Chess world champion D Gukesh’s form keeps worsening with every passing game as he suffered a shocking defeat against Uzbek Grandmaster Nodirbek Abdusattorov in the fifth round of the Prague Chess Master 2026 on Sunday. The 19-year-old Indian chess star, Gukesh, finds himself in the bottom pack after his second defeat in the tournament.

He had earlier
lost to Jorden van Foreest in the third round. But the defeat to world No 5 Abdusattorov is of special significance as Gukesh has often found himself in tough positions against the 21-year-old Uzbekistani.

It was Gukesh’s error against Abdusattorov that helped Uzbekistan win the World Chess Olympiad 2022 in Chennai. The world champion blundered again earlier this year in a match against Abdusattorov, suffering a loss at the Tata Steel Masters 2026.

How Gukesh blundered against Abdusattorov

And maybe the poor history went against Gukesh in the latest match against Abdusattorov, as he lost due to a last-minute blunder after initially taking control of the match on the back of a new opening idea.

However, Gukesh’s time management was very poor, as he let the advantage slip away in the middlegame, and kept scrambling in the dying minutes. Eventually, it was the blunder of 67…Qf7, when Qd6 was the right move that forced Gukesh to resign after 69 moves.

Time management has become a recurring issue for Gukesh, who has often been seen struggling to stay with the game, allowing his opponents to win not by sheer brilliance but by capitalising on the errors of the world champion.

Abdusattorov acknowledged Gukesh’s weakness after beating him again, as he proclaimed that the Chennai Grandmaster “panicked” against him.

“It was a completely crazy game. In his opening, he was well prepared. I knew that this line exists…the more I thought about my position, the more I didn’t like it,” Abdusattorov told ChessBase India.

“But at some point, he started to misplay it. I felt like there was something for White to get an advantage more than what I could manage…Then I started to outplay him closer to time control and obviously, when we passed time control, I thought my position should be winning…at the end, he was low on time and he panicked.”

Gukesh appears helpless in loss vs Abdusattorov 

The video of Gukesh resigning to Abdusattorov just after struggling to find the right moves under time pressure is also going viral on social media, painting a bad picture of the world chess champion.

Check out the final moments of Nodirbek Abdusattorov taking down the World Champion D Gukesh in Round 5 of the Prague Masters 2026.

Video: @ram_abhyudaya/ ChessBase India pic.twitter.com/pvHGolQb7d

— ChessBase India (@ChessbaseIndia) March 1, 2026

“This Gukesh would fare worse against even a 15-16 yr old Gukesh. Hope he utilizes the next 2 months of break well to introspect hard,” a popular chess handle wrote on X.

“I suspect physio-lifestyle issues compounded by stress. How do your chess skills just decline over an year at 19 yrs of age?”

This Gukesh would fare worse against even a 15-16 yr old Gukesh. Hope he utilizes the next 2 months of break well to introspect hard.

I suspect physio-lifestyle issues compounded by stress. How do your chess skills just decline over an year at 19 yrs of age? https://t.co/GMr3ferca7

— Gutsy Gambit (@gutsy_gambit) March 1, 2026

“Atrocious time management by Gukesh. Don’t have much complaints on his play but this is something his team has to definitely work on,” another chess fan underlined.

All in all, things are getting worse for the teenager who must try to do whatever possible to rediscover his form. He will be defending his world title later this year.