GM Fabiano Caruana received the 2024 SuperUnited Speedy & Blitz Croatia with 5 rounds to spare. Scoring a complete of 27 factors throughout the 5 days, he matched GM Magnus Carlsen‘s document from 2019 of most factors earned in a Grand Chess Tour fast and blitz occasion.
GMs Wesley So, Maxime Vachier-Lagrave, and Alireza Firouzja fought fiercely for the second spot within the remaining rounds however ended up scoring 23 factors every for a big tie.
The GCT will conclude again house in St. Louis with the Saint Louis Speedy & Blitz on August 10-17 and the Sinquefield Cup on August 17-31.
SuperUnited Croatia Speedy & Blitz Remaining Standings
To say Caruana was a “clear favourite,” going into the ultimate day 4.5 factors forward of the sphere, is an understatement. On the award ceremony, he mentioned: “The final day was principally about chasing Magnus’ document, which I virtually managed, however I spotted sooner or later it is simply so troublesome. I imply, to gather factors when everybody needs to beat you is de facto robust.”
The day began with a comical second as GM Anish Giri arrived late, simply after the ceremonial first strikes had been made. He got here proper in time to seem like he was the final visitor, on his personal board in opposition to GM Vidit Gujrathi:
That recreation, between mates, ended virtually immediately in a draw, by the best way. However let’s bounce into the remainder of the motion.
Caruana Scores 3.5 Factors In 4 Rounds, Wins Outright
The match continued to play out like a dream for the match chief. He clinched it by successful his first three video games and drawing the fourth. Whereas he performed out the remainder of the rounds, he’d already received the $40,000 prize and 13 GCT factors.
GM Ian Nepomniachtchi (who celebrated his thirty fourth birthday) suffered his fourth loss in a row (carried over from the day gone by) in Sunday’s first spherical, in opposition to Caruana. Within the opening, Nepomniachtchi sacrificed his knight on g5 with the basic “fishing pole entice” theme, however when he blitzed out 22.e6??, Caruana realized this time the knight actually was hanging.
After nice opening preparation, Nepo throws away the sport with 22.e6??. All of a sudden, the knight on g5 really could be taken!
“Ian blew it in an area of two seconds,” says Jovanka Houska.https://t.co/kDoJPMoCVG#GrandChessTour pic.twitter.com/9tql3R8JB8
— chess24 (@chess24com) July 14, 2024
As soon as once more with the black items (as he had began the match with White twice), Caruana received a full piece within the middlegame once more, this time in opposition to GM Gukesh Dommaraju by Placing Strain on the Pinned Piece (PP on the PP).
Caruana’s going to win a bit vs. Gukesh! It is White’s flip, however there’s nothing he can do to keep away from 18…Qf6, piling up on the interior pin.https://t.co/WcuqjBvOBN#GrandChessTour pic.twitter.com/IJ5AhooJH6
— chess24 (@chess24com) July 14, 2024
Caruana was in hassle in opposition to Vidit, who achieved a successful place with the 2 knights in opposition to two bishops. However when the Indian GM struggled to search out the appropriate solution to push the handed pawn, the place swung round and Caruana received the endgame with an incredible bishop and energetic king:
With a attract Sunday’s fourth spherical in opposition to Saric, Caruana formally received the match. As usually occurs, after he’d already clinched the title, he misplaced three video games within the second half of the day—and scoring only a half-point extra would have damaged Carlsen’s document.
Nonetheless, his ultimate victory in opposition to GM Levon Aronian allowed him to match the document with 27 factors. It was a crushing win within the Benoni Protection, which Caruana transformed with nice velocity and accuracy. GM Rafael Leitao goes over the complete recreation under.
Heated Battle For 2nd Ends In Massive Tie
In a way, the combat for second place was the best intrigue on the ultimate day, as a handful of gamers have been within the operating to earn the $30,000 prize. By the point Caruana received the match, Firouzja and Vachier-Lagrave have been on 19 factors and So was on 18.5, and these three have been the principle contenders for the remainder of the match.
Vachier-Lagrave’s victory in opposition to Aronian in Sunday’s fifth recreation was a detailed contender for Recreation of the Day. GM Garry Kasparov referred to as the French number-two a “fish in water” when allowed to assault, and the black king was “straightforward prey for the white items” after 19.Rxe6!!, a transfer that the previous world champion noticed immediately himself.
Firouzja was the primary participant to defeat Caruana, within the fifth spherical, however he wanted a little bit of luck within the ultimate spherical to win on demand in opposition to GM Ivan Saric. The Croatian GM missed a fundamental tactic when he performed 14.e5?. Are you able to observe in Firouzja’s footsteps from Black’s facet?
In the meantime, within the sixth spherical So performed the swindle of the day in opposition to Vidit, successful a place that most individuals would take into account to be someplace between “lifeless misplaced” and “resignable” for Black.
Nepomniachtchi and Aronian funnily each performed a Sicilian Wing Gambit in the identical spherical (respectively, in opposition to Saric and in opposition to Giri), however their scores from the earlier days left them too far behind. Nepomniachtchi additionally had the final chuckle in his saga with So from the day gone by:
Nepomniachtchi, who complained that So knocked over the items on the day gone by, knocked over the items as we speak earlier than their recreation led to a draw.
Within the video feed, each gamers could be seen smiling through the “sandbox stuff, a infantile second” (Yasser).#GrandChessTour pic.twitter.com/1ZgrIJ7dRP
— chess24 (@chess24com) July 14, 2024
Gukesh, Giri, Vidit, and Saric rounded out the sphere on the backside. It was a painful exhibiting for the Indian challenger within the 2024 FIDE World Championship, but it surely’s not practically the top of the world. The match, 4 months away, shall be performed with a classical time management and never fast and blitz (excluding tiebreaks).
Caruana leads the Grand Chess Tour forward of the 2 ultimate occasions.
Kasparov Shares Views About Gamers, World Championship Match, GCT Finals Subsequent Yr
Grand Chess Tour Founder Kasparov joined the printed to share his ideas on a number of matters.
About Caruana’s unbelievable achievement, he mentioned: “He was positively the dominant pressure in Bucharest and, additionally, to the shock of many… now his dominance is absolute.” About Firouzja, he noticed nice potential however, “his huge weak spot is difficult endgames… it stays one in every of his Achilles heels.”
Kasparov admitted that fast and blitz might turn out to be related within the upcoming world championship if it reaches tiebreaks, however that it is firstly a classical occasion. On the similar time, he made an announcement that obtained extra backlash than settlement within the feedback on X:
Kasparov on the 2024 FIDE World Championship Match:
“The world championship match is the match between the 2 strongest gamers. Positively, that is not the case… it is an attention-grabbing match. I can hardly name it a world championship.”#GrandChessTour pic.twitter.com/dYdZUYac1t
— chess24 (@chess24com) July 14, 2024
He additionally revealed that in 2025 the GCT Finals will characteristic the highest 4 gamers, with the main points of format and qualification nonetheless being labored out. This yr, the GCT will conclude in St. Louis subsequent month.
Easy methods to overview?
The 2024 SuperUnited Croatia Speedy & Blitz is the third occasion of the 2024 Grand Chess Tour and ran July 10-14 within the Westin Resort in Zagreb, Croatia. The ten gamers first competed in a single fast round-robin with a time management of 25 minutes plus a 10-second increment per transfer that was adopted by a blitz double round-robin with a 5+2 time management.
Earlier protection:
