Magnus wins GCT SuperUnited Croatia Rapid & Blitz title

A wildcard to the World No. 1 saw Magnus Carlsen (22.5) drive home steady, winning the combined title in the $175,000 GCT SuperUnited Rapid & Blitz Croatia at the Westin Hotel, Zagreb. A draw in the penultimate round against Pragg assured the Norwegian the title and the winner’s cheque of $ 40,000 with one round to spare. GMs Wesley So (20.0) and Gukesh Dommaraju (19.5) secured the second & third spots taking home $ 30,000 & $ 25,000 respectively.

The lead positions kept changing thanks to the very nature of blitz games that can turn a win into a loss in no time. The painful final round defeat of Fabiano Caruana in the hands of Wesley So is a good example. A clutch win grabbed at the appropriate moment, propelled Wesley So to the second spot ahead of World Champion Gukesh Dommaraju.

Limiting his losses to bare minimum Magnus Carlsen kept floating on the top, until Nodirbek Abdusattorov brought him down briefly. The credit goes largely the G.O.A.T’s ability to keep away unforced errors and find some compelling resource under dire circumstance. With 8 wins, 9 draws and a lone defeat Carlsen remained the man to beat. For, be it Classical, Rapid or Blitz Mount Magnus finds his way to bounce back and rise like a Phoenix in reaching the summit.

The SuperUnited Rapid & Blitz title is the 10th triumph for the Norwegian legend out of 12 GCT rapid & blitz events he’s played. It also happens to be his sixth straight Grand Chess Tour rapid & blitz win and add to that the whopping fact that the title in Zagreb happens to be his 6th tournament victory in a row in 2025. A lot of work remains to be done by the young sharks and the vastly experienced top GM’s have more ground to cover before getting Magnus unseated from the top. Hailing from the land of midnight sun, he can be called the “Northern Lights” of chess, for giving the game the lustre it deserves.

The final day’s play on a Sunday turned out to be a big hit with a large crowd turning up to watch the games and their favorite chess star’s in flesh and blood. And, the chess loving public got a grand show to witness, with most of the games going down to the wire. A good pay day for most of the Grandmasters as the Grand Chess Tour moves next to St.Louis, USA.

Courtesy: Grand Chess Tour / Saint Louis Chess Club

Final Placings (Combined): 1. Magnus Carlsen (Norway) 22.5, 2. Wesley So (USA) 20.0, 3. Gukesh Dommaraju (India) 19.5, 4-5 Alireza Firouzja (France), Jan-Krzysztof Duda (Poland) 19.0, 6. Nodirbek Abdusattorov (Uzbekistan) 18.0, 7-8 Fabiano Caruana (USA), Anish Giri (Netherlands) 17.0, 9. Praggnanandhaa Rameshbabu (India) 15.0, 10. Ivan Šarić (Croatia) 13.0 pts

Final Placings (Blitz): 1. Magnus Carlsen 12.5, 2-3 Wesley So, Nodirbek Abdusattorov 12.0, 4. Alireza Firouzja 11.0, 5. Anish Giri 9.0, 6-7 Jan-Krzysztof Duda, Fabiano Caruana 8.0, 8-9 Ivan Šarić, Praggnanandhaa Rameshbabu 6.0, 10. Gukesh Dommaraju 5.5 pts

Final Placings (Rapid): 1. Gukesh Dommaraju 14.0, 2. Jan-Krzysztof Duda 11.0, 3. Magnus Carlsen 10.0, 4-5 Fabiano Caruana, Praggnanandhaa Rameshbabu 9.0, 6-8 Alireza Firouzja, Wesley So, Anish Giri 8.0, 9. Ivan Šarić 7.0, 10. Nodirbek Abdusattorov 6.0 pts

Alireza Firouzja (2814) – Carlsen Magnus (2883) 1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. Bc4 Nf6 4. d3 Be7 5. O-O O-O 6. Nc3 d6 7. a4 a5 8. Re1 Be6 9. Nd5 h6 10. c3 Re8 11. Qb3 Rb8 12. h3 Bf8 13. Be3 Bxd5 14. exd5 Ne7 15. Ba7 Ra8 16. Qxb7 Qc8 17. Qxc8 Rexc8 18. Be3 Nexd5 19. Bd2 Nb6 20. Bb3 c5 21. d4 cxd4 22. cxd4 e4 23. Nh4 Nc4 24. Bc3 g6 25. g3 Nd5 26. Rac1 Rab8 27. Ba2 Nxc3 28. Rxc3 d5 29. Re2 Bg7 30. Bxc4 Rxc4 31. Rxc4 dxc4 32. Rd2 Rb3 33. Ng2 Rd3 34. Rc2 Bxd4 35. Kf1 f5 36. Rxc4 Rd2 37. Nf4? Bxf2 38. g4? (two successive mistakes and Alireza goes down quickly)

38…Bg3 39. Ne2 Bd6 40. gxf5 gxf5 41. Nd4 e3 42. Ne2 f4 43. Rc3 f3 44. Rxe3 fxe2+ 45. Rxe2 Rxe2 0-1

Caruana Fabiano (2782) – So Wesley (2786) 1. Nf3 d5 2. c4 e6 3. g3 Nf6 4. Bg2 Be7 5. O-O O-O 6. d3 c5 7. Ne5 Qc7 8. f4 Rd8 9. Nc3 a6 10. Qe1 b5 11. cxb5 axb5 12. Nxb5 Qb6 13. Nc3 Nbd7 14. e4 Bb7 15. Nxd7 Rxd7 16. e5 Ng4 17. Kh1 Nh6 18. Qf2 Qa6 19. Rd1 d4 20. Ne4 c4 21. dxc4 Qxc4 22. b3 Qa6 23. Qf1 Qb6 24. Nd2 Nf5 25. Nc4 Qa6 26. Bxb7 Rxb7 27. Qf3 g6 28. Bd2 h5 29. Kg2 Kg7 30. Be1 Rc8 31. Bf2 Rxc4 32. bxc4 Rb2 33. Kh1 Qxc4 34. a4 Rb3 35. Qe4 Rb2 36. Bg1 Re2 37. Qf3 Ne3 38. Rdc1 Qa6 39. a5 Nc2 40. Ra4 d3 41. Re4 Qc6 42. Re3 Qb5 43. Rxd3 Ne1 44. Qxe2 Nxd3 45. Ra1 h4 46. a6 h3 47. Qf3 Qb2 48. a7? (A blunder. 48. Rf1 wins for white)

48…Qxa1 49. Qe3 0-1

Picture Courtesy: Grand Chess Tour / Saint Louis Chess Club

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