Rameshbabu Praggnanandhaa defeated overnight sole leader Nodirbek Abdusattarov of Uzbekistan to stake his claim for the top honours at the Prague Masters chess tournament.
Gukesh faced the in-vogue Italian opening as black against Caruana and the players battled it out in the main variation.
World No. 1 Magnus Carlsen was in stunning form, winning all nine of his games to take a significant lead. He has 20 points out of a possible 27 going into the second half of the blitz on Sunday.
Indian Grandmaster Vidit Gujrathi crashed through the defences of world number three Hikaru Nakamura of United States, while R Praggnanandhaa went down to compatriot D Gukesh in the second round of Candidates chess tournament in Toronto.
Anand, who first made it to the World's top-10 in July 1991, has remained India's top-ranked player in all published lists since January 1987.
Russian chess great Garry Kasparov has expressed hope that his "little joke" on Indian politics does not pass for "advocacy or expertise" after his cheeky social media post on Congress MP Rahul Gandhi's love for the game went viral.
Grandmaster R Praggnanandhaa defeated the reigning and four-time women's world champion Wenjun Ju from China in the ninth round of the Tata Steel Masters in Wijk aan Zee, Netherlands.
Grandmaster R Praggnanandhaa produced a spectacular game to get the better of fellow-Indian Vidit Gujrathi in the third round of the Candidates Chess tournament in Toronto on Saturday.
'Chess and cricket are similar, but in cricket, you can show your aggression, but in chess, you can't. It is all about how calm you are in chess.'
Indian men's team was held to a 2-2 draw by Iran in the fifth round of the Asian Games in Hangzhou on Tuesday.
The event that was inaugurated by five-time world champion Viswanathan Anand will have 11 rounds before the best player in the under-20 category can be determined in both sections.
Rameshbabu Praggnanandhaa lost to World Champion Ding Liren in the Armageddon tie-breaker after the two played out a draw under normal time control in the second round.
Young Indian Grandmaster R Praggnanandhaa on Friday called for a robust financial backing for chess, debunking the common concept that players require minimal monetary support to train and excel in the sport.
Former world champion Viswanathan Anand hailed the young GM's achievement.
Gujrathi and Erigaisi will represent India in the men's individual event while Koneru Humpy and D Harika will do so in the women's section.
Young Indian Grandmaster D Gukesh finished fifth while his illustrious compatriot Viswanathan Anand could only manage a tied seventh place in the third leg of the 2023 SuperUnited Rapid and Blitz chess tournament.
The men's team comprises Grandmasters D Gukesh, Gujrathi, Erigaisi, P Harikrishna and R Praggnanandhaa.
Giving prominence to experience over youthful exuberance, five-time world champion Viswanathan Anand feels the three Indian participants remain far from winning the Candidates chess title, saying they "should first settle into the tournament."
Viswanathan Anand on Saturday described 17-year-old Grandmaster D Gukesh overtaking him as the highest-rated Indian player in FIDE rankings as a "historic" achievement.
Historic moment, hails Anand after four Indians reach FIDE WC quarterfinals
India continues to occupy the second spot with 9 match points (2 match points for a win and 1 for a draw) behind Iran (10 MPs).
Gukesh Dommaraju played black but managed to hold on for a gutsy draw to split points in the Prague Masters Chess tournament.
D Gukesh struck back after recovering from a sedate start to defeat compatriot R Praggnanandhaa and Vincent Keymer in the Superbet rapid and blitz tournament
Velammal Institutions is the catalysing force behind this chess revolution in Chennai
Seventh-round loss gave me energy, motivation to aim for title: Gukesh
Indian men and women opened their campaign in the chess team event at the Asian Games with easy wins over Mongolia and Philippines respectively, in Hangzhou on Friday.
The 18-year-old also created history as he surpassed the legendary Viswanathan Anand to take the No 1 spot among Indian chess players in the live ratings.
Gukesh had on Sunday set up a much-awaited quarter-final clash with world No.1 Magnus Carlsen while Praggnanandhaa will meet Erigaisi.
Arjun Erigaisi's win over In-Jung Gu came after a stiff fight with the Korean having gained an advantage before slipping up.
Indian Grandmasters D Gukesh and Vidit Santosh Gujrathi bowed out of the FIDE World Cup chess tournament after losing to Norwegian Magnus Carlsen and Azerbaijan's Nijat Abasov respectively in Baku on Wednesday.
Carlsen wins 1st game of World Cup quarterfinal against Gukesh; Erigaisi outwits Praggnanandhaa to take lead
D Gukesh played out a creditable draw against top seed Fabiano Caruana but slipped a rung to the joint second position.
Young GM R Praggnanandhaa on Friday won both rapid games to eliminate second-seeded Hikaru Nakamura to enter the last 16 of the FIDE World Cup chess tournament in Baku.
Gukesh never got a chance against Mamedov who is known as a theoretician.
Harika lost 1-0 to China's Hou Yifan
Indian Grandmaster R Praggnanandhaa defeated compatriot Arjun Erigaisi 5-4 via the sudden death tie-break to enter the semifinals of the FIDE World Cup chess tournament in Baku on Thursday.
Gujrathi won the match with black pieces as he exploited a tactical oversight from his famous opponent.
R Praggnanandhaa was the best Indian with an overall third place finish
In round 3, the Indian defeated German GM Vincent Keymar with the game decided in the rook endgame after Praggnanandhaa managed to win two pawns, following which Keymar resigned.
In another entertaining contest SG Alpine Warriors defeated Chingari Gulf Titans 11-6.
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