Blitz Bureau
NEW DELHI: Vincent Keymer defeated reigning World Champion D Gukesh in the sixth round of the Norway Open chess tournament on June 1. . Keymer maintained the initiative for much of the game and capitalized on his opportunities to score a valuable victory against the World Champion who has now lost four of the six games. Following round six, Wesley So leads Norway Chess, with Alireza Firouzja remaining close behind as the battle for first place remains wide open.
For Gukesh this defeat was another setback as he had already lost to Magnus Carlssen a couple of days ago. The Indian ace made a lot of unforced error’s to hand over the initiative to Keymer. The Indian had a very promising start when he enjoyed the time control and had Keymer in all sorts of trouble.
Reigning Women’s World Champion Ju Wenjun scored the only classical victory of the day, defeating Divya Deshmukh in a long struggle. Ju gradually improved her position and converted her advantage in the endgame to secure an important win.
Bibisara Assaubayeva and Humpy Koneru ended their classical game in a draw after a closely contested battle. Assaubayeva later prevailed in the Armageddon game, earning the valuable extra points and reclaiming sole possession of first place.
Anna Muzychuk and Zhu Jiner also ended in a draw after a balanced encounter. Zhu Jiner went on to win the Armageddon game, securing the additional points.
Following round six, Bibisara Assaubayeva takes back the lead at Norway Chess Women with 9.5 points. Divya Deshmukh follows with 8.5 points, while Ju Wenjun and Anna Muzychuk share third place with 8 points.
