Menorca Masters 2026 R1-3: Nihal Sarin demolishes the World Champion D Gukesh
Nihal Sarin defeated the World Champion, D Gukesh in Round 3 of Menorca Masters 2026. Nihal started the event with a win over Pentala Harikrishna. Then he lost the second game against Leinier Dominguez Perez (USA). Currently, Harikrishna, Richard Rapport (HUN), Ruslan Ponomariov (UKR) and Leinier are at 1.5/3 each.
Nihal makes a strong comeback to emerge sole leader
Nihal Sarin emerged early sole leader after three rounds with a score of 2/3. The six-player double round-robin tournament will take place from 7th to 12th April 2026.
Nihal Sarin is the early sole leader 2/3 | Photo: Saji Mathew
Round 3: Nihal – Sarin: 1-0
Nihal Sarin and D Gukesh have played only one Rapid rated game against each other at Tata Steel India 2022. Nihal won that game with the white pieces. This time also, the result was the same.
Position after 13.e5
It won’t be an exaggeration to say, White is winning positionally after 13.e5. The game continued 13…Ng8 14.Nxg6 hxg6 15.0-0-0 Bd8 16.h4 Ne7 17.Bh3 Nc8 18.f4 b6 19.Kb1 a5 20.Qc2 bxc5 21.dxc5 Na6 22.a3 Ne7 and White just crushed his opponent in a dozen more moves.
Nihal Sarin defeated the World Champion, D Gukesh in Round 3 | Photo: Saji Mathew
In Round 2, Pentala Harikrishna showcased his endgame prowess against Richard Rapport | Photo: Saji Mathew
Replay all games
Round 1-3 pairings and results
Standings after Round 3
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