World Chess Champion Gukesh makes schoolboy errors to lose five CCT games in a row

World Chess Champion D Gukesh had another forgettable tournament, this time making a tame exit from the Chess.com Classic of the Champions Chess Tour (CCT) on Tuesday.

Vladimir Fedoseev bounced back from a game down to crush Gukesh 3-1 in their tie in the Winners' Bracket of the playoffs. But Gukesh's bad fortune didn't end there as he lost 2-0 to compatriot Arjun Erigaisi in the first round of the Losers Bracket to be knocked out of the event.

Gukesh finished ninth among 10 competitors in the recently concluded Superbet Chess Classic Romania, which R Praggnanandhaa won. It seemed like Gukesh had put the disappointment from Bucharest behind him in his match against Fedoseev.

Despite starting with a win against Fedoseev, the Indian teenager was unusually off-colour in his remaining games. In game 2, Gukesh made an amateurish error, missing a chance to win his opponent's queen and lost a tactical battle. In game 3, he blundered a queen move before resigning the hopeless rook endgame. The way he lost game 4 of the rapid match-up showed how low on confidence he is at the moment. Gukesh had the decisive game in control until he walked his king into a checkmate.

The CCT is a series of events that decides the 12 participants for the Esports World Cup to be held in Saudi Arabia in July-August. The CCT this year was held in two legs, with the first one, Chessable Masters, played in February. Players gain points based on their positions in both legs to qualify for the Esports World Cup.

World No. 1 Magnus Carlsen, American Hikaru Nakamura and Ian Nepomniachtchi have confirmed their spots in the World Cup, while Gukesh seems to have missed the bus.