Gukesh's 'year of transition' suffers another setback as world champion is knocked out of Chess World Cup in Round 3

An eight-man security cordon surrounds world champion D Gukesh as he walks out of the playing hall at Goa’s Resort Rio on Saturday evening. Usually, it’s the job of these burly men with neon vests bearing the word ‘security’ to escort the 19-year-old past the hundred-odd fans to his hotel lift. Today, they needn’t have bothered. After being eliminated from the FIDE World Cup with a 55-move defeat to Frederik Svane, the teenager had a large ‘do not disturb’ written across his face that would have stopped even the most adventurous selfie seeker dead in their tracks. The Chennai teen powerwalked past fans in under a minute, a remarkable pace considering it usually takes him at least 10 minutes to navigate the horde of admirers who line up outside the playing hall with screams of ‘Gukesh sir’.