How Gukesh borrowed a Djokovician trait to beat Carlsen & Erigaisi

At one point of time on the Norway Chess broadcast on Sunday, commentators Tania Sachdev, David Howell and Jovanka Houska were talking about the distinct possibility of D Gukesh being at the bottom of the six-man tournament after the sixth round.

- Swaroop Swaminathan

The Indian world champion, under all kinds of pressure from Magnus Carlsen, was just about hanging, surviving. His only aim was not to lose instantly. That was 8.30 PM local time on Sunday. 24 hours later, at 8.30 PM on Monday, it was deja vu all over again. Gukesh was again under all sorts of pressure from Arjun Erigaisi.

But—and this is what the 19-year-old has essentially done throughout his fledgling but already elite chess career—he found a way to convert both of those games from almost loss positions to big, narrative-shattering wins. When Gukesh and his team—comprising coach Grzegorz Gajewski and father, Dr. Rajinikanth—left for Norway Chess on May 23, this was one of their aims: To beat Carlsen and Erigaisi. The world champion had played both of them at least five times each in Classical chess but he had yet to taste a win.