New York: For the second straight time while facing world champion Gukesh, Magnus Carlsen was forced to throw in the towel and resign. After his loss in the classical format against the Indian teenager at Norway Chess a few weeks back, this time, the defeat for the Norwegian came in a rapid game at the SuperUnited Rapid and Blitz Croatia 2025 in Zagreb.
After the victory, Gukesh heads into the final day of the three-day rapid section as the sole leader with 10 points, while Carlsen is miles behind on six points. With three more games remaining, Gukesh is two points ahead of Jan-Krzysztof Duda, the closest challenger at the moment.
The resignation from Carlsen came in 49 moves on Thursday, but with more muted emotions than at Stavanger: just a simple handshake to signal resignation, no eye contact, a disappointed grimace before he walked off the stage.
There is a case to be made that this result is even more significant than the one at Norway Chess: after all, Carlsen was playing with white pieces and in a format that Gukesh supposedly struggles in, as compared to classical chess. Both Carlsen and Gukesh had suggested this before the tournament started.
“Now we can question Magnus’ domination,” former world champion Garry Kasparov, who was on commentary for the official stream, said. “This is not just his second loss to Gukesh, it’s a convincing loss. It’s not a miracle… or that Gukesh just kept benefitting from Magnus’ terrible mistakes. It was a big fight. And Magnus lost.”
