NAGPUR: More than the opponent, the clock becoming the nemesis of chess players has happened often to the best of the game. Sitting pretty in an authoritative position on Thursday, Gukesh D goofed up in time trouble to suffer his first defeat of the Candidates Chess tournament — to Alireza Firouzja in Toronto.
The inexperience of managing the clock in the classical format of 64 squares forced the 17-year-old to taste his first defeat. He dropped to the joint second position. While Gukesh missed his third victory, Indian Grandmasters R Praggnanandhaa and Vidit Gujrathi defended well with black pieces to draw their respective games.
