Indian chess star D. Gukesh shocked the chess world once again by defeating World No. 1 Magnus Carlsen in the rapid section of the SuperUnited Rapid & Blitz Croatia, part of the 2025 Grand Chess Tour.
This win marks Gukesh’s fifth victory in a row and places him in sole lead with 10 points after six rounds. Carlsen, who played with the white pieces, seemed strong early in the game, but Gukesh turned the tables with a bold pawn move on the 26th move. Carlsen made several mistakes under time pressure and resigned after 49 moves.
Just days ago, Gukesh beat Carlsen in Norway Chess 2025. Today’s win is a powerful reply to earlier remarks by Carlsen, who had previously called Gukesh “one of the presumably weaker players.”
In other matches from Round 6:
- Jan-Krzysztof Duda drew against Wesley So and now stands second with 8 points.
- Fabiano Caruana won his first match of the event by beating Nodirbek Abdusattorov.
The rapid section of the tournament will continue until Friday, followed by 18 rounds of blitz chess. Four of the world’s top five players are competing in this event, including Carlsen, Caruana, Praggnanandhaa, and Gukesh.
Earlier, Gukesh defeated Praggnanandhaa in Round 5 to join a four-way lead before his latest win pushed him to the top alone.
