Calculated play: Gukesh made essentially the most of time benefit to defeat Sjugirov.
| Photo Credit: Special Arrangement
D. Gukesh received with black in opposition to Hungary’s Sanan Sjugirov within the fifth spherical and emerged the sole leader of the Chennai Grand Masters chess championship with 3.5 factors right here on Tuesday.
After the win, Gukesh mentioned his recreation: “I thought his (Sjugirov’s) opening was a bit timid, actually. I didn’t think he played the most critical way. So, I was looking for more than equality already.
“And he was taking a lot of time. I had a huge time advantage. So, I wanted to make the most out of it.”
He spoke of a key transfer he made to trick his opponent. He stated he had additionally envisioned the counter line (of strikes) Sjugirov might take to achieve benefit, however stated he was betting on his opponent, who was operating low on time, making a hasty transfer.
“I had a lot of time. So, I was just careful to calculate and finish it off. Always nice to win with black!”
Gukesh additionally praised compatriot Arjun Erigaisi for his recreation in opposition to USA’s Levon Aronian.
Playing with white, Arjun was in a promising place, but he might solely handle to finally draw.
The outcomes (fifth spherical): Sanan Sjugirov (Hun, 2) misplaced to D. Gukesh (3.5); P. Harikrishna (3) drew with Parham Maghsoodloo (Irn, 2.5); Arjun Erigaisi (2.5) drew with Levon Aronian (USA, 2.5); Alexandr Predke (Srb, 1) misplaced to Pavel Eljanov (Ukr, 3).
