Fabio Caruana Takes a Dig at D Gukesh: ‘Didn’t Expect Him to Quit So Easily’ After Victory
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Fabio Caruana expressed surprise when world champion D Gukesh resigned in the second quarterfinal after only 18 moves, marking his exit from the Freestyle Grand Slam chess tournament. The American Grandmaster remarked that he likely would not have chosen to resign so early in the game. "I didn’t anticipate that moment, but I also struggled to see what options he had. I might consider resigning as Black, although perhaps not at such an early stage," Caruana, who had previously defeated Gukesh twice, stated to Freestyle Chess.
He further noted, "I felt quite composed before the match, as I did not perceive this as particularly challenging for the white pieces given my current circumstances."
After losing the first game with the white pieces, Gukesh faced a must-win situation against Caruana but was unable to last long, with the contest concluding in just 18 moves.
Caruana commented, "The outcome really stems from yesterday's game. Today's match was typical of someone attempting to create winning chances but doing so prematurely. The approach was overly aggressive; the move 5…f5 was likely not a viable strategy. It is quite rare to sacrifice a pawn so directly."
Gukesh will now compete for a place in the semifinals.
Freestyle chess is characterized by 960 random positions, which alter the initial arrangement of pieces while keeping the pawns in their original positions. This concept was introduced by the legendary Bobby Fischer, who was the first to promote it. With the financial backing that has emerged to support this new format, it may very well represent the future of chess.
Gukesh made a critical error by losing a pawn early in the game.
Caruana, who has experience with this variant, took 15 moves to transition into a standard chess position, where he held a material advantage of a pawn.
Ultimately, Gukesh opted not to contest Caruana in a clearly disadvantageous position and extended his hand in resignation.
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