Grand Chess Tour: Gukesh stuns Carlsen in rapid chess in Zagreb; grabs sole lead

Zagreb, July 4 (IANS) World Champion D. Gukesh caused another sensation in the chess world by defeating World No.1 and five-time champion Magnus Carlsen in the sixth round of the rapid section of the Grand Chess Tour's SuperUnited Rapid & Blitz Croatia here on Thursday.

A few days after upsetting Carlsen at home in the Norway Chess 2025, Gukesh got the better of the Norwegian star once again, though this time in rapid chess, in Zagreb. This was the fifth consecutive win for the Grandmaster from Chennai and helped him take sole lead with 10 points.

Jan-Krzysztof Duda drew his game against Wesley So and now sits in second place with 8 points. Fabiano Caruana finally broke through with his first win of the tournament, beating Nodirbek Abdusattorov with the black pieces in another Round 6 match-up.

This win turned out to be an apt response by the Classical World Champion after Carlsen had labelled him "one of the presumably weaker players". Carlsen had made disparaging comments soon after Gukesh had defeated Ding Linren in Singapore last year to win the World Championship title, becoming the youngest World Champion in the history of the sport.

Soon after, Gukesh defeated Carlsen in Norway Chess 2025 at Stavanger. The latest round comments from the World No.1 got a resounding reply from the 18-year-old Indian who won with black pieces in SuperUnited Rapid and Blitz Croatia, which will continue its rapid phase through Friday.

Playing with white pieces, Carlsen opened with the English and seemed to have the upper hand. But Gukesh kept his nerves and seized the initiative with a sharp pawn move on the 26th turn.

Under time pressure, Carlsen began to slip, and his position worsened as his clock went under a minute. Trapped in a poor position, Carlsen resigned after 49 moves.

The SuperUnited Rapid & Blitz Croatia is the third event of the 2025 Grand Chess Tour. The event started with the rapid section, which comprises 9 rounds, followed by 18 rounds of blitz. Included in the field are four out of the five highest-rated players in the world as per the latest ratings -- Magnus Carlsen, Fabiano Caruana, Praggnanandhaa Rameshbabu, and Gukesh.

Earlier, Gukesh had defeated compatriot Praggnanandhaa in the fifth round to get into a four-way lead with Carlsen, So, and Duda. Thursday's victory over Carlsen put him in sole lead with three more rounds of rapid chess to follow.

--IANS

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