D Gukesh faced a tough loss against Fabiano Caruana in their first game of the quarter-finals at Weissenhaus Resort in Wangels, Germany. This match kicked off the first leg of the Freestyle Chess Grand Slam Tour.

The two grandmasters engaged in a fierce battle, making it the most intense match of the quarter-finals on Sunday. However, Gukesh's struggles with Chess960 became evident as Caruana ramped up the pressure on the reigning world champion. The 32-year-old clinched the victory with a stunning 40…Rf3!! move, which made his passed pawn unstoppable.

Gukesh had some chances to win earlier in the game, but he made a critical error on the 33rd move when both players were down to their last three minutes.

Fabiano Caruana shares his reasons for choosing D Gukesh

Before the quarter-finals, fans were taken aback when Caruana chose Gukesh as his opponent, especially given the Indian GM's impressive performance in Singapore and the recent Tata Masters. In contrast, Caruana had a rough time at Wijk aan Zee.

When asked about his choice of Gukesh for the quarter-finals, Caruana explained his reasoning after his victory on Sunday. He told the Take Take Take app, “Well, I had to pick someone. I could just flip a coin, right? Both players are incredibly strong. Gukesh might be around 2790, and Nodirbek could be around 2780. There’s not a massive difference in skill. Gukesh has more experience with World Championship play, which is a big deal, and he’s faced more high-pressure situations than Nodirbek. But Nodirbek can really apply pressure on his opponents, though that doesn’t always pan out.”

“Like today, I think I played a bit too quickly and maybe not as carefully. But that can be risky. So it’s kind of a gamble. For me, Gukesh felt a bit more unpredictable than Nodirbek in some ways. We’ve faced each other a lot, and we played a match here last year. I figured Nodirbek would still be in the mix since I thought Sindarov wouldn’t choose his fellow countryman. So I thought, if it’s between Nodirbek and Hikaru, I’d probably go with Nodirbek. But if it’s Gukesh versus Nodirbek or Gukesh versus Hikaru, I’d likely choose Gukesh,” he added.

In the current Grand Slam Tour, the top four players from the round-robin stage get to pick their opponents from those who finish in fifth to eighth place. Gukesh ended up in eighth but still managed to secure a spot in the quarter-finals.

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