The 2025 FIDE World Blitz Championship in Doha was designed to showcase the dominance of the modern elite. Instead, it became a vivid illustration of how fragile hierarchy can be in blitz chess, specially for Gukesh
Few results captured this better than the third-round upset in which 12-year-old FIDE Master Sergey Sklokin defeated reigning World Champion D Gukesh a result that was less about shock value and more about the realities of speed chess in the current era.
Blitz chess, played at a frenetic three minutes plus a two-second increment, strips the game down to instinct, pattern recognition, and emotional control. For Gukesh, still only 19 but already burdened with the expectations of being the youngest undisputed World Champion in history, this format has remained his most volatile. For Sklokin, part of a new “engine-native” generation, it is almost second nature.
The encounter occurred early in the Swiss, precisely the phase where elite players are often paired against juniors whose ratings do not reflect their true strength. On paper, it was a mismatch. In reality, it was a collision of two developmental eras.
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Gukesh, playing Black, navigated the middlegame confidently and gradually outplayed Sklokin, reaching an endgame that engines briefly assessed as clearly better for him. But blitz chess is ruthless in how it converts advantage into liability. As the clock wound down, Gukesh found himself repeatedly checking the king rather than progressing the position — a familiar symptom of time-pressure indecision.
The critical moment came on move 70. With both players under severe time stress Sklokin on 13 seconds, Gukesh on eight. White offered a rook exchange that would have led to a safe draw. For most players, especially against a dangerous junior, pragmatism would have prevailed. Gukesh declined, playing 70…Rf4, a move widely criticised as over-ambitious. Within ten moves, his position collapsed. He lost material, then the game.
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It was not a failure of calculation but of judgment the refusal to accept a draw against a lower-rated opponent. Commentators noted that this “must-win mentality,” admirable in classical chess, often backfires in blitz. The loss echoed a pattern seen throughout Gukesh’s 2025 season, where his classical excellence has not fully translated to faster formats.
For Sklokin, the win was anything but accidental. The 12-year-old has been training within the FIDE Chessable Academy system, mentored by figures such as Judit Polgar and Artur Yusupov. His blitz rating of 2400 significantly understates his actual strength; online metrics place him comfortably above 3000. In Doha, he had already gained massive rating points in the rapid section, signalling a player far ahead of the curve.
This result also fits into a broader tournament pattern. Doha’s opening day was defined by junior upsets, with multiple teenagers defeating established super-grandmasters. The gap in speed-based competence is narrowing rapidly, driven by early engine exposure, globalised training camps, and thousands of high-level online games played before adolescence.
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For Gukesh, the defeat did not derail his tournament but added to the narrative of a champion still adapting to life at the top. His classical crown remains unquestioned, yet blitz continues to expose technical and psychological vulnerabilities particularly time management and draw acceptance. These are solvable problems, but only with experience. For the chess world, the message was unmistakable. Titles no longer intimidate the youngest generation. In blitz chess, reputation carries no increment, and age offers no protection.
On a board where every second matters, the future is already seated across the table calm, fearless, and perfectly prepared to punish a single lapse in objectivity.
