Nine rounds of blitz to go

Alireza Firouzja was the highest scorer on the fourth day of the Super Rapid & Blitz Poland tournament, as the first nine rounds of blitz were played on Friday at the inaugural event of the 2026 Grand Chess Tour. Firouzja scored 6½/9 in the blitz section, the best result of the day, after having struggled in the rapid portion of the event.

Firouzja had scored only 6/18 in the rapid section, which left him with considerable ground to make up once the tournament switched to blitz. His strong Friday performance allowed him to climb the standings, though only as far as eighth place. Even so, the tournament remains closely grouped: despite Firouzja standing eighth, he is only four points behind sole leader Hans Niemann.

Master Class Vol.20 - Bent Larsen

In this video course experts examine the games of Bent Larsen. Let them show you which openings Larsen chose, where his strength in middlegames were, how he outplayed his opponents in the endgame & you’ll get a glimpse of his tactical abilities!
Bent Larsen (1935–2010) was the greatest chess player in Danish history, and for a time, the second-strongest player in the Western world behind Bobby Fischer. Between 1954 and 1971, he won the Danish Championship six times, and achieved numerous international tournament victories throughout his career. 
Free video sample: Introduction to Bent Larsen by Peter Heine Nielsen
Free video sample: Introduction to the Opening Section

Blitz specialist Alireza Firouzja | Photo: Lennart Ootes

Niemann entered the blitz portion with the lead after winning the rapid section as the only undefeated participant. The 22-year-old did not have the strongest first day of blitz, scoring 3½/9, but remains in sole first place since none of his closest pursuers managed to produce a strong enough run to overtake him.

Wesley So is half a point behind Niemann after scoring 4/9 in Friday's blitz games - So had started the day as Niemann's closest challenger. Fabiano Caruana and defending champion Vladimir Fedoseev are tied for third place on 15 points, a full point behind So.

The standings contrast sharply with last year's winning score. Fedoseev won this same event with an overall total of 26½/36 in 2025, but this year's tournament is on a lower scoring pace at the top. Even if Niemann were to score a perfect 9/9 on Saturday, he would still not reach Fedoseev's winning total from last year.

The compressed standings leave the tournament open before Saturday's final day of action.

Fabiano Caruana scored 6/9 on Friday and is now very much in contention for overall victory | Photo: Lennart Ootes

Understanding Middlegame Strategy Vol.14 Reversed Colour Systems – Benoni, Blumenfeld and Benko Gambit

You will learn how Black's dynamic piece activity and structural counterplay more than compensate for White's extra tempo in the colour-reversed setups.
The Benoni family of openings has toppled world champions, decided match games under the highest pressure, and rewarded those brave enough to play them with some of the most electrifying chess imaginable. In this Fritztrainer, Grandmaster Ivan Sokolov -  continuing his successful series "Understanding Middlegame Structures" - takes you deep inside the complexities of the Colour-Reversed Benoni, the Colour-Reversed Benko Gambit, and the Colour-Reversed Blumenfeld Gambit.
Free sample video: Introduction
Free sample video: Colour Reversed Banoni - Game 1

Wesley So remains in sole second place | Photo: Lennart Ootes

Sindarov beats Gukesh

The confrontation between the contenders of this year's match for the World Championship took place in the penultimate round of the day. Gukesh Dommaraju had defeated his next challenger for the world title, Javokhir Sindarov, in the rapid section while marshalling the black pieces, and once again played with black on Friday.

In a balanced position out of a Giuoco Piano, Gukesh blundered with 15...Qe7?

The queen move fails to the forcing 16.Nf5, attacking both the queen and the pawn on d6.

Black is thus forced to capture the knight with 16...Bxf5, but after 17.exf5 Nf8 (17...Ne5 is bad due to 18.Bxa7 Rxa7 19.f4, losing the pinned knight) 18.Bxa7 Qxe2 19.Rxe2 Rxe2 20.Nxe2 Rxa7, the pawn on d6 is hanging.

Master Class Vol.20 - Bent Larsen

In this video course experts examine the games of Bent Larsen. Let them show you which openings Larsen chose, where his strength in middlegames were, how he outplayed his opponents in the endgame & you’ll get a glimpse of his tactical abilities!
Bent Larsen (1935–2010) was the greatest chess player in Danish history, and for a time, the second-strongest player in the Western world behind Bobby Fischer. Between 1954 and 1971, he won the Danish Championship six times, and achieved numerous international tournament victories throughout his career. 
Free video sample: Introduction to Bent Larsen by Peter Heine Nielsen
Free video sample: Introduction to the Opening Section

After 21.Rxd6, White emerges with an extra pawn and a clear edge, as the bishop on a2 is a very strong minor piece. Sindarov converted his advantage into a 38-move win.

Javokhir Sindarov with coach Roman Vidonyak | Photo: Lennart Ootes

Overall standings

All games - Blitz

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

All games

Links

• Grand Chess Tour website
• Nihal wins Menorca Masters, Gukesh finishes in fourth place
• Javokhir Sindarov: "The quarantine changed my life"