Gukesh loses to nihal sarin

World Champion D Gukesh suffered a crushing loss to fellow Indian Grandmaster Nihal Sarin in the Menorca Masters 2026 as he made his first comeback since admitting the struggle for form and taking the big call on restructuring his schedule. The defeat to Sarin was Gukesh’s first loss at the Menorca Masters after starting with draws against Leinier Dominguez Perez and Ruslan Ponomariov.

On 31 March, 19-year-old Gukesh surprised the chess world by revealing that he is cutting down on his schedule for 2026 to focus more on training and recovery as the Indian Grandmaster gets ready to defend his world title.