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Gukesh struggles in blitz as Carlsen snatches lead at Grand Chess Tour 2025
World chess champion Dommaraju Gukesh had a rough time on the first day of the blitz section at the SuperUnited Rapid and Blitz Chess Tournament in Zagreb, Croatia on Saturday. After leading the rapid section of the 2025 Grand Chess Tour event by three points, he lost his momentum and suffered back-to-back losses in the blitz round.
Gukesh endures a torrid run
The 19-year-old Indian started Day 1 of the blitz section with five straight losses, including against now rival Magnus Carlsen. He managed to stop the losing streak with a draw in the sixth round against Fabiano Caruana, but lost again in the seventh. Gukesh failed to win even a single game and ended the day with a painful loss to fellow Indian Grandmaster Rameshbabu Praggnanandhaa.
Meanwhile, five-time world champion and the current World No. 1 Magnus Carlsen made a stunning comeback after finishing third in the rapid section. Carlsen scored 7.5 points from his nine games and jumped to the top of the standings. This was similar to last year, when Carlsen won his final nine games to win the title.
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Gukesh had earlier impressed in the rapid section, where he won six games, including a memorable win over Carlsen. But blitz proved to be a different challenge for the Indian prodigy. He has already lost six games on Day 1 of blitz and has dropped down to third place in the combined standings.
Meanwhile, Carlsen is in the best position to win the tournament. He has 17.5 points from a possible 27 and is ahead of Poland's Jan-Krzysztof Duda by 1.5 points. Gukesh has 15.5 points and will need a big turnaround to stay in the title race. R Praggnanandhaa is currently ranked fifth in the standings.
2025 SuperUnited Rapid & Blitz Croatia: Combined standings
1. Magnus Carlsen (17.5)
2. Jan-Krzysztof Duda (16)
3. D Gukesh (15.5)
4. Wesley So (14.5)
5. R Praggnanandhaa (13.5)
6-7. Alireza Firouzja, Fabiano Caruana (13)
8-9. Anish Giri, Nodirbek Abdusattorov (11)
10. Ivan Saric (10)
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