D Gukesh Back At The Chess Board Week After Announcing Break, To Play In Menorca

Last Updated:April 07, 2026, 13:57 IST

D Gukesh returns at the 5th Menorca Open, facing top grandmasters in a FIDE rated Swiss event as he balances workload.

World chess champion D Gukesh was seen entering the venue of the 5th Menorca Open, flocked by fans, a week after he had announced that he would look to manage his workload given a string of poor performances on the tour.

The Menorca Open will start on Tuesday, with Pentala Harikrishna, American Grandmaster Leinier Dominguez, Nihal Sarin, Ukraine’s Ruslan Ponomariov, Hungary’s Richard Rapport and Gukesh in the fray.

Round 1 of the competition will begin at 9:30 pm IST. The tournament will be held in Ciutadella de Menorca, with games taking place at the MarSenses Paradise Club and Hotel Sagitario Princesa Playa.

Menorca is a peaceful Balearic island in Spain, often called the ‘Quiet Island’ and is known for its calm, unspoiled charm, making it a relaxed alternative to the busier Mallorca and Ibiza.

Watch Gukesh’s arrival video here:

The tournament will be held using the Swiss system over nine rounds, with a time control of 90 minutes plus a 30‑second increment beginning from the first move. Results from the event will be FIDE‑rated and count toward players’ FIDE Elo ratings.

The tournament will be contested in two groups. Group A is open to players with a FIDE ELO rating above 1850 and will be FIDE Elo-rated. The group will be played from Tuesday, April 7, to Sunday, April 12.

Meanwhile, Gukesh’s participation in the tournament comes just a week after he had said that he would take some time off.

“In order to find my best form my team and I have decided that I should compete with slightly less intensity over the next few months," Gukesh had tweeted last Tuesday.

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