Superbet Classic: Caruana beats Deac, grabs the sole lead

by Carlos Alberto Colodro
6/30/2024 – Fabiano Caruana obtained a convincing victory over Bogdan-Daniel Deac to become the sole leader at the Superbet Chess Classic in Bucharest. Tied for second place are Indian prodigies Praggnanandhaa and Gukesh. On Saturday, Pragg got the better of Anish Giri in a gripping 80-move encounter. | Photo: Lennart Ootes

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Caruana and Pragg score

After a round with five draws, in which a couple of players missed rather big winning chances, the fourth day of action in Bucharest saw two games ending decisively at the Superbet Chess Classic. Fabiano Caruana and R Praggnanandhaa scored full points with white in their games against Bogdan-Daniel Deeac and Anish Giri, respectively.

Caruana had started the event with a win over Alireza Firouzja in a topsy-turvy game. The US star then failed to make the most of a clear advantage against Wesley So, and signed a rather quick draw with black against Nodirbek Abdusattorov. His convincing win over Deac, the rating underdog in Bucharest, allowed him to grab the sole lead as the only player with a +2 score. In a 34-move game, Caruana was better prepared than his Romanian opponent, obtained an early advantage and skilfully converted it into a full point.

Tied for second place are Indian prodigies Gukesh and Praggnanandhaa. While Gukesh scored in the first round and then collected three draws in a row, Pragg kicked off the event with three draws and then scored his first win of the event. The 18-year-old from Chennai defeated Anish Giri with the white pieces in a tense-filled game lasting 80 moves on Saturday.

In Sunday’s fifth round, the last one before the rest day, Caruana will play black against Maxime Vachier-Lagrave. Pragg will also have the black pieces, against So, while Gukesh will play white against the ever-dangerous Abdusattorov — their dramatic confrontation in the last round of the 2022 Olympiad is one to remember!

Results - Round 4

Ian Nepomniachtchi

Ian Nepomniachtchi | Photo: Lennart Ootes

Caruana 1 - 0 Deac

Analysis by Klaus Besenthal

Bogdan-Daniel Deac

Bogdan-Daniel Deac | Photo: Lennart Ootes

Praggnanandhaa 1 - 0 Giri

Analysis by Klaus Besenthal

Praggnanandhaa Rameshbabu, Anish Giri

Praggnanandhaa v. Giri | Photo: Lennart Ootes

Standings after round 4

All games

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Topics: Fabiano Caruana, Superbet Chess Classic 2024
Carlos Colodro is a Hispanic Philologist from Bolivia. He works as a freelance translator and writer since 2012. A lot of his work is done in chess-related texts, as the game is one of his biggest interests, along with literature and music.
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Superbet Classic: Firouzja beats Abdusattorov, Caruana misses chance

6/28/2024 – Fabiano Caruana and D Gukesh continue to share the lead at the Superbet Chess Classic in Bucharest, as the one decisive result of round 2 saw Alireza Firouzja beating Nodirbek Abdusattorov. Since Firouzja had lost to Caruana in the first round, this victory only allowed him to return to a fifty-percent score. Importantly, co-leader Caruana failed to make the most of a clearly better position in his game with white against Wesley So. | Photo: Lennart Ootes
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Superbet Classic: Caruana and Gukesh start off with wins

6/27/2024 – The Superbet Chess Classic saw two out of five games ending decisively on the first day of action. Fabiano Caruana and D Gukesh became the early co-leaders by beating Alireza Firouzja and Bogdan-Daniel Deac respectively. Both games featured considerable changes in evaluation, as the double-edged positions that appeared on the boards provoked mistakes by all involved parties. | Photo: Lennart Ootes
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Video

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The Elephant Gambit (1.e4.e5 2.Nf3 d5!?) has never really been given the attention it deserves. It is a very useful surprise weapon. Let us list the advantages of playing this particular opening: 1) Shock value 2) It is very aggressive. Black can take over the initiative early. 3) Many tricky lines 4) Unorthodox. Black is basically taking the game to the opponent as early as move two. Not many openings do that! It's a perfect opening for young players and club players to adopt. Let Andrew Martin select a repertoire for you on this 60 mins, which, if used with discretion, will rack up the points. I am sure that you will enjoy this unusual tour of the Elephant Gambit.