Gukesh faced the in-vogue Italian opening as black against Caruana and the players battled it out in the main variation.
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.
'If Gukesh wins, he has to survive in Game 14.' 'But if Liren wins, then it will be game over for Gukesh.'
India's D Gukesh bounced back with a finely crafted game to outwit compatriot Vidit Gujrathi and regain his joint lead with Ian Nepomniachtchi of Russia after the eighth round in the Candidates chess tournament in Toronto on Friday.
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.
Teenaged Indian Grandmaster R Praggnanandhaa drew the second game of the FIDE World Cup semifinal against American GM Fabiano Caruana on Sunday to push the contest into a tie-break.
The former World champion lost two games - one to Fabiano Caruana (USA) and the other to Richard Rapport (Hungary) while drawing with five others.
Grandmaster R Praggnanandhaa wrote a golden chapter in Indian chess history by becoming only the second player from the country after Viswanathan Anand -- and the youngest -- to play in the FIDE World Cup final.
Rameshbabu Praggnanandhaa went down to World No 1 Magnus Carlsen in the FIDE Chess World Cup final, in Baku, on Thursday.
Gukesh never got a chance against Mamedov who is known as a theoretician.
Grandmaster Arjun Erigaisi pipped Rinat Zumabayev of Kazakhstan in the fifth round to share the top spot.
Seventh-round loss gave me energy, motivation to aim for title: Gukesh
The triumph entitles Gukesh a clash against reigning world champion Ding Liren of China in the last quarter of the year.
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.
Gukesh had a fine run, beating Constantin Lupulescu and Saric after drawing with Richard Rapport in the day's first game.
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.
Vidit Gujrathi crashed through the defences of Hans Moke Niemann of the United States to join the leaders' pack on 4.5 points.
Continuing his dream run, Praggnanandhaa on Monday stunned Caruana 3.5-2.5 via the tie-break in the semi-finals to set up a summit clash with world number one and five-time world champion Magnus Carlsen of Norway at the FIDE's premier event.
Vidit Gujrathi also put an end to his losses by settling for a draw with Caruana.
Teenaged Grandmaster D Gukesh shocked world number 5 Fabiano Caruana as India 'B' pulled off a superb 3-1 win over number 2 seeds USA in the eighth round of the Open section of the 44th Chess Olympiad in Mamallapuram, Chennai on Saturday.
Praggnanandhaa has expressed his determination to approach the World Cup final against Magnus Carlsen with a fresh mindset.
Indian GM was impressive against a fancied and higher rated opponent
16-year old Praggnanandhaa halted his three-match losing streak to shock the higher-rated Vidit Gujrathi
Grand Chess Tour: Teenaged GM Gukesh defeats idol Anand in Rapid segment
India's Vidit Gujrathi drew with Jan-Krzysztof Duda of Poland to take his tally to four points after the sixth round of Tata Steel Chess Tournament 2022.
The conclusive champion of this tournament is set to be determined on Thursday.
A title match requires months of preparation and pulling out of other events, putting together a team of seconds, etc. Carlsen just says he lacks the motivation to do this again.
Teen chess sensation R Praggnanandhaa's mother, R Nagalakshmi said on Friday she was elated to see her son seal a berth in the Candidates Tournament, adding the 18-year-old has a "long way to go" in the sport.
Praggnanandhaa is on his own at the Azerbaijan capital of Baku as his personal coach RB Ramesh is away in another country.
Anand scored six wins and two draws to seal the Rapid title in Poland, Warsaw.
Indian Grandmaster Vidit Gujrathi held World No. 1 Magnus Carlsen to a draw in the 11th round of the Tata Steel Masters chess tournament
Viswanathan Anand defeated an out-of-sorts Alexander Grischuk while Magnus Carlsen sealed the title at the Altibox Norway chess tournament with a round to spare, in Stavanger. Anand's chances to be in top three had ended after he lost to American Fabiano Caruana in the previous round.
Indian chess icon Viswanathan Anand placed with nine points from seven rounds of Rapid (involving two mini-matches) and 14 rounds of Blitz.
The Gashimov Memorial tournament this year is being played as a rapid and blitz chess tournament.
Apart from a place in the Candidates to be played in April next year in Canada, Vaishali got richer by US$25000 (Over Rs 20 Lakhs) while Vidit took home a whopping prize purse of US$80000 (Over Rs 66 Lakhs).
After six draws in a row, Praggnanandhaa was relieved after the victory, a result of Gupta's blunder under time pressure.
The second game of the Chess World Cup final between Rameshbabu Praggnanandhaa and Magnus Carlsen ended in a draw after 30 moves.
Fabiano Caruana of United States made sure of his maiden title after beating Jan-Krzysztof Duda of Poland.
Playing as a wildcard in the tournament, the Indian ace had on Thursday defeated Radoslaw Wojtaszek of Poland in the first round, before getting the better of American Wesley So and Anton Korobov (Ukraine).
For a long time, Viswanathan Anand was the lone flag-bearer of Indian chess, taking the world by storm with his exploits.
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