 "D Gukesh won the Rapid title at SuperUnited Rapid & Blitz Croatia with 14 points, beating Magnus Carlsen along the way. Image credit: Grand Chess Tour")
Gukesh Dommaraju had silenced his critics in some style last month when he defeated Magnus Carlsen for the first time in his career in Norway Chess. And in the past week, not only did he beat the legendary Norwegian Grandmaster twice in as many meetings, he also shattered the image of being a one-format player by winning the Rapid title at the SuperUnited Rapid and Blitz Croatia.
The teenaged Grandmaster had been having a torrid run since winning the World Championship in December and finishing runner-up at the Tata Steel Chess right after, with many questioning whether he deserved to be counted among chess’ elite or not. The fact that he hardly made an impact in the two Freestyle events in the intervening months only served to add fuel to the fire that raged around him.
The stunning turnaround against the world No 1 in Stavanger last month was therefore much needed for the lad from Chennai to highlight the fact that his rise to the top wasn’t out of sheer luck. That, however, did not eliminate the question mark that continued to hover over his form in the faster Rapid and Blitz formats.
The 19-year-old’s rise in the sport isn’t anything less than meteoric and his run from April 2024 to February 2025 helped solidify his status as a superstar.
A perceived weakness in the faster formats
Gukesh, however, has had this perception of being a world-class player in one format – Classical a.k.a. Standard chess. And there isn’t better evidence for that perception than his triumph in the World Championship, where the consensus was that Gukesh had to find a way to prevent Chinese GM Ding Liren from taking the contest into the tie-breaks – where the Indian would be at a disadvantage in the Rapid and Blitz formats.
That proved to be the case at Tata Steel Chess in Wijk aan Zee in February – where Gukesh and compatriot R Praggnanandhaa finished level on points at the end of the Classical games and the latter triumphed in the blitz tie-breaks . Had Ding managed to play out a draw in the 14th and final Classical game in the World Championship, he would certainly have been considered a favourite heading into the tie-breaks.
Coming back to SuperUnited Croatia, Gukesh not only had a point to prove against Carlsen who had quite bluntly referred to him as one of the “weaker players” in an interview ahead of the opening round, he also had to shake off the image of a player who was heavily dependent on the luxury of getting enough time for his mental calculations for him to outsmart his opponents.
And he did that in some style. Grinding his way out of tough situations and snatching victory from the jaws of defeat has been the hallmark of two of his most memorable triumphs – against Ding and Carlsen in December and June respectively.
Adding another feather to his cap in Croatia
His second victory over Carlsen on Thursday, however, wasn’t anything like that. Gukesh, for once, went toe-to-toe with his hallowed opponent, pounced on an opening via a blunder in the 35th move and forced Carlsen to resign just 14 moves later.
Gukesh’s magic, however, wasn’t just limited to his sixth-round meeting with Carlsen on Day 2 of the event. After starting with a defeat against Jan-Krzysztof Duda, Gukesh clawed back with a victory over Alireza Firouzja and ‘Pragg’ to end the day in the joint-lead alongside the Norwegian and two others. A solid start was then followed by a clinical run as Gukesh moved into the sole lead with a hat-trick of wins, defeating Nodirbek Abdusattorov and Fabiano Caruana besides Carlsen.
Also Read | Kasparov on Gukesh’s latest victory over Carlsen: ‘Now we can question Magnus’ domination’
And on the final day of the Rapid leg of the tournament that’s part of the Grand Chess Tour, Gukesh sealed his title with draws against Anish Giri and Ivan Saric before signing off with a victory over Wesley So to finish with 14 points – three more than Duda, who finished second by a point ahead of Carlsen.
‘It does refute certain theories’
FIDE CEO Emil Sutovsky reminded the chess world that while Gukesh did not become the best Rapid player in the world with his exploits in Zagreb, he certainly dispelled “certain theories” about him and earned the right to be viewed as “one of the best”.
“No, an amazing performance in Zagreb does not mean that Gukesh became the world’s best rapid player overnight. But yes, it does refute certain theories. You can’t just score like that vs world’s best by chance - or by having good three days. Exactly as when Dubov or Nodirbek won the FIDE World Rapid, it did not mean they suddenly became the strongest. But from thereon it was clear, they are one of the best,” Sutovsky wrote in a post on X on Saturday.
At the time of writing this piece, Gukesh did flounder on the opening day of the Blitz, finding himself at the bottom of the table with seven defeats in nine games including against Carlsen , the reigning Blitz world champion who currently leads the standings with 7.5 points.
Then again, Rome wasn’t built in a day. Gukesh has just proven himself in a format that has a minimum time control of 10 minutes, and to expect him to have a similar impact in a three-minute game – knowing his nature and style of play – would be a bit unfair. Give him some time, and a performance like the one that won him the Rapid title in Croatia might not be too far off.
A Bombay Bong with an identity crisis. Passionately follow cricket. Hardcore fan of Team India, the Proteas and junk food. Self-proclaimed shutterbug.