INDIAN grandmaster D Gukesh defeated China’s Wei Yi in the ninth and penultimate round to earn three full points and emerge as a top contender, along with Norwegian star Magnus Carlsen, for the Norway Chess title in Stavanger.
With one round to go, Gukesh is placed second on 14.5 points, while five-time world champion Carlsen is just half-a-point ahead in the six-player double round-robin tournament on Thursday.
Carlsen fought back from a losing position to defeat American Grandmaster Fabiano Caruana and earn full points in the ninth round.
In the final round, Gukesh will take on American Grandmaster Fabiano Caruana, while Carlsen will play Arjun Erigaisi, with both hoping to win the title and $69,000 prize money.
If defending champion Carlsen wins, it will be his seventh Norway Chess title dating back to 2016, while Gukesh would be hoping for his maiden triumph in two outings here.
Another American GM, Hikaru Nakamura on 13 points, has an outside chance, provided the other results go in his favor.
Nakamura upstaged Arjun Erigaisi, by crushing the Indian’s challenge in the Armageddon tie-break after steering the game toward a draw, though both had more than 40 minutes on the clock.
Gukesh looked more assured and refreshed after the second rest day on Wednesday and forced his Chinese opponent to resign on the 40th move.
The 19-year-old Chennai lad will have a tough job on hand when he takes on Caruana in the final round.
Humpy loses opportunity
In the women's section, two-time world rapid champion Koneru Humpy, playing with black pieces, blew away a superb opportunity to virtually seal the title, losing to Lei Tingjie of China.
Humpy, the overnight leader, is now second with 13.5 points, while 35-year-old Ukrainian GM Anna Muzychuk has taken a two-point lead over the Indian after decimating Chinese world champion Ju Wenjun (12.5).
Humpy will take on Ju in the final round with an eye on three points, and will also hope for Muzychuk to lose to R Vaishali.
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