With two rounds to spare: Firouzja bags Saint Louis Rapid & Blitz

So grabs second, Naka reaches podium

Alireza Firouzja entered the final day of action at the Saint Louis Rapid & Blitz with a 1½-point lead over Wesley So and Ian Nepomniachtchi. A 5½/9 performance in Friday's blitz session was enough for the 21-year-old to claim overall victory. So remained in the second spot despite only collecting 4/9 points in the final day of action. Nepomniachtchi, on his part, had a tough last day, as he barely grabbed 2/9 points, with 6 consecutive losses in rounds 11-16.

The top scorer on Friday was Hikaru Nakamura, who climbed from sixth to third in the overall standings after scoring 6/9 points. The 5-time US champion entered the final round tied for fourth place with Levon Aronian, as both stood a half point behind Maxime Vachier-Lagrave. In the deciding games, Nakamura beat R Praggnanandhaa, Aronian drew with Nepomniachtchi, while MVL was defeated by Firouzja. A set of perfect results for Naka.

Master Class Vol.17 - Boris Spassky

In this video course, experts including Dorian Rogozenco, Mihail Marin, Karsten Müller and Oliver Reeh, examine the games of Boris Spassky. Let them show you which openings Spassky chose to play, where his strength in middlegames were and much more.

Firouzja repeated his victory from 2022 at the Saint Louis Rapid & Blitz event. Back then, he also went on to win both the Sinquefield Cup and, therefore, the Grand Chess Tour. This time around, his clear victory left him atop the standings of the series, as he leapfrogged former leader Fabiano Caruana - Caruana, who this year won the Superbet Classic and the SuperUnited Rapid & Blitz, tied for sixth place in Saint Louis, with 18/36 points.

Both Firouzja and Caruana will also participate in the upcoming Sinquefield Cup, starting Monday. All 9 'tour regulars' will be joined by world champion Ding Liren in the 11^th edition of the classical single round-robin.

Final standings

Alireza Firouzja | Photo: Austin Fuller

In round 13 of the blitz, the fourth on Friday, Nodirbek Abdusattorov found a good-looking tactical shot in the early middlegame while playing black against Nepomniachtchi.

White's 20.h3 was a mistake (20.Rd7 would have been correct) as it allowed 20...Nge3, and Black gets a clear advantage in all ensuing lines.

The idea is connected to the fact that the queen on a7 is attacking the white king 'via X-rays' along the dark-squared diagonal - i.e. 21.fxe3 fails to 21...Nxe3 and, for example, 22.Kh2 Nxg2 23.Kxg2 f5 (diagram), making use of the pin by the bishop on the long diagonal!

Endgame essentials you need to know Vol.1 & Vol 2

In this video course, GM Surya Ganguly joins IM Sagar Shah and drawing from his colossal experience, shares some uncommon endgame wisdom. The material mostly features positions with rook against rook and a pawn, and starts by covering the fundamentals.

In the game, Nepo replied by 20...Ng5, attempting to create counterplay. However, Abdusattorov had little trouble making the most of his positional advantage and secured the win 8 moves later.

Nodirbek Abdusattorov | Photo: Lennart Ootes

Wesley So finished in second place with 20/36 points | Photo: Lennart Ootes

Hikaru Nakamura climbed to third place after scoring 6/9 on Friday | Photo: Lennart Ootes

Good friends - Fabiano Caruana, Maxime Vachier-Lagrave, Wesley So and Levon Aronian | Photo: Lennart Ootes

Grand Chess Tour standings

Daily recap

By Kostya Kavutskiy

Navigating the Ruy Lopez Vol.1-3

The Ruy Lopez is one of the oldest openings which continues to enjoy high popularity from club level to the absolute world top. In this video series, American super GM Fabiano Caruana, talking to IM Oliver Reeh, presents a complete repertoire for White.

Final standings - Blitz

Rk.		Name	Rtg.	Nt.	Pts.	n	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10	TB	Perf.
1		Firouzja,A	2751		12.0	18		1 ½	1 ½	½ 0	0 ½	½ 1	½ 1	1 0	1 1	1 1	100.75	2883
2		So,W	2751		11.0	18	0 ½		1 0	1 ½	1 1	½ ½	1 0	1 ½	½ ½	1 ½	94.25	2838
3		Nakamura,H	2802		10.5	18	0 ½	0 1		0 ½	1 0	½ 1	0 1	1 1	1 1	1 0	87.50	2809
4		Caruana,F	2793		10.0	18	½ 1	0 ½	1 ½		1 1	½ ½	1 0	1 0	0 1	0 ½	91.50	2796
5		Aronian,L	2729		9.0	18	1 ½	0 0	0 1	0 0		1 ½	1 ½	1 0	0 ½	1 1	77.00	2760
6		Vachier-Lagrave,M	2721		8.0	18	½ 0	½ ½	½ 0	½ ½	0 ½		1 1	1 0	0 1	½ 0	71.00	2718
7		Praggnanandhaa R	2749		8.0	18	½ 0	0 1	1 0	0 1	0 ½	0 0		0 1	1 1	0 1	70.50	2715
8		Abdusattorov,N	2762		8.0	18	0 1	0 ½	0 0	0 1	0 1	0 1	1 0		0 1	1 ½	69.25	2714
9		Nepomniachtchi,I	2767		7.0	18	0 0	½ ½	0 0	1 0	1 ½	1 0	0 0	1 0		½ 1	60.25	2676
10		Dominguez Perez,L	2748		6.5	18	0 0	0 ½	0 1	1 ½	0 0	½ 1	1 0	0 ½	½ 0		58.50	2656
TBs: Sonneborn-Berger

All games - Blitz

Final standings - Rapid (win = 2pts., draw = 1 pt.)

Rk.		Name	Rtg.	Nt.	Pts.	n	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10	TB	Perf.
1		Nepomniachtchi,I	2767		11.0	9		1	1	0	½	½	1	½	0	1	48.00	2836
2		Firouzja,A	2751		11.0	9	0		½	½	1	1	½	1	½	½	47.00	2838
3		Vachier-Lagrave,M	2721		11.0	9	0	½		½	½	½	1	1	½	1	44.50	2841
4		Aronian,L	2729		10.0	9	1	½	½		½	½	½	0	1	½	45.50	2803
5		So,W	2751		9.0	9	½	0	½	½		½	½	1	½	½	39.00	2758
6		Nakamura,H	2802		9.0	9	½	0	½	½	½		½	0	1	1	37.00	2752
7		Dominguez Perez,L	2748		9.0	9	0	½	0	½	½	½		½	1	1	35.50	2758
8		Abdusattorov,N	2762		8.0	9	½	0	0	1	0	1	½		½	½	35.00	2714
9		Caruana,F	2793		8.0	9	1	½	½	0	½	0	0	½		1	34.50	2710
10		Praggnanandhaa R	2749		4.0	9	0	½	0	½	½	0	0	½	0		19.00	2538
TBs: Sonneborn-Berger

All games - Rapid

Links

• Grand Chess Tour website
• Carlsen astonishes: 10 wins in a row grant him Superbet Poland triumph
• Caruana scores 3/3 in rapid playoff, wins Superbet Chess Classic
• Unstoppable Caruana dominates SuperUnited Croatia