Gukesh defeats Carlsen once again, climbs to the top

World champion D Gukesh defeated world No. 1 Magnus Carlsen for the second straight time as the Indian climbed to the top of the standings at the end of the first six rounds of the Super United Rapid and Blitz Chess tournament, a part of the Grand Chess Tour.

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Gukesh had beaten Carlsen in the classical format at Norway Chess a few weeks back. This time, the Indian was able to force Carlsen to throw in the towel in his preferred shorter format, the Norwegian resigning after 49 moves despite playing with white.

Gukesh now has 10 points, while Carlsen has six with one more day to go in the three-day rapid section.

Former world champion Garry Kasparov “questioned Magnus’ domination”, while commentating for the official stream. “This is not just his second loss to Gukesh, it’s a convincing loss. It’s not a miracle. It was a game that was a big fight and Magnus lost,” he said.

Before the start of the event, Carlsen had bracketed Gukesh among the “presumably weaker players in the tournament”, adding that the Indian needed to prove himself in the shorter formats.

“Gukesh hasn’t done anything to indicate that he’s going to do well (in rapid and blitz). It remains to be proven that he’s one of the best players in such a format. This is a very, very strong field that we have here,” he had said.

But Gukesh has proven to be a force so far. After losing the first round against Jan-Krzysztof Duda, Gukesh defeated Alireza Firouzja, R Praggnanandhaa, Nodirbek Abdusattorov, Fabiano Caruana and Carlsen.

Meanwhile, Praggnanandhaa is seventh with five points after five draws and a defeat.