Saint Louis, Oct 29 (IANS) Reigning world champion Gukesh Dommaraju faced a difficult day at the Clutch Chess Champions Showdown as he dropped to the bottom of the table with no wins, while Magnus Carlsen took the lead with four wins and two losses on the second day.

Gukesh, who began the day in the sole lead, suffered two defeats against Carlsen. Afterwards, he drew the first game against Hikaru Nakamura, whom he had previously defeated on the first game day to avenge his Checkmate: USA vs India exhibition match loss.

In the second game, the Indian GM had a solitary opportunity in a relatively balanced rook endgame. However, he missed it, and the game ended in a draw. He lost the following game against Fabiano Caruana and finished the day with a draw, ChessBase reports.

Gukesh said he was “not exactly happy with his play and was just not able to be sharp today. I was taking a lot of time, which I shouldn’t have. Forget what happened and come fresh tomorrow.”

Carlsen lost his first game of the event against Caruana. The World No.1 also suffered a second loss to Caruana. He has taken sole lead with 11.5/18. Caruana is close behind on 10.5. Nakamura and Gukesh are both on 7.

Clutch Chess is a unique tournament format created by Grandmaster Maurice Ashley, where the stakes escalate each round, with increasing points and cash prizes available daily.

The event’s 18-game rapid double round-robin format (10 minutes plus a 5-second increment) will feature escalating point values each day: wins are worth 1 point on Day 1, 2 points on Day 2, and 3 points on Day 3.

Since point values for victories increase daily, players who start slowly can stage dramatic comebacks right until the very end. This means that 18 points can be scored on Day 3. All four players have a chance to win this event.

On Day 1, each victory earns 1 point and USD 1,000. On Day 2, each victory earns 2 points and USD 2,000. And for day 3, each win is worth 3 points and USD 3,000.

–IANS

bc/vi