 "D Gukesh beats Magnus Carlsen again as he takes revenge for 'weaker players' jibe, moves into sole lead in Croatia")
Despite suffering a stunning defeat against D Gukesh at the Norway Chess last month, Magnus Carlsen sought to play down the threat from the Classical world champion at the SuperUnited Rapid and Blitz Croatia by describing the Indian Grandmaster as one of the "presumably weaker players".
On Thursday, his explosive comments in an interaction with Grand Chess Tour came back to bite him as he lost to the 19-year-old Indian for the second time in as many meetings on the second day of the event in Zagreb.
Only this time, the Norwegian chess icon did not grab headlines by throwing a fit after the defeat the way he did in Stavanger by slamming his fist on the table in anger after his sixth-round defeat against the Indian.
It turned out to be quite the memorable day in the Croatian capital for Gukesh, who was in the joint-lead at the end of the first day along with Carlsen, Jan-Krzysztof Duda and Wesley So. The Chennai lad, after all, defeated Fabiano Caruana with white pieces before triumphing over Carlsen while playing as black.
The consecutive victories on Thursday thus helped Gukesh move to the top of the standings in what is a tough 10-player field featuring some of the biggest names in the world of chess.
Gukesh D continued his sensational run in Zagreb, defeating Magnus Carlsen in Round 6 to score his fifth consecutive win and take sole lead with 10 points after the second day of rapid. Jan-Krzysztof Duda drew his game against Wesley So and now sits in second place with 8 points.… pic.twitter.com/lKf0Q5SKYb
— Grand Chess Tour (@GrandChessTour) July 3, 2025
Carlsen and Caruana had finished first and second, respectively, in the latest edition of Norway Chess, the former successfully defending his title and lifting the trophy for a record-extending seventh time.
Gukesh capitalises on Carlsen’s blunder, forces a resignation in 49 moves
Gukesh was on the charge from the word go after Carlsen opted for an English opening, advancing his dark-squared bishop in just his second move and capturing his opponent’s knight in the third, and getting his other bishop and both knights on the charge by move 10.
Carlsen, who had defeated Gukesh in both of their meetings in the Freestyle Chess Grand Slam Tour earlier this year as well as in the opening round of Norway Chess, began ceding ground with a questionable 30th move (Bxb5), which led to some quick exchanges. He was then pushed to the backfoot by a rook blunder in his 35th move (Rc5), which Gukesh quickly capitalised on.
In the end, Gukesh managed to corner Carlsen’s king with his queen as well as a rook and a bishop, forcing his opponent to resign in 49 moves and moving into the sole lead after six Rapid rounds across two days.
And unlike their sixth-round meeting in Norway, Carlsen was never in a dominant position at any stage of their game in Croatia. On the contrary, the game turned on its head in the blink of an eye after Carlsen’s blunder and Gukesh, who had sealed his World Championship triumph against Ding Liren in a similar manner, wasn’t one to let victory slip out of his grasp.
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