In a recent matchup at the Freestyle Grand Slam Tour in Weissenhaus, Germany, American Grandmaster Hikaru Nakamura highlighted areas of concern in Indian Grandmaster D Gukesh’s gameplay, particularly focusing on his time management and intuitive decision-making under pressure.
Nakamura observed that Gukesh struggles when operating under time constraints, stating, “I would say probably the biggest weakness Gukesh currently has is that when he gets low on time, I don’t think his intuition is that great, and he simply couldn’t work through the calculations.”
The tournament, known for its unique Chess960 format, has seen participants collaborating and analyzing games together. However, Gukesh has often been seen analyzing alone, a choice Nakamura finds disadvantageous. He remarked, “I think it can only be to your disadvantage if you don’t analyze together. I don’t know why Gukesh doesn’t analyze with Fabiano. To me, that’s just insane.”
Despite these critiques, Gukesh has demonstrated resilience in the tournament. He qualified for the knockout stage, sharing seventh place with Uzbekistan’s Nodirbek Abdusattorov, both securing 3.5 points.
In the upcoming playoff for seventh position, Gukesh is set to face Grandmaster Alireza Firouzja. Their previous encounter in the round-robin stage resulted in a victory for Firouzja.
The Freestyle Grand Slam Tour 2025 in Weissenhaus features a total prize pool of $750,000, including a $150,000 bonus for the overall winner.
As the tournament progresses, the chess community keenly observes how Gukesh addresses these highlighted areas, particularly his time management and collaborative strategies, to enhance his performance in future matches.
