Chess: Carlsen fights off Gukesh in Zagreb as ChessFest returns to Trafalgar Square

The Guardian

11-07-2025

It looked as if the Carlsen era might finally be over. The Norwegian, 35, had just lost his second game in a row to India's world champion, Gukesh Dommaraju, 19, who was on a streak of five successive wins and leading the Zagreb event three points ahead of Carlsen. The game was like their first in Stavanger, where Carlsen had spoiled a winning position and images of his frustrated table thump went round the world. 'Now we can question Carlsen's domination,' said Garry Kasparov.
Except this time the sequel was different. The format changed from rapid to blitz and Carlsen launched his own eight-game unbeaten streak including a win against the Indian teenager using 'old man's chess' with no tactics, while Gukesh tailspun into a catastrophic run of 1.5/9. An alternative description would be that Carlsen reverted to the style of Grind Like a Grandmaster, co-authored with England's David Howell.
At the end of the SuperUnited Rapid and Blitz, part of the Grand Chess Tour sponsored from St Louis by the billionaire Rex Sinquefield, Carlsen banked another $40,000 winner's cheque, his fourth in six starts in Croatia. He scored 22.5/36, Wesley So (US) 20, Gukesh 19.5. There was a third Gukesh v Carlsen game, but that proved a damp squib as the pair opted for a well-known drawing line in the Ruy Lopez Berlin.
Overall, it remains a successful 2025 for Carlsen, who achieved his sixth successive tournament victory of the year following the Chessable Masters, the Paris Freestyle Grand Slam, the Grenke Freestyle Open, the Chess.com Classic and Stavanger.
'When nobody else has a great performance, my B-game is usually enough' said Carlsen. 'It was a fairly even tournament overall, and nobody could break away from the pack. It doesn't feel like I've won really. It feels like I just came, played alright, and nobody else did anything special.'
Meanwhile, the modest Gukesh continues to meditate at the start of every game and to emphasise that he is still working continuously in self-improvement.
Carlsen has other issues. Next week at Wynn Las Vegas is the third of five tournaments in the $3.5m Freestyle Grand Slam, the series based on random starting positions for every game. In a qualifier for the final place, Carlsen's arch-rival, Hans Niemann, unexpectedly won through.
The next leg of the Grand Slam was planned for Delhi, but it has been cancelled due to a lack of local sponsors. In a simultaneous announcement, Jan Henric Buettner, the German entrepreneur who has been the public face of Freestyle, resigned as its chief executive and will be replaced by Thomas Harsch. This may raise questions about whether Freestyle's campaign to gain wider acceptance in the chess community is faltering.
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More details have been released of Sunday's free 11am-7pm ChessFest in Trafalgar Square, for which the weather forecast is hot and sunny. You and your children can play blitz or simultaneous games against England's leading grandmasters, there will be living chess with human pieces, a transatlantic prodigy match, puzzle contests, free tuition for chess novices, and much more. Fuller details are also available for other ChessFests in Portishead on Saturday, Hull on Sunday, and Liverpool on 20 July.
English international tournament victories these days are rare, so it is something to celebrate like London buses when two come along at once. The 2022 British Champion, Harry Grieve, won the Vitoria-Gasteiz Open in Spain, scoring an unbeaten 7.5/9 to edge two others on tie-break and winning a much admired bishop endgame. Meanwhile, at the South Wales International in Bridgend, the Kent IM Aaravamudhan Balaji, 21, outpaced several other GMs and IMs to win first prize with an unbeaten 8/9.
The Fide Women's World Cup is under way in Batumi, Georgia, It qualifies three players for the 2026 Women's Candidates, so has a strong entry. There have already been some shocks. Aleksandra Goryachkina, one of the favourites, lost her first game while the USA's Irina Krush hung her queen in an all-US clash with Carissa Yip. Unfortunately, there are no British entrants. The event can be followed daily on lichess.
3980 1 Bxd6! If 1…Qxd6 2 Re8+ Kh7 3 Qb1+ and 4 Qxa2 wins a rook. If 1…Re2 2 Bf4! Qxf4 3 Re8+ and 4 Qxf4 wins the queen. The game ended 1 Bd2?? Qh3! 2 Ra3?? Ne4! and White resigned due to 3 fxe4 Rxa3 while otherwise Black mates by Qg3+ Kh1 Nf2 mate or by Qg3+ Kf1 Qf2 mate.