Gukesh proves Carlsen wrong, finishes first in GCT Croatia Rapid event

India's World Champion D Gukesh has made a bold statement by finishing first in the Rapid section of the Grand Chess Tour Croatia in Zagreb on Friday. Gukesh will head into the Blitz category of the event with a healthy three-point lead.

The 19-year-old began the Rapid event with a defeat in round one against Jan-Krzysztof Duda, but was dominant thereafter, winning six games and drawing two. Gukesh crushed Wesley So in the ninth and final round to extend his tally to 14 points, while Duda finished on 11.

The 10 participants, including World No. 1 Magnus Carlsen, will play a double round-robin Blitz event over the next two days, and the one with the most combined points will be declared the champion.

Gukesh entered the Rapid event as one of the least favoured players. Although he is the reigning classical World Champion, Gukesh is ranked 42nd in the Rapid format, which was played under a shorter time control of 25 minutes per player (with a 10-second increment per move). Yet he punched above his weight, and more strikingly, proved his most prominent critic, Carlsen, wrong. The Norwegian superstar called Gukesh a 'weaker' player in the Rapid and Blitz formats.

Gukesh has stunned the chess world with his powerful display in a strong field in the Rapid format. However, he will have to do more of the same in the Blitz event, where yet again he is not a favourite. Only Croatian wildcard entrant Ivan Saric is ranked below Gukesh (93) in the Blitz format in FIDE rankings.

Should Gukesh manage to play just as brilliantly in Blitz as he did in Rapid, he could win the coveted GCT event, which incidentally will be his first title since becoming the World Champion in Singapore last December.