Duda and Carlsen the closest chasers
After three days of rapid chess in Zagreb, Gukesh Dommaraju leads the SuperUnited Rapid & Blitz Croatia tournament by a clear three points. The reigning world champion in classical chess has so far scored 14 out of a possible 18 points, thanks to an outstanding performance in the rapid section.
Following an early loss in round one against Jan-Krzysztof Duda, Gukesh bounced back in remarkable fashion, notching up five consecutive wins, including victories over Alireza Firouzja, Magnus Carlsen and Fabiano Caruana. These results gave him a two-point lead going into Friday's final set of rapid games. With draws against Anish Giri and Ivan SariC, followed by a win over Wesley So, the 19-year-old extended his advantage to three full points before the blitz section.
In this Fritztrainer: “Attack like a Super GM” with Gukesh we touch upon all aspects of his play, with special emphasis on how you can become a better attacking player.Standing in sole second place is Jan-Krzysztof Duda, the only player in the field who remains undefeated so far. Duda scored wins over Gukesh (in round one) and Anish Giri (in round four), and drew the remaining seven games. His undefeated run has taken him to 11/18 points, three points behind the leader.
Jan-Krzysztof Duda | Photo: Lennart Ootes
Close behind is Magnus Carlsen, who sits alone in third place with 10 points. Carlsen also suffered just one loss - against Gukesh - and otherwise maintained consistent form. Caruana and Praggnanandhaa Rameshbabu both ended the rapid section with 9 points, or 50% of the maximum possible, leaving them five points adrift of the leader.
Despite his modest pre-tournament rapid rating of 2654, which placed him 42nd in the world, Gukesh's 7/9 performance (according to traditional scoring) gained him 32.8 rapid rating points and moved him up to 28th place in the live ratings.
Gukesh's rapid performances in Zagreb reflect significant improvement in this format, especially considering that Carlsen had suggested before the event that the Indian star, although the classical world champion, was not yet operating at the same level in rapid and blitz, and even regarded him as one of the weaker players in the field.
Final standings - Rapid
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Magnus Carlsen beat Fabiano Caruana with black in round seven | Photo: Lennart Ootes
From winning to losing... to a triple repetition
Interestingly, Gukesh's first two games on Friday followed a similar narrative. In his round seven game against Anish Giri, playing with the white pieces, Gukesh obtained an early initiative and a strategic advantage. By move 30, after 30.Rxb7, the Indian had a favourable structure and promising chances to pressure Black’s queenside weaknesses on c4 and a6.
However, as the game progressed, Giri gradually coordinated his pieces, activated his forces, and even managed to seize the initiative. With both players running low on time and relying largely on increment, the game ended in a draw by threefold repetition at a moment when Black may have had more practical chances.
This video course includes GM Anish Giri's deep insights and IM Sagar Shah's pertinent questions to the super GM. In Vol.1 all the openings after 1.e4 are covered.Gukesh later commented that he was "kind of pissed" for not converting his superior position.
Anish Giri | Photo: Lennart Ootes
His eighth-round encounter against Croatian wildcard Ivan Saric displayed even more pronounced swings. This time, Gukesh had the black pieces and emerged from the opening with the bishop pair and a more active position in a middlegame featuring a queen and rook for each side. By move 32, he had a tactical opportunity to increase the pressure.
32...Be6 would have restricted the white queen's mobility along the critical light squaes and enabled a strong follow-up with 33...Qe4+, giving Black a dangerous initiative.
Instead, Gukesh opted for 32...Bd7, which allowed White to play 33.Qe2 and stabilise the position. Had he played the stronger bishop move, Saric would have had to spend a tempo with 33.Qb5 to defend the light squares, allowing Gukesh to take over the initiative more convincingly.
Later, despite having two extra pawns, Saric opted for a repetition with Qd2–Qe1–Qd2. A move like 82.Ne3 would have kept more chances alive, with engines evaluating White's position as clearly better.
Still, the game was drawn, and Gukesh preserved his lead.
In the final round of the rapid section, Gukesh took down Wesley So, who had himself performed well in the first two days of action, including wins over Caruana and Giri. However, So was defeated by Firouzja and Gukesh (in the final round) to end the rapid tied for sixth place with 8/14 points.
The blitz section, to be played over the weekend, still offers 18 rounds and a maximum of 18 points per player, meaning the tournament is far from decided. Nonetheless, Gukesh enters the final phase as the clear frontrunner and the favourite to take the title.
In this insightful video course, Grandmaster David Navara shares practical advice on when to calculate deeply in a position — and just as importantly, when not to.
In this insightful video course, Grandmaster David Navara shares practical advice on when to calculate deeply in a position — and just as importantly, when not to.
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Gukesh facing Saric during the eighth round of rapid chess | Photo: Lennart Ootes
Croatian fans filled the playing hall on Friday | Photo: Lennart Ootes
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