Tata Steel Chess: World Champion Gukesh Blunders, Loses to Abdusattorov

World Champion D. Gukesh made a major mistake and lost to Nodirbek Abdusattorov of Uzbekistan in the sixth round of the Tata Steel Chess Tournament on Saturday. Gukesh fell into a blind spot during the match and made a mistake that was difficult to recover from. On a day full of dramatic events, Gukesh made a wrong move and then conceded defeat. He could have remained in the match and headed for a possible draw.

In chess, a blind spot is a moment when a player cannot see what is actually happening on the board for a few seconds. This was the first time in Gukesh's career since becoming a Grandmaster, and his fans will hope it's the last. Meanwhile, top-ranked Indian Grandmaster Arjun Erigesi capitalized on a similar mistake by Germany's Matthias Blübaum and managed to take half a point from the match. Arjun Erigesi was almost on the verge of defeat against Blübaum. Blübaum had surprised everyone by qualifying for the Candidates Tournament later this year. Luck favored Arjun, and Blübaum also suffered a blind spot. He failed to find the easy winning sequence predicted by the game analysts, and the match ended in a draw, giving Arjun a sigh of relief.

R. Praggnanandhaa's search for victory also continued in the middle stages of this 13-round competition. The Indian player was held to a draw by Vladimir Fedoseev of Slovenia, who had recently returned to form. Uzbekistan's World Cup winner, Javokhir Sindarov, also failed to turn the complex situation in his favour this time and was held to a draw by Arvind Chidambaram in another crucial sixth-round match. With seven rounds remaining in the competition, Abdusattorov remains firmly in the lead with 4.5 points. Sindarov is followed by him in second place with four points. Hans Mocke Niemann of the USA and Vincent Keymer of Germany are tied for third place with 3.5 points each. Several players, including Gukesh and Arjun, are right behind them.