World champion D Gukesh finally got his campaign back on track on his 19th birthday, defeating World No. 2 Hikaru Nakamura of the United States to open his account with three points at the Norway Chess tournament on Thursday.

Gukesh, who suffered back-to-back defeats to Norwegian World No. 1 Magnus Carlsen and compatriot Arjun Erigaisi in the first two rounds, put Nakamura — one of the best Rapid and Blitz players — under time pressure to win the game in 42 moves.

“I feel quite good [about the win]. I think my time management was much better today than before. He [Nakamura] had some drawing chances, but I guess, overall, it was good,” he said after the match.