Chennai GM Gukesh D is the new Chess.com Speed Chess Championship king after he defeated Nagpur’s GM Raunak Sadhwani by seven points in a final loaded with stunning tactical play and amazing counterstrikes.
Currently ranked number 13 in the world, Gukesh earned a hefty $21,582 prize for his convincing performance, winning every single match against his fellow best juniors in the world by at least a six-point lead.
SmarterChess evaluated these competitors as closely matched, predicting Gukesh to win by just one point. Though Gukesh is significantly higher rated in classical chess, Raunak plays online speed chess much more frequently with a Chess.com blitz rating over 100 points higher.
Blitz 5|1: Gukesh-Raunak 4.5-4.5
Raunak grabbed the early lead, trapping Gukesh’s queen with just two seconds left on his clock in the first game.
Though Gukesh had a slow start, trailing by two points in the first three games, he evened the score in round five. The rest of the 5+1 was a very back-and-forth battle with the players trading victories, staying within a point of each other. In one such game, Gukesh accurately offered up a trade of two rooks for a queen to take control of the middlegame.
In game eight, Gukesh took the lead for the first time, winning the promotion race in the endgame.
In the final game of the segment, Raunak countered, winning on demand to tie the match.
Blitz 3|1: Gukesh-Raunak 6.5-2.5
The first half of the 3+1 portion was a lot like the previous one. The score hovered between equal and slightly in favor of either of the players.
Raunak won game two with incredible, cold-blooded defense. Gukesh sacrificed all of his queenside pieces to gain a fierce kingside attack. Yet, Raunak eagerly mopped up material and used Gukesh’s own pawns to shelter his king.
In some games, these highly competitive grandmasters seemed to each be playing brilliancies at the same time, leaving the result of the game a toss-up between who would have the last stroke of genius.
The epitome of this occurred in game nine. In a wild King’s Indian Defense, as Gukesh’s forces circled the shelterless black king, Raunak discovered two brilliant moves in a row to accelerate his counterplay.
As the battle raged on, Raunak promoted his passer to gain a second queen, yet Gukesh found a winning bishop maneuver that soon led to mate.
After the match, Gukesh shared his thoughts on this game of beautiful madness: “Bh3 was quite a nice move, being down a queen and just threatening checkmate.”
This victory stretched his lead to a commanding four points as the players entered the last segment.
Bullet 1|1: Gukesh-Raunak 6.5-3.5
At the start of the bullet, Raunak played with great verve and determination, winning the first two games and shrinking his opponent’s lead to two points.
Realizing that he was playing too defensively, Gukesh adjusted, returning to the attacking style that gave him the lead.
From that point on, the match was all Gukesh. His score continuously grew until his edge was insurmountable with the amount of time left on the match clock. Even once his victory was guaranteed, Gukesh kept showing high-quality chess, pressing for the most out of his games.
In his interview, Gukesh shared about his comeback after trailing in the early games “At the start in time scrambles, I couldn’t get my mind to think fast, and it was trouble warming up. Maybe I have to play a few games before the match starts and just go with the flow.”
“I started with a loss, a draw, and then a loss, but I was still quite confident. It’s a long match. There are so many games to play. I knew that I would get my chances, and I just have to find my flow. Once I did, it was quite smooth.”
The 2023 Junior Speed Chess Championship (JSCC) is Chess.com’s top event for young players and features a $50,000 prize fund. The JSCC features the strongest online competition for the next generation of talented players and Chess.com’s signature Speed Chess Championship format.
The main event match format was 90 minutes of 5+1 blitz, 60 minutes of 3+1 blitz, and 30 minutes of 1+1 bullet portions.
All results
Quarterfinals:
Gukesh D – Emin Ohanyan 24 – 6
Christopher Yoo – Pranav V 11.5 – 12.5
Raunak Sadhwani – Read Samadov 20.5 – 6.5
Denis Lazavik – Daniel Dardha 19 – 5
Semifinals:
Gukesh D – Pranav V 16.5 – 10.5
Raunak Sadhwani – Denis Lazavik 15.5 – 10.5
Final:
Gukesh D – Raunak Sadhwani 17.5 – 10.5
