D Gukesh finished the round robin stage of the Freestyle Chess Grand Tour event in Weissenhauss, Germany, without a win, but made it to the knockouts as the eighth-placed player in the field of 10. Just like on Day 1, Gukesh lost one game and drew the remaining on Day 2 as well. Significantly, the loss came against Magnus Carlsen, in the first meeting between the two players since Gukesh became world champion in December.
That was the last match of the round robin stage, and it was set up perfectly in the opening and middle game, with some fine moves by both players ensuring the position was rather level. However, the endgame genius that Carlsen is, came to the fore eventually. Under time pressure as well, Gukesh made one blunder with his knight, which allowed Carlsen to move in and completely paralyse Gukesh's pieces. Eventually, the young Indian resigned.
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.
In his two remaining games of the day, Gukesh played out rather uneventful draws against Vladimir Fedoseev and Vincent Keymer, who was one of his seconds for the world championship match against Ding Liren last year.
Eventually, Gukesh finished 8th, but will know his quarterfinal opponent only tomorrow. Alireza Firouzja finished top, and he will have first pick of his opponent among the players who finished between fifth and eighth. Javokhir Sindarov finished second and Fabiano Caruana third, which means they would have the next pick of opponents after Firouzja. The player placed between fifth and eighth not picked by the top three will end up facing Carlsen in the quarterfinal.
D Gukesh's results on Day 2 of the Freestyle Chess Grand Tour, Weissenhauss
0.5-0.5 vs Fabiano Caruana
0.5-0.5 vs Vladimir Fedoseev
0.5-0.5 vs Vincent Keymer
0-1 vs Magnus Carlsen
Freestyle Chess Grand Tour, Weissenhauss - Standings after Round Robin
Alireza Firouzja - 6.5
Javokhir Sindarov - 6.5
Fabiano Caruana - 6
Magnus Carlsen - 5.5
Hikaru Nakamura - 5.5
Vincent Keymer - 4
Nodirbek Abdusattorov - 3.5
Dommaraju Gukesh - 3.5
Vladimir Fedoseev - 2.5
Levon Aronian - 1.5