D Gukesh wins Zagreb SuperUnited Rapid Chess title
Indian chess player D Gukesh has won the rapid title in the SuperUnited Rapid and Blitz tournament 2025 being held in Zagreb, Croatia.
This tournament is part of the Grand Chess Tour 2025 and Gukesh won the title by earning 14 out of 18 points in the rapid format.
Gukesh won the rapid title by defeating American player Wesley So in 36 moves in the last round. Gukesh won 6 out of 9 matches in the tournament, 2 were draws and he faced defeat in one.
Lost the first match in the tournament
Gukesh was defeated by Poland’s Jan-Krzysztof Duda in 59 moves in the very first match of the tournament. After this Gukesh made a comeback. He defeated Alireza Firouzja of France and compatriot Praggnanandhaa.
Gukesh defeated Uzbekistan’s Nodirbek Abdusattorov in the fourth round of the tournament and America’s Fabiano Caruana in the fifth round.
In the sixth round, Gukesh faced Norway’s Magnus Carlsen, in which the Indian Grandmaster won. Gukesh has defeated Carlsen for the second time within a month. Gukesh had also defeated Carlsen in the Norway Chess Tournament on June 2.
Both matches were drawn on the third day
On the third day of the tournament (July 4), both Gukesh’s matches were drawn. He started this day with a draw against Dutch Grandmaster Anish Giri. After that, he played a long match of 87 moves against Croatia’s Ivan Saric. This match was also a draw.
Solitary win for Pragnanandhaa
Pragnanandhaa had a disappointing performance in this tournament. He registered only one win in 9 matches against Ivan Saric. At the same time, he played 7 matches as draws, while he faced defeat in one.
He earned a total of 9 points. Praggnanandhaa has been the winner of the Bucharest phase and third in Warsaw. This makes him still a strong contender in the overall ranking of the Grand Chess Tour.
