World champion D Gukesh feels that while he is glad to experiment the Chess960 format, he doesn’t feel that it will take over classical chess. Gukesh is currently in Germany competing in the first leg of the Freestyle Chess Grand Slam Tour.

World No. 3 Fabiano Caruana defeated D Gukesh in the Freestyle Chess Grand Slam Tour quarterfinals at Weissenhaus in Germany on Monday. After losing a thrilling first leg of the quarterfinals on Sunday,

World Champion D Gukesh began his campaign at the Freestyle Chess Grand Slam tour with three draws and a lone loss, signaling that he is gradually coming to terms with the new format.

Gukesh was also fortunate to not have more losses to his name. He should've lost the sixth-round match against Fabiano Caruana, too, with the American gaining complete control during the endgame and having a completely winning position, only for his blunder to allow Gukesh to escape with a series of checks.

The reigning world champion lost the must-win Game 2 of the last eight on Monday to continue his winless run in Weissenhaus

Gukesh will have a chance to level on Monday when the two players play the second game of the quarter-final with colours reversed. Gukesh went winless in the rapid section of the event to figure out seedings for knockout stage.

While Gukesh is out of the quarterfinal, his time in Weissenhaus still continues, as he will battle for the fifth to eighth ranking spots, playing the loser of the Hikaru Nakamura vs Jakovhir Sindarov quarterfinal tie.

Gukesh lost the second leg on Monday, sealing his exit from the tournament. Gukesh will now play for the 5th-8th place Playoff.