D Gukesh defeated World No. 1 Magnus Carlsen, this time with the black pieces, for the second time in just over a month to take the sole lead in the Grand Chess Tour SuperUnited Rapid 2025 in Zagreb on Thursday.
The defending champion, 18, beat Carlsen in the sixth round of the tournament and now tops the standings with 10 points.
Gukesh, who had shared the lead after the opening day, earlier defeated Uzbekistan’s Nodirbek Abdusattorov and American Fabiano Caruana in the fourth and fifth rounds to set up the high-profile clash with the Norwegian.
Carlsen had played down the contest, saying ahead of the game he would approach it “as if I’m playing one of the presumably weaker players,” but was outplayed in the rapid format.
“It’s nice that I could win two games in a row from losing positions, and against Magnus,” Gukesh said after the win.
Gukesh, who has won five games in a row, takes a two-point advantage into the final day of the rapid section. The pair are scheduled to face each other twice more in the blitz format.
Last month, Gukesh beat Carlsen in the Norway Chess 2025 tournament, claiming his first-ever classical victory over the five-time world champion and becoming only the second Indian after R Praggnanandhaa to do so.
(With agency inputs)