Just like on the first day, Gukesh was also fortunate to not have more losses to his name. He should've lost the sixth-round match against Fabiano Caruana, too, with the American gaining complete control during the endgame and having a completely winning position, only for one blunder to allow Gukesh to escape with a series of checks.

Magnus Carlsen questioned the validity of classical chess as a measure of skill, favoring rapid chess. Gukesh acknowledged the quality of their championship match, while Carlsen ruled out a title clash.

Carlsen, the world’s highest-rated chess player since 2010, will take a seat in Weissenhaus, Germany, to compete in freestyle chess, previously known as Chess960 and Fischer Random. The starting position of the back row pieces is randomized, removing a top grandmaster’s lifetime of memorization and theory on how to open a chess game.

World Champion D Gukesh advanced to the knockout stage of the Freestyle Grand Slam Tour despite losing to Magnus Carlsen in the final round. Gukesh secured eighth place with 3.5 points. Alireza Firouzja and Javokhir Sindarov topped the table,

This isn't just another chess tournament though, with a public spat between Carlsen and the promoters of the FCGT with FIDE in the build-up to the tournament.

The 18-year-old reigning classical world champion didn’t win a single game in nine rounds but still managed to sneak into the top eight and qualify for the knockout stage