World Champion Gukesh wins rapid title at 2025 Grand Chess Tour in Zagreb

World Champion Dommaraju Gukesh won the rapid title at the SuperUnited Rapid & Blitz tournament in Zagreb, Croatia on Friday. The three-day event was part of the 2025 Grand Chess Tour. Gukesh won the title after beating American Grandmaster Wesley So in the final round and finishing with 14 out of 18 points.

After a brilliant second day where Gukesh won five games in a row, he continued his good form on the third and final day of rapid. He started the day with two draws before ending with a solid win over Wesley So. The draws came against Anish Giri of the Netherlands and then against Ivan Saric of Croatia.

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Jan-Krzysztof Duda, who beat Gukesh in the opening round, finished second 11 points. Meanwhile, World No. 1 Magnus Carlsen of Norway finished third with 10 points. He started the day with a win against American GM Fabiano Caruana but a draw in the next game against Nodirbek Abdusattorov meant he could not make a comeback in the tournament.

Another Indian player, Rameshbabu Praggnanandhaa, also played well. He beat Ivan Saric in round 7 and drew with Wesley So and Duda in the last two rounds. He finished the rapid section with 9 points at level with Fabiano Caruana. Alireza Firouzja, Wesley So, and Anish Giri took 6th to 8th spots with 8 points each.

Meanwhile, the blitz section of the SuperUnited Rapid & Blitz tournament in Zagreb is scheduled to begin on 5 July. The overall winner will be decided after combining points from the two sections.

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Final standings (rapid)

1. D Gukesh – 14 points

2. Jan-Krzysztof Duda – 11 points

3. Magnus Carlsen – 10 points

4-5. Fabiano Caruana, R Praggnanandhaa – 9 points each

6-8. Alireza Firouzja, Wesley So, Anish Giri – 8 points each

9. Ivan Saric – 7 points

10. Nodirbek Abdusattorov – 6 points