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The concluding confrontation of the showdown between teenage world champion Gukesh and the current world number one, Magnus Carlsen, culminated in a swift 14-move draw at the SuperUnited Rapid and Blitz Croatia. This encounter lasted a mere minute and five seconds. Even Carlsen was reportedly taken aback by the rapid conclusion of the match (The Norwegian was allegedly overheard expressing this to Anish Giri’s second, WGM Anastasiya Karlovich). The quick draw caught fans off guard, as they had anticipated a more intense struggle, especially given the nature of their previous two encounters in Zagreb.
In their initial clash at the Zagreb tournament, which was held in the rapid format, Gukesh exceeded expectations by defeating the five-time world champion. Furthermore, the youngest classical world champion in history ascended to the top of the leaderboard at the conclusion of the three-day rapid section. Gukesh’s performance in rapid chess was nothing short of remarkable, with former world champion Garry Kasparov lauding him, stating, “playing Gukesh was akin to playing against a computer, as you needed to outplay him five times in each game.”
However, since the blitz segment of the tournament commenced on Saturday, Gukesh has faced a series of setbacks. He was defeated by Carlsen in their first blitz encounter on Saturday. On Sunday, the two players engaged in a rapid draw during round 13 of the blitz section. This match lasted only one minute and four seconds. When both competitors consented to a draw, Gukesh had 5:10 minutes remaining on his clock—more time than he had at the start of the game—while Carlsen had 4:45.
(Newsroom staff only edited this story for style from a syndicated feed)
