Credit: X
World chess champion D Gukesh displayed dominance at the SuperUnited Rapid & Blitz 2025 tournament, held in Zagreb to record a convincing title victory. He notched up 14 off 18 points to become the leader at the standings. His campaign kicked off with a loss against Poland’s Jan-Krzysztof Duda but he made a sensational comeback by winning his next five matches in a row. His notable performance came against Magnus Carlsen as the 19-year-old held his nerves and got better of the veteran. That marked Gukesh’s second triumph against the Norwegian within the last 40 days. His exceptional performances have put him on the top spot ahead of Fabiano Caruana, Carlsen, and Duda.
Duda, who is holding the second spot has got 11 points so far while Carlsen and Caruana have accumulated 10 and nine points apiece. On July 4, he drew two of his three games against Anish Giri and Ivan Saric before concluding the rapid segment with a victory against Filipino and American chess Grandmaster Wesley So. In the weekend, Gukesh will face the challenge of 18 blitz games in two days. In the blitz section, a victory will deliver one point while in case of the rapid round, a triumph gives two points.
R Praggnanandhaa holds fifth spot
R Praggnanandhaa, who won the Tata Steel Masters 2025 title after beating D Gukesh, is holding the fifth position with nine points. Earlier, this year, Praggnanandhaa put up notable performances as he emerged victorious in Bucharest, Romania and ended in the third position in Warsaw, Poland.
Following this competition, two tournaments will be held in the United States while the final one will be played in Brazil from September to October, which will include the classic, rapid and blitz rounds.
