There are a few rivalries in sport that serious fans always look forward to. In tennis, the Roger Federer-Rafael Nadal-Novak Djokovic trio defined almost two decades on the court. In badminton, the tussle between Lin Dan and Lee Chong Wei gave the sport another dimension. Arnold Palmer and Jack Nicklaus brought attention to golf.
The big modern-day rivalry in chess is the one between Hikaru Nakamura and Magnus Carlsen, but two young guns – India’s D Gukesh and Uzbekistan’s Nodirbek Abdusattorov have managed to provide something special whenever they have faced off across the board. Tuesday in the second round of the Sinquefield Cup in Saint Louis was no different as Gukesh hoped to settle a score.
Both players were coming off losses in their opening rounds, with Gukesh stumbling against R. Praggnanandhaa and Abdusattorov losing to Levon Aronian. And it was the Indian who came out on top in 50 moves.
The win was a big relief for the reigning world champion after “one of the worst games” against his compatriot. “It was nice to bounce back like this,” the Indian said.
That the victory came against a close rival, just one year older to him, was also a big plus. It was also a settling of scores from three years ago.
Similar personalities
While Abdusattorov claimed a World Rapid Championship title and a Chess Olympiad team gold, Gukesh has two individual Olympiad gold medals and led India to the team gold in 2024, before becoming the youngest World Champion in the history of the sport. (Picture Credit: Grand Chess Tour/Lennart Ootes)
In many ways, Gukesh and Abdusattorov are alike and share similar fighting personalities. Both have tasted significant success very early in their careers. While Abdusattorov claimed a World Rapid Championship title – the youngest to clinch that crown – and a Chess Olympiad team gold, Gukesh has two individual Olympiad gold medals and led India to the team gold in 2024 before becoming the youngest World Champion in the history of the sport.
Their rivalry goes back a few years. At the 2022 Chennai Chess Olympiad, Gukesh was on a tear winning his first nine rounds as India ‘B’ was on the verge of winning the gold medal on home turf. That was until they faced a young Uzbekistan team.
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The match-up between the two young guns delivered as Abdusattorov ground down Gukesh from an equal position, forcing a blunder from the Indian that resulted in him running out of time, a rare occurrence in a Classical game. The loss resulted in a drawn match for India, and the hosts missing out on the gold.
Although Gukesh made amends at the next edition, winning another gold on board one, and this time, helping India to the top of the podium, he still hadn’t got his revenge on Abdusattorov.
But it was never going to be easy. The Uzbek felt he understood Gukesh and his game quite well.
“I’ve watched his games a lot and I kind of understand what he is aiming for during the game,” Abdusattorov had told The Indian Express before Gukesh became World Champion.
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“Although I love his playing style – very unique compared to any of the young players – and we have completely different styles, I feel I still understand his moves and what he tries to do because I watched a lot of his games and analysed his chess.”
Soon after becoming world champion, Gukesh faced Abdusattorov at the Tata Steel Masters. Once again, the latter piled on the pressure, but after a six-hour grind, the Indian showcased his fighting abilities to come out with a share of the spoils.
But Gukesh had to wait until Tuesday at the Sinquefield Cup to get his long-awaited revenge.
In the game, Gukesh opted for a well-known Ruy Lopez game with white, quickly developing all his minor pieces. Both players blitzed out the opening moves before Gukesh surprised with 11. Bc2, a move that gave his opponent practically a free move. Abdusattorov developed his queen here.
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But the Indian managed his time effectively, taking the clock to 1 hour and 36 minutes from his initial 90-minute allotment. A game that saw both players miss significant opportunities to seize a decisive advantage shifted in Gukesh’s favour once Abdusattorov came under time pressure.
“I just realised I need to stabilise (the position) and I think he got a bit ambitious because we were in a time scramble and he played some loose moves like rook e4,” Gukesh said afterwards.
The Uzbek’s pawn push to h4 on the 37th move was the final nail in the coffin. It allowed Gukesh to trade his dark-squared bishop for black’s knight and exchange a rook while forcing a queen trade, making the position practically hopeless for Abdusattorov.
“I think h4 was the blunder, right? Because he missed that, I could just take on b6 and I’m trading the queen by force,” Gukesh explained.
