Gukesh joint third after first day of St. Louis Rapid and Blitz

St. Louis: Reigning world champion D Gukesh bounced back from an opening round loss to American Levon Aronian with wins over Grigoriy Oparin and Liem Le Quang, finishing the first day in joint third place at the St. Louis Rapid and Blitz tournament, which is a part of the Grand Chess Tour.

Gukesh was outplayed by Aronian in a complex opening-round battle but rebounded strongly, producing a resounding victory against Oparin before crushing Liem to end the day with four points out of a possible six on Monday.

With each rapid win worth two points, Aronian took the early lead by winning all three games on the opening day. Fresh from his triumph in the recently concluded Freestyle Chess tournament in Las Vegas, the American GM beat key rivals Nodirbek Abdusattorov of Uzbekistan and Maxime Vachier-Lagrave of France to maintain a perfect score.

Aronian sits on six points, followed closely by compatriot Fabiano Caruana on five after two wins and a draw. Gukesh shares the third place with another American, Wesley So, while Vachier-Lagrave and Leinier Dominguez Perez are tied for fifth with three points each.

Liem and Oparin are next on two points, Nodirbek has one, and Sam Shankland is last after losing all his games.

For Gukesh, the first round was a heartbreak as he went down in extreme complexities arising from a Caro Kann defense game.

However, he recovered quickly, defeating Oparin in style. The finale was picturesque out of a Sicilian Rossolimo as the Indian sacrificed his queen to checkmate the Russian turned American.

In the final game of the day, Gukesh, playing black against Liem, entered massive complications again. But, unlike Aronian, Liem faltered under pressure and was left facing a lost position once the dust settled.

Results

Round 1: Levon Aronian (Usa) beat 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) beat Sam Shankland (Usa).

Round 2: Gukesh beat Oparin; Leim 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.

Standings

1. Aronian (6); 2. Caruana (5); 3-4 Gukesh, Wesley (4 each); 5-6: Vachier-Lagrave, Dominguez (3 each); 7=8. Oparin, Liem (2 each); 9. Abdusattorov (1); 10. Shankland (10).