NEW DELHI: They'll tell you that D Gukesh lost to world No. 1 Magnus Carlsen in the first leg of the Chess World Cup quarterfinal at Baku, Azerbaijan. They'll tell you that the Norwegian showed he is levels above the 17-year-old Indian. They'll tell you that the endgame went exactly as expected.
What they won't tell you is that Gukesh, whose live ELO rating is 2757.2, hardly put a foot wrong against Carlsen (Elo rating 2844) and still lost.
So, how exactly did that happen? To begin with, Gukesh sprang a surprise by opening with the London system. He doesn't usually play it but to bring it out against Carlsen also struck one as odd because he is one of the main proponents of the London.
Still, it seemed to serve its purpose and Carlsen took his time playing his early moves. Gukesh was blitzing through them confident of his preparation and built a big pawn center early.
The question on the minds of all those following the game was essentially simple: how deep was Gukesh's preparation? Carlsen would know the main lines, having played the system so often. And unless Gukesh had something up his sleeve, the 32-year-old would eventually catch up.
Esta historia es de la edición August 16, 2023 de Hindustan Times.
Comience su prueba gratuita de Magzter GOLD de 7 días para acceder a miles de historias premium seleccionadas y a más de 9,000 revistas y periódicos.
Ya eres suscriptor ? Conectar
Esta historia es de la edición August 16, 2023 de Hindustan Times.
Comience su prueba gratuita de Magzter GOLD de 7 días para acceder a miles de historias premium seleccionadas y a más de 9,000 revistas y periódicos.
Ya eres suscriptor? Conectar
Palestinian PM Resigns Citing 'New Reality' Of War In Gaza
The United States and other powers have called for a reformed Palestinian Authority to take charge of all Palestinian territories after the end of war
Future Perfect: The Kids Are All Right
Gill and Jurel hold out promise by simplifying a challenging chase to help India seal series
Akshay feels 'blessed' to have worked with OG Ramayan cast
Director Akshay K Agarwal shot a music video, Humare Ram Aaye Hai, with the cast of the 1987 TV show, Ramayanactors Arun Govil, Dipika Chikhlia and Sunil Lahri - in Ayodhya recently.
Musk's firm gets nod for Sat Net; joins Jio, Bharti
Starlink, owned by billionaire Elon Musk, has been allowed to offer satellite broadband services in India, two officials aware of the development said.
A temple, 169 years in the making
Through decades of design and reworks, hurdles in engineering and construction, HT pieces together how the grandeur of the Ram Temple was reclaimed
'Political interference' forces Vihari to quit Andhra cricket
After Andhra bowed out of the Ranji Trophy at the quarter-final stage with a four-run defeat to Madhya Pradesh in Indore on Monday, senior batter Hanuma Vihari launched a scathing attack on the Andhra Cricket Association (ACA), saying he will never turn up for the state again.
Shafali, Kapp lead Capitals to a 9-wicket win over Warriorz
A blazing fifty by Shafali Verma (64₹, 43 balls) helped Delhi Capitals make a mockery of a target of 120 and open their account in the second edition of the Women's Premier League (WPL).
Making 'unbelievable things believable', the Ayhika way
The India No. 7 was an inspired pick for the world team event and she repaid the faith, beating the Chinese world No.1
'Connected TVs to reach 45 mn by 2024-end in India'
With improvement in broadband penetration, Indian households are increasingly opting for connected or addressable TVs.
India chip strategy makes progress as $21 billion in proposals received
The Indian government, after years of watching from the sidelines of the chips race, now has to evaluate $21 billion of semiconductor proposals and divvy up taxpayer support between foreign chipmakers, local champions or some combination of the two.
