D Gukesh wraps up his 19th birthday by taking down World No. 3

D Gukesh might remember turning 19 for a long time because he began the day by defeating World No. 2 Hikaru Nakamura and ended by taking down World No. 3 Fabiano Caruana in Norway Chess in Stavanger.

Gukesh started the event with consecutive defeats to World No. 1 Magnus Carlsen and compatriot Arjun Erigaisi. But after four rounds, he has pushed himself into fourth position, thanks to back-to-back wins.

Against Caruana, birthday boy Gukesh recovered from a shaky middle game by outcalculating the American. Gukesh did not make the same mistake of rushing his King up mindlessly like he did against Erigaisi, and played a near-perfect tactical endgame to secure a draw in the classical tie.

But Gukesh switched to beast mode in armageddon, where he played white and started with 10 minutes on the clock, while Caruana went for 7 minutes. As per the rules of armageddon tie-breakers, the player with black pieces is declared the winner if the game ends in a draw. So, Gukesh had to be aggressive, and he went all out. Caruana remained on the defensive, but was forced to resign with a checkmate imminent after 51 moves.

Meanwhile, Carlsen beat Erigaisi to take the sole lead, while overnight leader Caruana has slipped to second place. Nakamura lost to Wei Yi in the armageddon playoffs.

In the women's category, Koneru Humpy lost to World Champion Ju Wenjun in armageddon, but R Vaishali edged event leader Anna Muzychuk in playoffs.