NEW DELHI: Going into the rest day on Wednesday, Indian Grandmaster (GM) Nihal Sarin had outclassed Polish GM Szymon Gumularz in just 22 moves. Asked about his role in India’s chess boom following the game, the 21-year-old took a brief pause before replying with disarming humility: “Umm... My role is really not much.”He credited two names instead, “It really comes down to one individual: Viswanathan Anand… And also now Gukesh winning the World Championship, it’s creating a massive boom. Well, so my role is nothing for now, but I hope to.”Indian chess, however, is witnessing a curious duality at the ongoing FIDE Grand Swiss in Samarkand, Uzbekistan, with Nihal emerging as the nation’s new flag-bearer, while D Gukesh appears a pale shadow of himself. The contrast mirrors Janus, the Roman god with two faces, one looking back at the past, the other gazing into the future.The curious case of D GukeshFor Gukesh, the 2025 Grand Swiss has been a nightmare, a fall from grace that has taken many by surprise. Maurice Ashley, the first Black GM and presenter during Gukesh’s World Championship triumph, echoed the general sentiment on X: “What is going on with Gukesh? This is not him.”The 19-year-old lost his third straight game on Thursday, this time to 16-year-old Turkish prodigy Ediz Gurel.Playing black in Round 6, Gukesh entered the Caro-Kann Defence (Advance, Tal variation). By move 30, Gukesh had carved out a clear advantage, and by move 45, a draw appeared the most likely result.But on move 46, he erred fatally by capturing Gurel’s pawn on a3 with his bishop.That single misstep swung the balance, allowing the Turkish prodigy to seize the initiative. Six moves later, Gukesh was left with no escape and resigned on move 52The defeats have cost him dearly in live rating points, and the youngest-ever World Champion now risks dropping out of the world’s top 10.Nihal Sarin not a speed chess buff anymore?While Gukesh continued to fight with his poor run of form, Sarin defeated Iran’s No. 1 Parham Maghsoodloo to notch up his third win on the trot.Against Maghsoodloo, Nihal, with the white pieces, steered the game into the Slav Defence (Exchange, Symmetrical, Trifunović variation).“Exchange is something I have not played before,” he told ChessBase India after the Round 6 game. “I was just hoping not to walk into his preparation. I just thought I would think over the board and just try to play the positions somehow.”The contest went deep into time trouble, both players under five minutes by move 30.It was here that Nihal’s speed-chess instincts kicked in. On move 36, he sacrificed a rook (36.Rxf6 gxf6), setting the stage for Parham’s fatal blunder with 37…Rxb3. By move 42, the Iranian had resigned, handing Nihal his third consecutive win, subsequently joining the lead with 5.5 points out of 7.After the win over the Iranian, he was once again asked to reconsider his role in India’s chess boom. But Nihal deflected, “No, of course, not! One game and one tournament is not going to (laughs).”With four rounds left, Gukesh, on three points, can still salvage pride, though the best he can manage is 7 points.ALSO READ: ‘I tried to live as a man but couldn’t’: First-ever trans chess player to reach WIM, now French women’s championOn Friday, he faces compatriot and Women’s World Cup winner Divya Deshmukh in a mouth-watering encounter, while Nihal takes on Germany’s Matthias Bluebaum, who has already beaten both R Praggnanandhaa and Arjun Erigaisi in Samarkand.
