The Indian 18-year-old is joint seventh out of 10 with just one round to go, while his compatriot Praggnanandhaa Rameshbabu leads on 5/8
India’s world champion, Gukesh Dommaraju, hoped for a comeback at Bucharest this week after his dismal Freestyle performances in North Germany and Paris in the spring. Instead, the top seeded 18-year-old was defeated by France’s pair of Maxime Vachier-Lagrave, in 31 moves, and Alireza Firouzja, in 69 moves, before scoring a 44-move win, against USA’s Levon Aronian, in Thursday’s eighth and penultimate round.
Gukesh has dropped from third to fifth in the Fide world rankings, and is currently tied seventh in the 10-man field in Romania with one win, five draws, and two defeats. One round earlier, he was tied last. Only Friday’s ninth and final round, which can be watched (12.30pm BST start) here, remains.
