered by Aronian in a challenging first round encounter but made a strong comeback, delivering a commanding win against Oparin followed by a triumph over Liem. He ended Monday’s play with four points out of six possible.
Each rapid win awards two points, and Aronian took an early lead by sweeping all three games on the opening day. Fresh from his recent success at the Freestyle Chess event in Las Vegas, the American grandmaster defeated top competitors Nodirbek Abdusattorov from Uzbekistan and Maxime Vachier-Lagrave of France, maintaining a flawless scorecard.
Aronian leads the leaderboard with six points, closely pursued by fellow American Fabiano Caruana, who has five points after two wins and a draw. Gukesh shares the third spot with another US player, Wesley So, while Vachier-Lagrave and Leinier Dominguez Perez are tied for fifth, each with three points.
Liem and Oparin follow with two points apiece, Nodirbek has one point, and Sam Shankland is at the bottom, having lost all his matches.
For Gukesh, the opening round was disappointing as he succumbed to complexities arising from a Caro-Kann Defence.
However, he bounced back quickly, defeating Oparin in impressive fashion. The final moments were dramatic in a Sicilian Rossolimo, where the Indian grandmaster sacrificed his queen to deliver checkmate against the Russian-born American player.
In the last game of the day, playing Black against Liem, Gukesh again faced a complicated position. But unlike Aronian, Liem faltered under pressure, eventually ending up in a losing position.
Match Results
Round 1: Levon Aronian (USA) defeated D Gukesh (IND); Grigoriy Oparin (USA) beat Liem Le Quang (VIE); Wesley So (USA) drew with Nodirbek Abdusattorov (UZB); Maxime Vachier-Lagrave (FRA) drew with Fabiano Caruana (USA); Leinier Dominguez Perez (USA) defeated Sam Shankland (USA).
Round 2: Gukesh won against Oparin; Liem beat Shankland; Vachier-Lagrave lost to Aronian; Abdusattorov lost to Caruana; Dominguez drew with Wesley.
Round 3: Oparin lost to Vachier-Lagrave; Liem lost to Gukesh; Wesley beat Shankland; Aronian beat Abdusattorov; Caruana beat Dominguez.
Current Standings
- Aronian (6 points)
- Caruana (5 points)
3-4. Gukesh, Wesley So (4 points each)
5-6. Vachier-Lagrave, Dominguez (3 points each)
7-8. Oparin, Liem (2 points each)
- Abdusattorov (1 point)
- Shankland (0 points)
