Gukesh downs Carlsen, leads @ GCT SuperUnited Croatia Rapid

From Stavanger to Zagreb, for the second time in a row the King went down to the Prince, in equally similar circumstance, as Gukesh (10.0) brought down Magnus (6.0) snatching the lead after the sixth round of the $175,000 GCT SuperUnited Croatia Rapid & Blitz at the Westin Hotel, Zagreb, Croatia. GMs Jan-Krzysztof Duda (8.0) and Wesley So (7.0) stood behind in the second and third spot with Magnus Carlsen sharing the fourth place along with GMs Anish Giri and Ivan Saric at 6.0 points. With five wins in a row Gukesh has recovered well after his earlier event and appears to be on course. Zagreb still has 3 rounds of rapid and 18 rounds of blitz before anyone can lay their hands on the winner’s trophy.

In a highly anticipated “Grudge Match” World Champion Gukesh Dommaraju brought down World No. 1 Magnus Carlsen in a game that had all ingredients of drama and entertainment. The English Opening rapid game lasted 49 moves with it’s usual highs and lows. Stavanger sixth round is now a part of history and Zagreb sixth round between the same warriors is likely to be another one.

Just out of the opening Mount Magnus was cruising along inching up his advantage slowly but steadily. Middle game appeared dicey with two rooks & bishops and queen versus two knights & rooks and queen. Engines pointed better position for white when an attack on the flanks in the king-side was the need of the hour. Surprisingly, Magnus went for 23. b4, giving Gukesh an unexpected counter, which ultimately upset the apple-cart. The queen-side sortie brought a wave of counter attack from the world champion that did the Norwegian in. Black Queen in tandem with two knights in the centre was all ferocity and when the rook entered the fray the game was over.

13th World Champion Garry Kasparov remarked after Gukesh defeats Magnus: “A very important day! Now, we can question Magnus’ domination. Because it’s not just the second loss, it’s a very convincing loss!”

“Generational shifts take time to gain universal acceptance across many fields. Even when Magnus rose, many legends were slow to acknowledge his strength…Gukesh’s ability to adapt to new things and formats is astounding. It might take it’s time, but over the period of time there will be few doubters remaining…Gukesh is doing the exact right thing with his performance though – ultimately action speaks louder than words,” tweeted the Captain of the gold medal winning Indian Chess Olympiad Team at Budapest 2024 GM Srinath Narayanan.

In Zagreb, it’s two points for a win and one for a draw in rapid chess. 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 three starts Friday, 4th July by 9 AM ET / 3 PM CET / 6:30 PM IST.

Day 2 Placings (Rapid): 1. Gukesh Dommaraju 10.0, 2. Jan-Krzysztof Duda 8.0, 3. Wesley So 7.0, 4-6. Magnus Carlsen, Anish Giri, Ivan Saric 6.0, 7-8. Fabiano Caruana, Praggnanandhaa Rameshbabu 5.0, 9. Alireza Firouzja 4.0, 10. Nodirbek Abdusattorov 3.0 pts

Carlsen Magnus (2819) – Gukesh Dommaraju (2654) 1. c4 e5 2. Nc3 Bb4 3. Nf3 Bxc3 4. dxc3 d6 5. e4 Nd7 6. Bd3 Nc5 7. Bc2 Nf6 8. Qe2 a5 9. Nd2 g6 10. Nf1 Be6 11. Bg5 h6 12. Bh4 g5 13. Bg3 Qd7 14. f3 Nh5 15. Ne3 Nf4 16. Qd2 b5 17. Nd5 Bxd5 18. cxd5 Nh5 19. Bf2 Kf8 20. g3 Kg7 21. Be3 Qe7 22. Rg1 Nf6 23. b4? (A questionable choice that ultimately cost Carlsen the game) axb4 24. cxb4 Na4 25. Bd3 c6 26. dxc6 d5 27. exd5 Nxd5 28. a3 Rhd8 29. Rc1 Rd6 30. Bxb5 Ndc3 31. Bc5 Nxb5 32. Bxd6 Nxd6 33. Kf2 Nb6 34. Qd3 Qe6 35. Rc5 e4 36. Qd4+ Kg8 37. Rd1 exf3 38. Re5? (Running low on time, Carlsen slips and Gukesh finishes in style!)

38…Qh3! 39. Kxf3 Nbc4 40. Ra5 Nxa5 41. bxa5 Qf5+ 42. Kg2 Qc2+ 43. Kg1 Nf5 44. Qd7 Ne3 45. Rd2 Qc1+ 46. Kf2 Ng4+ 47. Ke2 Ne5 48. Qe7 Nxc6 49. Qe4 Rxa5 0-1

Abdusattorov Nodirbek (2740) – Caruana Fabiano (2756) 1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. Bc4 Nf6 4. d3 Be7 5. Nc3 d6 6. a3 O-O 7. Be3 Be6 8. Ng5 Bxc4 9. dxc4 Qd7 10. h3 a6 11. Nf3 b5 12. b3 bxc4 13. bxc4 Nd8 14. O-O Ne6 15. Qd3 Qc6 16. Nd5 Bd8 17. Rfb1 Nd7 18. Nc3 a5 19. Nd2 Ndc5 20. Qd5 Qa6 21. Nb3 Nd7 22. a4 Be7 23. Qb5 c6 24. Qxa6 Rxa6 25. g3 Rb8 26. Nd1 h5 27. h4 g6 28. Nb2 f5 29. exf5 gxf5 30. Nd3 Kf7 31. Nbc1 Raa8 32. Rxb8 Rxb8 33. Nb3 Bd8 34. Bd2 Ra8 35. Rb1 c5 36. Kg2 Bc7 37. Kf1 Nd8 38. Nb2 Nc6 39. Nd1 Nb6 40. Ne3 Ke6 41. Rd1? (41. f4 might have saved the day for white)

41…Bd8 42. Ra1 Bf6 43. Bc3 Bg7 44. Rb1 Nxa4 45. Be1 e4 46. Nd5 Ra7 47. c3 Be5 48. Nc1 Ne7 49. Nxe7 Kxe7 50. Ne2 Kd7 51. Rb8 Ra6 52. Rf8 Ke6 53. Bd2 Nb2 54. Nf4+ Bxf4 55. Bxf4 a4 56. Bc1 a3 57. Re8+ Kf7 58. Rh8 Nxc4 0-1

Giri Anish (2687) – Jan-Krzysztof Duda (2699) 1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. Bb5 a6 4. Ba4 Nge7 5. O-O Ng6 6. d4 exd4 7. Nxd4 Nxd4 8. Qxd4 b5 9. Bb3 Bb7 10. c4 c5 11. Qd3 b4 12. Be3 Qc7 13. Rd1 Rd8 14. a3 a5 15. Nd2 Be7 16. axb4 axb4 17. Nf1 O-O 18. Ng3 Ne5 19. Qe2 g6 20. Bh6 Rfe8 21. Ba4 Nc6 22. Bxc6 Bxc6 23. Qe3 Qe5 24. Rd2 Ra8 25. Rad1 Qf6 26. Bf4 Ra2 27. b3 Rxd2 28. Qxd2 Ra8 29. e5 Qe6 30. f3 Ra3 31. Qc2 h5 32. h3 h4 33. Nf1 Bf8 34. Ne3 Bg7 35. Rd6 Ra1+ 36. Kf2 Qe8 37. Ng4 Qa8 38. Rd2 Rh1 39. Rd1 Rxd1 40. Qxd1 Qa2+ 41. Kg1 Qb2 42. Kh2 g5 43. Bxg5 Bxe5+ 44. Nxe5 Qxe5+ 45. f4 Qb2 46. Qf1? (better was 46. Qg4)

46…Qxb3 47. Bxh4 Qc2 48. Bf2 b3 49. Qe1 Qe4 0-1

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