Gukesh defeats Carlsen, leads the Grand Chess Tour
The SuperUnited Rapid & Blitz Croatia 2025 aka Grand Chess Tour Zagreb 2025, part of the Grand Chess Tour, is scheduled for June 30 to July 7, 2025, in Zagreb, Croatia, at The Westin Zagreb Hotel. This is the third leg of the 2025 Grand Chess Tour, marking its 10th anniversary, and features a 10-player round-robin tournament with a $175,000 prize fund. The Grand Chess Tour in Zagreb is among the Top tournaments in The Chess Calendar.
More: Grand Chess Tour Croatia 2025 LIVE rapid / Grand Chess Tour 2025 Rapid Zagreb information / Grand Chess Tour 2025 – Zagreb Blitz information / Pairings
The star of the day in the Grand Chess Tour was Gukesh, who started the day tied for first with Carlsen, Wesley So, and Jan-Krzysztof Duda, won all his games in day 2: against Nodirbek Abdusattorov, Fabiano Caruana, and Carlsen. This marked his fifth consecutive victory, giving him a two-point lead over second-placed Duda, who had 8 points. Carlsen, Wesley So, Ivan Saric, and Anish Giri followed with 6 points each.
The victory of Gukesh against Carlsen unleashed a storm of comments on social media, as previously Carlsen has stated that he does not expect much from the current World Champion in the fast paced Grand Chess Tour. Garry Kasparov went as far as saying, “Very important victory for Gukesh and a very important day. Now we can question Magnus’s domination. It is not just a second loss. It is a convincing loss.” Gukesh himself said, “Beating Magnus is always special”
Day 3 of the Grand Chess Tour Rapid is today, and you can follow it live here