‘I wanted to teach him some lessons’: Gukesh jokes after beating 14-year-old Yagiz Kaan Ergodmus in Wijk aan Zee thriller

But on Wednesday, it was Erdogmus’ turn to experience heartbreak and frustration. The 14-year-old started brightly, with his home-cooked opening prep helping him gain a 20-minute advantage on the clock over Gukesh by the 7th move. By the 9th move, Erdogmus had a half-an-hour edge over Gukesh. But then, he spent a whopping 50 minutes on his 11th move. Erdogmus constantly finds himself in time trouble in classical games, and it’s only his exceptional blitz prowess that rescues him time and again. On Wednesday, by the time he had made 21 moves, he had only 12 minutes left on his clock, that too in a tournament where there is no increment till move 40.

The game seemingly turned on the 27th move, when the engine showed that Gukesh blundered by playing bishop a6, but Erdogmus, in deep time trouble by now, blundered back by capturing the a6 square with a rook.

INTERACTIVE: How Gukesh defeated Yagiz Kaan Erdogmus

Had he opted for a different move, such as the engine’s preferred rook to d1, Erdogmus might have even claimed a victory over the world champion. There were also other moves available for Erdogmus, like playing queen to e8 which, Gukesh admitted in an interview later on, was “winning on the spot for his opponent.

“But lucky for me, he did not find it. We both missed it. I’ve had so many unlucky moments here… always good to get some luck back,” Gukesh told Tata Steel Chess’ YouTube handle in an interview with a chuckle.

From that move on, Erdogmus was scrambling to stay alive in the game. By the time he resigned, he’d spent plenty of time shielding his teary eyes from the rest of the world. Gukesh, meanwhile, calmly paced around the playing hall, seemingly determined to get in his 10,000 steps for the day.

After the win, Gukesh was surprised to be told that Erdogmus was 14.

“It was a nice feeling to be the youngest player in tournaments I played in. Now it’s not the case anymore. I’ve been really impressed by him. What he’s been doing over the last one year has been impressive,” Gukesh chuckled before joking. “Today I wanted to teach him some lessons.”

At last year’s FIDE Grand Swiss, Gukesh had eased into a winning position over Erdogmus, before the 14-year-old had scrapped his way to a draw in a frustrating result for the world champion.

This was only the third victory for the 19-year-old Indian teenager at the event in Wijk aan Zee. Meanwhile, Arjun Erigaisi was handed a defeat by German grandmaster Vincent Keymer in round 10 on Wednesday. This was Erigaisi’s third defeat in the Wijk aan Zee event. Playing with black pieces, Erigaisi resigned in 41 moves. Meanwhile, R Praggnanandhaa drew his game against Hans Moke Niemann.