Indian chess prodigy D Gukesh has bounced back in style after a heartbreaking opening loss to American grandmaster Levon Aronian on the first day of the St. Louis Rapid and Blitz tournament, which is part of the Grand Chess Tour. Despite being outplayed by Aronian in the opening round, Gukesh quickly regained his composure and made an impressive recovery, securing two decisive wins. By the end of the first day, Gukesh shared third place with fellow American grandmaster Wesley So, accumulating four points out of six.

The opening round was a tough one for Gukesh as he faced a complex game involving the Caro-Kann Defense, which ultimately led to his defeat. However, he turned the tables in the second round with a resounding victory over Grigoriy Oparin, executing a brilliant Sicilian Rossolimo that saw him sacrifice his queen to checkmate the Russian-turned-American. Gukesh’s final game of the day was against Liem Le Quang, where once again, Gukesh was in the thick of complications, but unlike his earlier opponent Aronian, Liem faltered under pressure, leaving Gukesh with a commanding position and a win.

After Day 1, Levon Aronian held the lead with a perfect score of six points, winning all three games. He had earlier triumphed over Maxime Vachier-Lagrave and Nodirbek Abdusattorov, making his performance at St. Louis even more impressive following his recent victory in the Freestyle Chess tournament in Las Vegas. Fabiano Caruana, Aronian’s compatriot, followed closely behind with five points after securing two wins and one draw.

Gukesh, So, and Vachier-Lagrave are tied for third place, while Liem and Oparin have two points each. The rest of the field includes Nodirbek Abdusattorov and Sam Shankland, with Abdusattorov sitting on one point and Shankland yet to score.

This day’s performance has surely put D Gukesh on the map as a formidable contender in the tournament, especially after such a dominant recovery from his initial loss. As the tournament progresses, chess fans are eager to see if Gukesh can maintain this momentum and continue his rise in international chess.