Four share lead @ GCT SuperUnited Croatia Rapid
GMs Carlsen, So, Gukesh and Duda led the pack with 4/6 score after completion of three rounds on day 1 of the Grand Chess Tour SuperUnited Croatia Rapid, Zagreb. World No. 1 Carlsen who has won 9 of the 11 GCT Rapid & Blitz events he’s played so far shared the lead after two draws and a win with GM Wesley So. Going into the second day, sharing the lead along with Carlsen were GMs Wesley So, Gukesh Dommaraju and Jan-Krzysztof Duda at 4.0 points. Following the leaders were GMs Anish Giri and Ivan Saric at 3.0 points. With six more rapid rounds remaining it could still become anybody’s event.
World Champion Gukesh Dommaraju began the day with a loss against Polish GM Jan-Krzysztof Duda, but bounced back to score wins against GMs Firouzja & Praggnanandhaa moving into shared lead at the end of the day. Favorite Magnus had a sober start splitting points with another wildcard GM Ivan Saric before showing superior technique to down GM Wesley So. In the final game of the day, the Norwegian managed to stave off defeat snatching a precious draw from Jan-Krzysztof Duda. The position where Duda decided to take a draw was actually winning for the Polish GM.
In Zagreb, it’s two points for a win and one for a draw in rapid chess. The 10 player Grand Chess Tour’s SuperUnited Croatia Rapid & Blitz tournament runs from 2nd to 6th July, 2025 at the Westin Hotel, Zagreb, Croatia. Rapid goes under the time control of 25 minutes with 10 seconds increment, while blitz runs with 5 minutes with 2 seconds increment. Day two starts Thursday, 3rd July by 9 AM ET / 3 PM CET / 6:30 PM IST.
Day 1 Placings (Rapid): 1-4 Magnus Carlsen, Jan-Krzysztof Duda, Wesley So, Gukesh Dommaraju 4.0, 5-6 Ivan Saric, Anish Giri 3.0, 7-10 Fabiano Caruana, Nodirbek Abdusattorov, Alireza Firouzja, Praggnanandhaa Rameshbabu 2.0 pts
Jan-Krzysztof Duda (2699) – Carlsen Magnus (2819) 1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. Nc3 Nf6 4. Bb5 Bd6 5. a3 a6 6. Bc4 Bc5 7. d3 d6 8. Be3 Bxe3 9. fxe3 Be6 10. Bxe6 fxe6 11. O-O O-O 12. h3 Nb8 13. Ne2 Nbd7 14. Ng3 h6 15. Rf2 b5 16. Qe2 c5 17. Raf1 Qe7 18. Nh2 a5 19. Ng4 Nxg4 20. Qxg4 Rxf2 21. Rxf2 a4 22. Nh5 Kh7 23. Qf3 Rf8 24. Qe2 Rxf2 25. Qxf2 c4 26. Ng3 Nc5 27. d4 Nd7 28. Ne2 Nf6 29. Nc3 Qb7 30. d5 exd5 31. Qf5+ Kh8 32. Nxd5 Nxd5 33. exd5 Qxd5 34. c3 Qd3 35. Qf3 Kg8 36. Kh2 d5 37. Qg4 Kh7 38. Qd7 d4 39. exd4 exd4 40. Qxb5 dxc3 41. bxc3 Qxc3 42. Qxa4 Qe5+ 43. Kh1 Qc5 44. Qc2+ Kg8 45. Qc3 Qb5 46. Kg1 Qb3 47. Qe5 Qd3 48. Kf2 c3 49. Qe8+ Kh7 50. Qe2 Qd4+ 51. Kf3 h5 52. Qc2+ Kh6 53. a4 Kg5 54. Ke2 Kh4 55. Qd3 Qb4 56. Kf3 Qb7+ 57. Kf2 Qb2+ 58. Kf3 Qb7+ 59. Kf2 Qb6+ 60. Qe3 Qb2+ 61. Kf3? Qb7+ 62. Kf2 Qb2+ 63. Kf3? (63. Kg1 Qd2 64. Qe5 c2 65. Kh2 Qf2 66. Qe7+ Qf6 67. Qe3 winning)
63…Qb7+ 64. Kf2 1/2-1/2
So Wesley (2709) – Giri Anish (2687) 1. d4 Nf6 2. c4 e6 3. Nc3 Bb4 4. e3 O-O 5. Bd3 d5 6. a3 dxc4 7. Bxc4 Bd6 8. Nf3 Nc6 9. O-O e5 10. d5 Ne7 11. e4 h6 12. h3 a6 13. Be3 Bd7 14. Rc1 b5 15. Bb3 Ng6 16. Re1 Qe7 17. Nd2 Rab8 18. Ne2 Nh5 19. Ng3 Nhf4 20. Nf3 Qf6 21. Bc2 b4 22. a4 b3 23. Bxb3 Rb7 24. Nf5 Bxf5 25. exf5 Qxf5 26. Bc2 Qh5 27. Bxf4 Nxf4 28. b3 f5 29. Nxe5 Qg5 30. g3 Nxh3+ 31. Kg2 Nxf2 32. Kxf2 f4 33. Qg4 Bxe5? (33…fxg3+ needed to stay in the game)
34. Qe6+ Kh8 35. Qxe5 Qxg3+ 36. Ke2 f3+ 37. Kd3 Qg4 38. Re4 Qg2 39. Rh4 Rb6 40. Qe4 Qg5 41. Rf1 Rbf6 42. Kc3 Rf5 43. Kb2 Qf6+ 44. Ka2 Qc3 45. Rf4 Qxc2+ 46. Qxc2 Rxf4 47. Qxc7 f2 48. d6 1-0
Praggnanandhaa Rameshbabu (2688) – Gukesh Dommaraju (2654) 1. Nf3 d5 2. g3 Bg4 3. Bg2 c6 4. h3 Bh5 5. d4 e6 6. O-O Nf6 7. c4 Be7 8. Nc3 O-O 9. Ne5 Nbd7 10. g4 Bg6 11. Nxg6 hxg6 12. Qd3 Bd6 13. Rd1 Re8 14. Bg5 Qc7 15. Bd2 Rad8 16. c5 Bh2+ 17. Kh1 e5 18. e3 Nf8 19. Ne2 Ne6 20. Bc3 exd4 21. Bxd4 Be5 22. b4 a5 23. a3 Ra8 24. Kg1 Nd7 25. Qc3 Nxd4 26. Nxd4 Bf6 27. Rab1 Ne5 28. b5 Nc4 29. a4 Rac8 30. Qd3 Qe7 31. bxc6 bxc6 32. Rdc1 Qxc5 33. Nxc6? (33. Nf3 holds it for white)
33… Qxc6 34. Bxd5 Ne5 35. Qd1 Qd7 36. Rxc8 Rxc8 37. f4 Nc6 38. g5 Bd4 0-1
Picture Courtesy: Tata Steel Chess 2025
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