World champion Gukesh Dommaraju’s campaign at the ongoing FIDE World Blitz Championship 2025 in Doha suffered a sharp setback after the teenage Indian grandmaster lost a third-round game to 12-year-old FIDE Master Sergey Sklokin following a costly blunder under severe time pressure.
While blitz is not considered Gukesh’s strongest format, the result stood out given the significant gap in pedigree and rating. Gukesh entered the game with a blitz rating of 2628, 228 ELO points higher than Sklokin’s 2400. The Indian is also a super grandmaster in classical chess, with a rating above 2750, while Sklokin holds the FM title, two levels below grandmaster status.
Time trouble and a costly decision
The decisive moment came deep into the endgame. On move 70, with Gukesh playing black and having just eight seconds remaining on his clock compared to Sklokin’s 13, the Russian prodigy offered a rook exchange. At that stage, Gukesh was already a pawn down, and simplifying the position would likely have steered the game towards a drawable outcome.
Instead, staying true to his aggressive instincts, Gukesh declined the exchange and played 70…Rf4 in an attempt to keep winning chances alive. The decision backfired almost immediately. Within a few moves, Gukesh slipped further behind, losing a bishop and then his remaining pawn. Ten moves later, with no practical chances left, the world champion resigned.
Grandmaster Maurice Ashley, commentating on the official FIDE broadcast, described the decision as possibly the “blunder of the round”. Ashley noted that Gukesh’s well-known aversion to settling for draws may have worked against him on this occasion, especially given the match situation and material balance.
Context of a challenging rapid and blitz outing
The blitz defeat followed a mixed showing by Gukesh at the FIDE World Rapid Championship, where he finished 20th after winning six games and losing only two. He had been part of the leading group at the end of the opening day before slipping down the standings.
Ahead of the Doha event, Gukesh had played down expectations in the faster formats, stressing that classical chess remains his primary focus. The 19-year-old said he was using rapid and blitz events more as opportunities to experiment and gain experience, rather than chasing results at all costs.
Despite the loss to Sklokin, Gukesh remains one of the youngest world champions in chess history, and the Doha setback underlines both the unforgiving nature of blitz chess and the fine margins that separate even the elite at the highest level.
