D Gukesh’s secret to his latest win over Magnus Carlsen revealed: 'Chess wise, it's a tricky period'

World chess champion D Gukesh’s famous win over world No.1 Magnus Carlsen in the Rapid section of the Grand Chess Tour event in Zagreb was a result of the 19-year-old Indian Grandmaster spending hours practicing faster time controls and making improvements to his overall game. By finishing third at the SuperUnited Rapid & Blitz Croatia 2025 and first in the Rapid section of the event, Gukesh showed that he is making rapid strides in the faster formats of chess.

Gukesh, who won the World Chess Championship at a record age of 18 last December against Ding Liren, is largely seen as someone who is only good at the Classical format. He has often found himself at sea in faster formats like Rapid and Blitz and Freestyle Chess, where a player doesn’t always have the required time for calculations and a lot of moves are made based on gut feeling.

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In that context, Gukesh’s recent performance at SuperUnited Rapid & Blitz Croatia was a welcome change as he defeated Carlsen in the Rapid section, his second consecutive win over arguably the greatest chess player of all time, after beating him at Norway Chess in Classical format.

Gukesh’s secret to his latest victory over Carlsen

Gukesh’s coach, Grzegorz Gajewski, who guided him to the world title, has revealed that the Chennai chess star is now dedicating significant time to practicing faster time controls and working on exercises to sharpen his play in Rapid and Blitz formats.

“We are doing some exercises strictly devoted to the faster time controls,” Gajewski told the New Indian Express. “Just some training games and exercises.”

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Gajewski added that besides getting Gukesh ready for faster time controls, he is also focussed on helping the Indian chess sensation deal with the growing pressure and expectations by reminding him that he is only 19.

“Chess wise, it’s a tricky period because as world champion, the expectation is that much higher,” Gajewski said. “In the process, many people forget that he’s only 19. Sometimes, he even forgets that he’s only 19. It’s about managing his own ambitions, he’s of course very hungry and just wanting to crush everybody on the board. But the reality is that the competition is very strong and many of his opponents are older, even the very young guys are older than him.”

The Polish GM, who has also worked with five-time world champion Viswanathan Anand, said the broader focus is not just on improving in one format, but on enhancing Gukesh’s overall chess skills — a process that will make him a more well-rounded and formidable player.

“For me, the most important thing is for Gukesh to develop as a player not in terms of Classical or Rapid or Blitz… there are many areas to improve and once he improves in those areas he will become stronger in all formats. You just focus on the improvements.”