Blitz chess is often called the most ruthless format of the sport. With shorter time controls, near-zero margin for error, and speed prioritised over precision, it stands as one of the trickier variants of chess. Naturally, it also exposes one’s vulnerabilities that the longer time controls often conceal.
Amid all the cacophony around teenage Classical World Champion Dommaraju Gukesh’s prowess in faster formats, the Chennai prodigy suffered a dramatic freefall on the first day of the Blitz event at the SuperUnited Rapid and Blitz Chess Tournament in Zagreb on Saturday.
After a tremendous Rapid event — where doubts about his skill in faster formats still lingered — Gukesh’s performance in Blitz only amplified those questions as he failed to shake off the burden. Whether it was the pressure to prove himself or simply his still-evolving game needing time to adapt to this format’s demands remains unclear.
Gukesh, who had dominated the Rapid section with a commanding three-point lead over second-placed Poland’s Jan-Krzysztof Duda — one of his seconds in the World Championship final against Ding Liren — managed just 1.5 points from nine rounds in the Blitz event. It was a horrendous day for the World Champion as he lost seven of his nine games, slipping to third place with 15.5 points, with nine more gruelling rounds of Blitz action waiting for him on Sunday.
One glaring absence in Gukesh’s play was his trademark shark-like focus. Against Wesley So and Nodirbek Abdusattorov, he was in complete control, only to collapse with one-move blunders in the endgame, setting a disastrous tone for the day. The bleeding continued as he dropped points in the next three rounds, losing to Jan-Krzysztof Duda, Magnus Carlsen, and Ivan Saric.
He salvaged a lone draw against Anish Giri before securing a morale-boosting win over Fabiano Caruana in the penultimate round.
The legendary Garry Kasparov asserted that Gukesh isn’t yet ready for Blitz. “It’s very fast, and Gukesh probably isn’t prepared to show his skills. In Blitz, every gram of energy wasted elsewhere has a very negative effect,” he remarked after the Indian’s loss to Carlsen.
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“The games he lost today, some were just terrible. Losing to Magnus is understandable, but anyone can lose. Even then, we didn’t see his usual tenacity,” Kasparov added.
Carlsen’s long-standing observation about Indian players — including Gukesh — being exceptional calculators but comparatively weaker in intuitive play also held partial truth. Gukesh’s decision-making under severe time pressure was far from his best, leaving much to be desired.
Carlsen – who had suffered his second loss to Gukesh during the Rapid round after his Norway Chess Classical debacle – faced no real resistance from the Indian in their Blitz encounter.
Playing a Ruy Lopez Berlin Defense, Gukesh’s passive bishop became his fatal weakness as Carlsen ground him down in 47 moves.
INTERACTIVE: D. Gukesh vs Magnus Carlsen Blitz Game
The Norwegian downplayed his victory, calling their game “rubbish.”
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“The game itself was kind of rubbish. I was really just playing old man’s chess, trying to play without tactics whatsoever. It worked out well; can’t complain,” Carlsen told Take Take Take.
However, he rated his wins over Alireza Firouzja and Fabiano Caruana much more highly.
READ MORE | Magnus Carlsen reacts to Gukesh defeat: ‘Poor from me, got soundly punished… but all credit to Gukesh’
“The win against Alireza was really, really big. You know, he’s very, very good at blitz, so I thought that was going to be a very hard game,” Carlsen said about his match against the Frenchman.
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Magnus Carlsen takes on Gukesh in a game at the SuperUnited Rapid and Blitz chess tournament in Zagreb. (PHOTO: Grand Chess Tour via Lennart Ootes)
“It was a tough game against Fabi (Fabiano Caruana) but I think I was on the front foot for most of it and with the results going the way they have, it’s looking pretty nice,” he added.
Following Gukesh’s loss to the Norwegian, Kasparov expressed concerns about the Indian’s performance. “Something is wrong with Gukesh. Yesterday was not a great day. His games were very feeble. Yes he beat So (Wesley) but his game against Giri was a sign of trouble for me,” Kasparov observed.
“Magnus is a favourite already. He definitely has recovered after the disaster of Rapid,” he added.
Expanding on Gukesh’s struggles, Kasparov said: “I feel pity (at Gukesh’s results), because Gukesh played such a great rapid portion. I think the win over Magnus had a huge effect on Gukesh, psychologically it’s such a big win. It was a great game.”
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Carlsen remarked that Gukesh’s disastrous day had reached its lowest point, suggesting the Indian could now approach the next rounds with less pressure.
“The score is shocking… The good thing for him is it couldn’t really have gone any worse… Hopefully for his sake he can calm down and play with a different attitude tomorrow, because now he doesn’t really have anything to lose,” said the former World Champion.
Not all is lost for Gukesh as he still has a day left to stage a comeback and potentially retain his spot. R. Praggnanandhaa, the other Indian in the fray, had a mixed day where he scored 4.5 to slip to fourth in the overall standings with 13.5 points. He, however, ended his day on a high with win over compatriot Gukesh in the ninth (and final) round.
