NEW DELHI: Defending world champion D. Gukesh surprised World No. 1 Magnus Carlsen within the sixth spherical of the Grand Chess Tour SuperUnited Speedy 2025 in Zagreb, Croatia, on Thursday, seizing sole lead within the match with 10 factors.Gukesh, who had shared the lead after Day 1, continued his dominant run by defeating Uzbekistan’s Nodirbek Abdusattorov and American grandmaster Fabiano Caruana within the fourth and fifth rounds, setting the stage for a high-stakes conflict with Carlsen.Forward of their much-anticipated encounter, Carlsen had downplayed the problem, remarking that he would deal with the sport “as if I’m enjoying one of many presumably weaker gamers.”However Gukesh proved in any other case, outplaying the Norwegian within the speedy format and making a robust assertion of intent. This was the primary of three scheduled conferences between the 2 chess heavyweights within the match — the remaining video games will likely be performed within the blitz format.
“It is good that I may win two video games in a row from shedding positions — and in opposition to Magnus,” Gukesh mentioned after the win.With 5 wins in a row, Gukesh takes a two-point lead into tomorrow’s closing day of speedy chess!“A vital day! Now we will query Magnus’ domination. It’s not simply the second loss — it’s a really convincing loss!” Garry Kasparov mentioned after Gukesh beat Carlsen.