Should Divya defeat Gukesh today, she will become the first woman to beat a reigning world champion in classical chess.
Here are the other significant games involving Indian players at the FIDE Grand Swiss:
Gukesh loses 3rd game in row as world champion’s woes against younger prodigies continue; to face Divya Deshmukh today
World champion Gukesh Dommaraju reacts during a games at the FIDE Grand Swiss tournament. (PHOTO: Michal Walusza / FIDE)
In chess circles, there’s an informal club, whose membership swells by a little each year. It’s called the Mikhail Chigorin Club, named after the Soviet Union player who dueled in two World Championship matches against Wilhelm Steinitz but unfortunately lost both times. Membership of the the Mikhail Chigorin Club can be gained by defeating a reigning world champion in a classical chess game.
At the FIDE Grand Swiss tournament in Uzbekistan’s Samarkand, three players have already entered the club, with Ediz Gurel becoming the latest addition after taking down world champion Gukesh Dommaraju in round 7. Earlier, Abhimanyu Mishra and Nikolas Theodorou had also joined the club.
Even after a rest day at the FIDE Grand Swiss tournament on Wednesday, there was no change in teenage world champion Gukesh’s fortunes. He lost his third game in a row, this time to Ediz Gurel, a teenage prodigy from Turkey. The boy from Chennai who last year became the youngest world champion in chess history at the age of 18, has been troubled by even younger grandmasters at the Grand Swiss tournament in Samarkand.
