India, Feb. 13 -- D. Gukesh's struggles in Fischer Random chess persisted as he succumbed to time constraints on Wednesday during the initial leg of the Freestyle Grand Slam Tour held in Weissenhaus, Wangels, Germany. The reigning World Champion faced defeat against Hikaru Nakamura in the playoff match for the 5-8 classification, with Nakamura ultimately securing a 1.5-0.5 victory in the rapid tiebreaker.

The encounter proved challenging for both Grandmasters, who have recently experienced a decline in form. In the rapid tiebreaker, the first game ended in a draw, with Nakamura playing as White. However, the seasoned player delivered a decisive victory in the subsequent game, this time playing with the black pieces.

In an interview with Chess.com, Nakamura highlighted Gukesh's difficulties with time management, as well as his intuition and calculation skills. 

"I would say probably the biggest weakness Gukesh currently has is that when he gets low on time, I don't think his intuition is that great, and he simply couldn't work through the calculations," he remarked.

Throughout the Weissenhaus Grand Slam event, participants engaged in discussions before and between games, with the exception of Gukesh. The Indian Grandmaster has been observed analyzing games in solitude, opting not to collaborate with others prior to matches. Nakamura expressed that this approach represents a significant disadvantage for Gukesh, particularly as he does not analyze games with someone like Fabiano Caruana, who easily defeated him in the quarter-finals.

"I think it can only be to your disadvantage if you don't analyze together. I don't know why Gukesh doesn't analyze with Fabiano. To me, that's just insane. Whether I'm analyzing with Fabiano, or even if I'm not, I look at his game, and I just try to follow what he does. You know, I just believe in Fabiano, so it's much easier if you can do that," he added.

Gukesh now aims to regain his winning momentum and secure his first victory in the Freestyle Grand Slam Tour as he prepares to face Alireza Firouzja in the playoff for seventh place. The two Grandmasters previously met during the round-robin stage, where Firouzja emerged victorious with ease.

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