The reigning world chess champion Gukesh Dommaraju went down to Alireza Firouzja after a one move blunder in the sixth round of the 2025 Superbet Classic in Romania on Tuesday.
Gukesh, playing with the black pieces, misplaced his black-squared bishop to the b5 square on the 53rd move of the match. Firouzja grabbed the opportunity with both hands to attack the Indian’s last remaining pawn on the board.
Gukesh did try to hang on desperately but with a checkmate inevitable, he resigned 13 moves later to fall to his second loss of the tournament.
Gukesh is now placed dead last in the standings with just two points in six matches. He is yet to register a win in the tournament.
Elsewhere, India’s Praggnanandhaa Rameshbabu continued his good run of form as he played out a draw against Jan-Krzysztof Duda with the black pieces in the sixth round.
Praggnanandhaa had a slight advantage over the Polish Grandmaster but he struggled to press home the advantage. The Indian won a queen for a knight and a rook but it wasn’t enough to pocket a full point.
Praggnanandhaa continues to be in joint lead in the competition with 3.5 points in six rounds. He is level on points with GM Fabiano Caruana, GM Maxime Vachier-Lagrave, and GM Firouzja for the top spot.
While Praggnanandhaa will take on Firouzja in the seventh round on Wednesday, Gukesh will face GM Wesley So as he looks to bring his campaign back on track with just three rounds of play left.