Chess | D Gukesh plays down Garry Kasparov's praise after beating Magnus Carlsen: 'One game at a time'

D Gukesh played down high praise from legendary Garry Kasparov during the SuperUnited Rapid and Blitz Croatia in Zagreb. It had come after the world chess champion made the World No. 1 Norwegian resign for a second game running.Following that win, Kasparov had questioned Carlsen's credentials and his era of dominance.“Now we can question Magnus’ domination,” Kasparov had said in the commentary. “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 game that was a big fight. And Magnus lost.”

Gukesh chose to play down Kasparov's comments but admitted it did feel nice to earn praise from the former world champion."That's very nice to hear but I prefer not to think in those terms. I still see myself as a player who is working hard to improve every day. Just taking one game at a time, one tournament at a time. But it is nice of Garry to say that," Gukesh concluded the interview.After three days of rapid chess, Gukesh leads the tournament, part of the 2025 Grand Chess Tour, scoring 14 points out of 18 before heading to the blitz portion.Gukesh topped the charts, followed by Jan-Krzysztof Duda with 11 points, and Carlsen in third with 10 points.