Gukesh ahead after Rapids @ GCT SuperUnited Croatia

World Champion Gukesh Dommaraju (14.0) built up a comfortable three point lead at the end of the rapid leg of the $175,000 GCT SuperUnited Rapid & Blitz Croatia at the Westin Hotel, Zagreb. Behind Gukesh were GMs Jan-Krzysztof Duda (11.0) and Magnus Carlsen (10.0). With 18 rounds of blitz to go in the next two days, so much could happen and change.

By finishing ahead of a world class field in the GCT SuperUnited Rapid Croatia the classical world champion Gukesh Dommaraju has sent a strong message that he’s no pushover in rapid chess. Starting with a loss to former World Cup winner GM Jan-Krzysztof Duda of Poland, Gukesh never looked back securing six wins and two draws in the remaining rapid games. In an all important sixth round “Grudge Match” the youngest ever world champion put it across World No. 1 Magnus Carlsen, his second win over Mount Magnus in two months. While it was a win in the classical chess for Gukesh at Stavanger, it’s a rapid win over the Norwegian here at Zagreb. Former world champion Kasparov had remarked on Carlsen after his second defeat in the hands of Gukesh, “He came here to take revenge for Norway Chess, and that’s not good!”

Earlier, Dutch Grandmaster Anish Giri stopped Gukesh’s five game winning streak in the 7th round, but the world champion showed grit holding GM Ivan Saric in a difficult position and scoring over a solid GM Wesley So in the final round of the day. A fine day’s blitz play by any of the ten Grandmasters would see them back in contention. Nine rounds of blitz followed by another nine rounds with reversed colors the next day will see the deserving champ ascending the podium.

The 10 player Grand Chess Tour’s SuperUnited Croatia Rapid & Blitz tournament runs from 2nd to 6th July, 2025 at the Westin Hotel, Zagreb, Croatia. Rapid goes under the time control of 25 minutes with 10 seconds increment, while blitz runs with 5 minutes with 2 seconds increment. Day four starts Saturday, 5th July by 9.05 AM ET / 3.05 PM CET / 6:35 PM IST.

Day 3 Placings (Rapid): 1. Gukesh Dommaraju 14.0, 2. Jan-Krzysztof Duda 11.0, 3. Magnus Carlsen 10.0, 4-5 Fabiano Caruana, Praggnanandhaa Rameshbabu 9.0, 6-8 Alireza Firouzja, Wesley So, Anish Giri 8.0, 9. Ivan Saric 7.0, 10. Nodirbek Abdusattorov 6.0 pts

Gukesh Dommaraju (2654) – So Wesley (2709) 1. Nf3 d5 2. b3 c5 3. e3 a6 4. c4 d4 5. Ba3 Qb6 6. g3 Nc6 7. Bg2 Bg4 8. h3 Bh5 9. O-O dxe3 10. dxe3 e6 11. Nc3 Be7 12. Qe2 f5 13. Qc2 Nf6 14. Ng5 Nd8 15. Ne2 h6 16. Nf3 Qc6? (16…Nc6 keeps the balance)

17. Nh4 Qc7 18. Nf4 g5 19. Nxh5 gxh4 20. Bb2 Rf8 21. Nf4 Rg8 22. gxh4 e5 23. Ne2 e4 24. Ng3 Nc6 25. Nxf5 O-O-O 26. Bxf6 Bxf6 27. Rad1 Qe5 28. Nxh6 Rxg2+ 29. Kxg2 Rh8 30. Rd5 Qe6 31. Ng4 Bxh4 32. f3 exf3+ 33. Rxf3 Kb8 34. Qf5 Qe7 35. Qf7 Qe4 36. Qf4+ 1-0

Caruana Fabiano (2756) – Saric Ivan (2589) 1. d4 Nf6 2. c4 g6 3. Nc3 Bg7 4. e4 d6 5. h3 e5 6. d5 a5 7. Bg5 Na6 8. Bd3 O-O 9. Nge2 c6 10. f3 Bd7 11. Qd2 Nb4 12. a3 Nxd3+ 13. Qxd3 h6 14. Bh4 Qb6 15. Bf2 Qa6 16. a4 cxd5 17. exd5 Rac8 18. b3 e4 19. fxe4 Nxe4 20. Nxe4 Bxa1 21. Bd4 Bxd4 22. Qxd4 Bxa4? (black goes to hasten his own downfall)

23. Nf6+ Kh8 24. Ne8+ f6 25. Nxf6 Rf7 26. O-O Rg7 27. Qh4 Qb6+ 28. Kh2 Qe3 29. Nf4 Rh7 30. Nxg6+ Kg7 31. Nh5+ 1-0

Picture Courtesy: TATA Steel Chess 2025

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