D Gukesh downs Anish Giri, moves into joint-second spot in Zagreb Grand Chess Tour day two

Reigning world champion D Gukesh made great use of the opportunity as he rose to the joint-second spot at the end of the second day at the Zagreb Grand Chess Tour on Friday.

After enduring a rough start on the opening day, Gukesh managed to pull off a major turnaround in the chess competition in the Croatian capital.

Gukesh defeats Giri, finishes joint-second on day two 

While playing in white pieces, Gukesh launched a straight attack against Dutch GM Anish Giri's king and went on to pull off a fine victory in the day's final game. The reigning world champion made the most of his opportunities against Giri in a Ruy Lopez exchange variation.

Gukesh had started day two of the Zagreb Grand Chess Tour with a defeat against Deac Bogdan-Daniel but followed it up with a win over Jorden van Foreest.

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Meanwhile, Praggnanandhaa won the first game of day two against Foreest but went on to lose the next two games, starting with Nodirbek Abdusattorov.

Firouzja extends lead at the top

Iranian Grandmaster Alireza Firouzja is at the top by extending his lead by a huge three points.

With 10 points in his kitty out of a possible 12, Alireza is far ahead of his rivals -- Vincent Keymer of Germany, Maxime Vachier-Lagrave of France, Bogdan-Daniel of Romania and Gukesh, who all have seven points.

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Another half point behind are India's R Praggnanandhaa, Giri and Abdusattorov of Uzbekistan, while Croatian Ivan Saric and Dutchman Foreest are at the bottom of the table with just two points apiece.

With three rounds remaining in rapid, Alireza seems all set to win the section, but there are still 18 games to come in the blitz that will decide the outcome over the last two days.

(With PTI Inputs)