SuperUnited Chess: Gukesh slips to third place after poor outing in blitz Day 1

World Champion Gukesh Dommaraju had a poor start to the blitz section at the SuperUnited Rapid & Blitz in Zagreb on Saturday.

The Indian had a difficult day scoring just 1.5 out of 9 in blitz. He lost six of the first nine games on the day.

Gukesh had been in fine form in rapid chess, with a five-game winning streak catapulting him into the sole lead. He was four points ahead of Carlsen and three points ahead of Duda.

But things changed dramatically after GM R Praggnanandhaa halted Gukesh’s momentum from the rapid section.

Former World Champion Magnus Carlsen surged into the lead with a powerful performance, bringing his total score to 17.5 points after nine blitz rounds.

Carlsen had the best score of the day with 7.5 out of 9, winning five games. His performance helped him leapfrog from 4th to 1st place overall.

Poland’s GM Jan-Krzysztof Duda now holds sole second place with 16.0 points while Gukesh dropped down to third place with 15.5 points.

Praggnanandhaa’s performance in the blitz helped him climb the leaderboard slightly and is placed fifth with 13.5 points.

GM Wesley So had the second best day of blitz, scoring 6.5 out of 9 and narrowly missing a win over the leader.

With nine more blitz rounds remaining, the title race remains open.