Bengaluru, May 30 -- It was past midnight on Thursday in India when D Gukesh found his first win in Stavanger. In the Norwegian city that lies on the North Sea coast, there were still a few hours to go for his 19th birthday. Since becoming world champion last year, the Indian teen hasn't delivered the kind of dominant results typically expected from someone fresh off such a milestone. He arrived for the Norway Chess tournament with the proverbial sword of Damocles hanging over his head - can he defeat five-time world champion Magnus Carlsen? They were paired in Round 1 and Gukesh went on to lose the encounter after Carlsen brought his superlative endgame skills to bear. A sharp quip from the world No 1 followed - 'You come for the king, you best not miss'. Gukesh spiralled to a second straight defeat against fellow Indian Arjun Erigaisi in the following round and appeared visibly gutted, turning away from the cameras soon after resigning. By Round 3, Gukesh was already being seen as 'vulnerable' - including by his opponent that day, world No 2 Hikaru Nakamura. Turns out, he was digging in his heels for a fightback. The American came close to drawing the game and was briefly up a pawn but admittedly began relaxing a bit too early which resulted in the ill-thought 28. Rd8. Nakamura - who had a day earlier taken down Carlsen in the Armageddon - was under the impression that the endgame was an easy draw and he could stretch matters to an Armageddon yet again. He made Gukesh a draw offer on move 30 which the young Indian turned down and in the next move Nakamura snuffed out any semblance of a recovery with a miscalculated and losing move, 31.Qd6. "I was close to winning at that point and after Qd6 I thought it should be over," Gukesh said. "I feel quite good. I think my time management was much better today than before. He had some drawing chances, but I guess overall it was a good game." This win must come as a relief to Gukesh, who has been struggling with his form since he turned world champion. Barring the Tata Steel event in Wijk Aan Zee in January, his performances since have largely been underwhelming....