Currently participating in the inaugural leg of the Freestyle Chess Grand Slam Tour at Weissenhaus Resort in Wangels, Germany, D Gukesh commenced his journey on a positive note, despite not securing a victory. He faced off against Uzbek Grandmaster and rival Nodirbek Abdusattorov.

Gukesh, the reigning World Chess Champion, found himself in a precarious position as the game neared its conclusion. However, he successfully managed to achieve a draw, with Nodirbek possessing two Knights and a King, while Gukesh was left with only a King. The Indian No. 1 was in a critical time situation, with less than a minute remaining on his clock, in contrast to Nodirbek, who had nearly four minutes remaining. Both players had completed 50 moves by the midpoint of the game.

Ultimately, the match concluded as a hard-fought draw after 96 moves for Gukesh.

Here is the video of D Gukesh leaving his opponent shocked:

He was unable to achieve similar success in the subsequent round, suffering a defeat against Alireza Firouzja in just 27 moves. Firouzja adeptly countered Gukesh’s Rd8+ on move 20 by positioning his Knight between the white Rook and his King along the eighth rank. Seven moves later, he clinched victory by moving his Queen to d1 after Gukesh opted for Qe3.

Gukesh's participation in the Chess960 tournament has not been without controversy. The FIDE recently issued a statement denying official recognition of a Freestyle Chess World Championship, marking a significant setback for the FCPC. This controversy was exacerbated by the unexpected withdrawal of Viswanathan Anand, who had initially accepted a wildcard invitation. Anand's exit occurred amidst the controversy and following Magnus Carlsen's critique of the Indian chess legend.

Although he is competing in the tournament, Gukesh has expressed his views on classical versus freestyle chess. In an interview with ChessBase India, he remarked, “I think 960 is nice as an experiment, but I don't see it taking over classical chess. The Classical World Chess Championship cycle will be much more important than 960, so I am glad to experiment with the 960.”

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