Despite flashes of promise, Gukesh endures another middling campaign

The first event of the Grand Chess Tour 2026, Super Rapid & Blitz Poland, saw Gukesh end his campaign in sixth place with 17 combined points from nine rounds of rapid and 18 gruelling blitz rounds.

While shorter time controls have never been his strong suit, the performance in Warsaw certainly signals Gukesh’s desire to shed that tag and evolve into a more well-rounded player.

Gukesh takes on Hans Niemann at the Super Rapid & Blitz. (Credit: Lennart Ootes/GCT)

After a creditable tied-fourth finish following the rapid portion, where he secured nine points from three wins, three losses and as many draws, things expectedly became harder for Gukesh to navigate in the shortest format. He won six games, drew four and lost eight in 18 blitz rounds to accumulate eight points, finishing sixth among 10 players.

Gukesh’s second day of the blitz event was as identical as it could be to his first. Just as the opening nine blitz rounds saw him win three, draw two and lose four, the final nine blitz games produced the exact same results.

He also completed doubles over eventual champion Hans Niemann, Wesley So and Jan-Krzysztof Duda, having beaten the same players on Friday.

As far as his battle against his challenger to the throne, Javokhir Sindarov, is concerned, Gukesh handed the edge to the Uzbek after losing to him again in the reverse blitz match-up. Having beaten him in the rapid section, which prompted an uncharacteristic fist-pumping celebration from Gukesh, he then lost both blitz games to his rival.

It was a slow death for Gukesh’s ideas against Sindarov in the Ruy Lopez game, where the Indian was wielding the white pieces.

Cramped for space in the middlegame and facing a severe time crunch, Gukesh allowed an exchange of queens before making an array of questionable moves under mounting time pressure. This resulted in him losing a pawn first, then another, before eventually resigning from a hopeless position.

While points-wise, Gukesh and Sindarov are tied at two wins each at this event, given that a rapid win gives double the points of a blitz win, but on face value, Sindarov has gained the upper hand over the Indian.

Sindarov has made one thing clear: he is not here to make a new friend, and he certainly does not want to think too far ahead, especially with his upcoming world championship game in mind.

When pressed hard by the organisers to speak about his feelings on playing Gukesh at the event, Sindarov said, “I don’t want to think a lot that I am playing against a World Champion. I’m just trying to focus on every game and to play against world’s best players and I will try to play good chess and don’t think about everything because you can go crazy if you think of this a lot of stuff.”

When asked if he considers Gukesh a friend, Sindarov replied, “I have a lot of friends. I’m a very friendly guy, but I have never spoken with Gukesh. I have friends from India… Arjun (Erigaisi), Nihal (Sarin)… I mean, I’m very good friends with them, but I have never spoken with Gukesh. We only have talked about the game, not too much,” he said to the official broadcasters.

Niemann finished with 22.5 points, half a point ahead of Caruana, to win his maiden Grand Chess Tour event. (Credit: Lennart Ootes/GCT)

Chess spoke for itself & Niemann

For Niemann, his chess finally “spoke for itself.” The flamboyant American marginally defeated compatriot Fabiano Caruana and Wesley So to clinch the title.

Caruana chased him ferociously, remaining unbeaten in the last eight rounds and winning six of those to gain seven points in that period. He constantly kept Niemann on his toes, bringing out the best in his competitor.

Niemann delivered under pressure, winning his final two rounds against local players Duda and Radoslaw Wojtaszek to seal the title by the barest of margins. He finished with 22.5 points, half a point ahead of Caruana, to win his maiden Grand Chess Tour event.

Grand Chess Tour: Super Rapid & Blitz Poland 2026 Leaderboard