Gukesh Dommaraju loses second game in row at Grand Swiss to fall to 53rd spot in standings

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Gukesh Dommaraju reacts during the defeat to Nikolas Theodorou of Greece at FIDE Grand Swiss chess tournament. (PHOTO: Michal Walusza / FIDE)

Gukesh Dommaraju was handed his second defeat in a row at the FIDE Grand Swiss tournament in Samarkand as the world champion, who entered the tournament as the third seed, slumped to 53rd spot in the standings. Gukesh lost to 24-year-old Greek grandmaster Nikolas Theodorou, ranked 81st in the world who has an ELO that is 120 points lower than the Indian’s rating.

Gukesh lost in 47 moves, a day after losing to Abhimanyu Mishra, the youngest grandmaster in chess history.

The critical error from Gukesh, who was a pawn up in the middle game, came on move 34.

The fatal mistake from Gukesh Dommaraju in the game against Nikolas Theodorou of Greece at the FIDE Grand Swiss tournament. (PHOTO: Lichess)

Gukesh opted for a check with his rook (34. Ra7+). But the only move that he needed to play in that position was moving his king (34.Kf2!) closer to the Greek GM’s advancing pawns. After Gukesh opted to play 34.Ra7+?? black’s pawns were unstoppable. Gukesh’s rook and Theodorou’s king danced around for a while before the game broke open and the both players raced their own pawns to the other end of the board to promote. But before that race could end, Gukesh resigned.

INTERACTIVE: How Gukesh Dommaraju lost to Nikolas Theodorou

All the moves from Gukesh’s defeat to Nikolas Theodorou

1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nf6 3. Nxe5 d6 4. Nf3 Nxe4 5. d4 d5 6. Bd3 Bd6 7. O-O O-O 8. c4 c6 9. c5 Bc7 10. Nc3 Bf5 11. Ng5 Nxc3 12. bxc3 Qf6 13. g4 Bxd3 14. Qxd3 Qg6 15. Qxg6 hxg6 16. Re1 Na6 17. Rb1 b6 18. Rb3 Rfe8 19. Rxe8+ Rxe8 20. Ra3 Re1+ 21. Kg2 Rxc1 22. Rxa6 Bd8 23. Nf3 Kf8 24. Rxa7 bxc5 25. Ne5 Bf6 26. Rxf7+ Ke8 27. Ra7 Rxc3 28. Ra8+ Ke7 29. Nxc6+ Kd7 30. Ne5+ Bxe5 31. dxe5 d4 32. f4 d3 33. Ra6 c4 34. Ra7+ Ke8 35. Ra8+ Ke7 36. Ra7+ Ke8 37. Ra8+ Ke7 38. Ra7+ Kd8 39. Ra8+ Kd7 40. Ra7+ Kd8 41. Ra8+ Kc7 42. Ra7+ Kc6 43. Ra6+ Kc5 44. Rd6 Rc2+ 45. Kf3 d2 46. Rd8 c3 47. e6 Rc1

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