Caruana scores 3/3 in rapid playoff, wins Superbet Chess Classic

“I played terribly”

After winning 3 out of 5 events in the 2023 Grand Chess Tour, including the 2 classical tournaments, Fabiano Caruana again showed his class at the Superbet Classic in Bucharest. The US grandmaster was the long-time sole leader before losing his round-9 encounter against Anish Giri. In the 4-way rapid playoff that ensued, however, Caruana prevailed in style, scoring 3 wins in as many games to defend his title.

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.

Caruana was the sole leader going into the final round, after scoring 2 wins and 6 draws in the event. Playing black against Giri, he needed a draw to at least secure a playoff, but a mistake in the early middlegame left him a pawn down against an inspired opponent, who went on to score a 56-move win, his first of the event. Caruana later confessed that he had “played terribly”, while acknowledging that Giri had proficiently taken advantage of the situation.

Three players had entered the round at a half-point distance from the leader. By the time Caruana resigned against Giri, one of the chasers had already signed a draw, while the other two were playing a tense middlegame — i.e. Gukesh had signed a quick draw with Wesley So, while Alireza Firouzja kept trying to convert his advantage into a win against Praggnanandhaa.

Firouzja had two rooks against Pragg’s rook and knight in an endgame that engines evaluated as winning for the Frenchman until move 45. In the end, Pragg’s resilience allowed him to escape with a draw and reach the deciding playoff. A win for Firouzja would have granted him outright victory.

Our in-house expert, GM Karsten Müller, analysed the Pragg v. Firouzja endgame.

Praggnanandhaa R2747

½–½

Firouzja, Alireza2737

GCT Superbet Romania 2024 Bucharest05.07.2024[Mueller,Karsten]

1.e4 c5 2.Nf3 d6 3.d4 cxd4 4.Nxd4 Nf6 5.Nc3 a6 6.Be2 e5 7.Nb3 Be7 8.h4 h6 9.Be3 Be6 10.Qd3 Nc6 11.a3 Na5 12.Nd2 d5 13.exd5 Nxd5 14.0-0-0 Nxe3 15.Qxe3 Qc7 16.Nde4 Rc8 17.g4 Nc6 18.Kb1 Nd4 19.f4 Nxe2 20.Qxe2 exf4 21.g5 Kf8 22.Qf2 Rd8 23.Rdf1 Bf5 24.Rhg1 g6 25.Qxf4 Qxf4 26.Rxf4 hxg5 27.hxg5 Rd4 28.Rgf1 Rh2 29.Rxf5 gxf5 30.Rxf5 Rg2 31.Re5 Rg4 32.Ka2 b6 33.b4 Rc4 34.Kb2 b5 35.Nf6 Bxf6 36.gxf6 Rgf4 37.Nd5 Rf2 38.Ne3 Rc6 39.Rh5 Rfxf6 40.Nf5 Ke8 41.Nd4 Rc4 42.c3

Pragg's mighty knight. Knights like central outposts: 42...Rg6?! This rook is already well placed. 42...Rc8 is better technique, e.g. 43.Kb3 Kd7 44.Rh3 Rf1 45.a4 bxa4+ 46.Kxa4 f5-+ 43.Rh3 Rc7 44.Kb3 Re7 45.a4 Re5? Now White's counterplay is quick enough. 45...bxa4+! was called for, e.g. 46.Kxa4 Re5 47.Kb3 f5 48.Rf3 Rf6 49.c4 f4 50.Kc3 Ke7 51.c5 Re1 52.Kd3 Rf8-+ 46.axb5 axb5 47.Rh8+ Ke7 47...Kd7 48.Rf8 Ke7 49.Rb8= 48.Rb8 f5 48...Rgg5 49.Nf3= 49.Rb7+ Kf6 50.Nxb5 The right capture. After 50.Rxb5? Rxb5 51.Nxb5 f4 Black is too quick, e.g. 52.Nd4 Ke5 53.b5 Rf6 54.Kc4 f3-+ 50...f4 51.Nd4 Pragg's knight has everything under complete control. Rg3 52.Rb8 Kf7 53.Rb7+ Re7 54.Rb5!? 54.Rxe7+ is playable as well due to Kxe7 55.Kc4 Kd6 56.b5 Kd7 57.Nf5 Rg4 58.Kd3 f3 59.Ne3 Rg1 60.c4 Re1 61.Ng4 Re2 62.c5= 54...Kg6 55.Rb6+!?

This draws directly. 55...Kf7 55...Kg5 56.Rb5+ Kg4 57.Nf5= 56.Rh6 Ree3 57.Rh4!? Rxc3+ Of course not 57...f3?? due to 58.Nf5+- 58.Kb2! 58.Ka4? f3 59.Rf4+ Ke8 60.b5 Rc4+ 61.Ka5 f2-+ 58...Kf6 59.Rxf4+ Ke5 60.Rh4 Rc8 61.Nb5 Rb8 62.Nc3 Rc8 63.Rh5+ Ke6!

The only drawing move. 63...Kd6? 64.Ne4++- 63...Kf4? 64.Ne2++- 64.Rc5 Rxc5 65.bxc5 Rg5 66.Kb3 Rxc5 67.Kb4 Rxc3 68.Kxc3 ½–½

Fabiano Caruana having a look at the crucial game between Praggnanandhaa Rameshbabu and Alireza Firouzja | Photo: Lennart Ootes

Anish Giri convincingly beat Fabiano Caruana in round 9 | Photo: Lennart Ootes

Results - Round 9

	Name	Rtg.	Nt.	Pts.		Pts.		Name	Rtg	Nt.
	Praggnanandhaa R	2747		4½	½-½	4½		Firouzja,A	2737
	Giri,A	2745		3½	1-0	5		Caruana,F	2805
	So,W	2757		3½	½-½	4½		Gukesh D	2763
	Nepomniachtchi,I	2770		4	½-½	3½		Abdusattorov,N	2766
	Deac,B	2680		3	½-½	4		Vachier-Lagrave,M	2732

Final standings

Rk.		Name	Rtg.	Nt.	Pts.	n	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10	TB	Perf.
1		Praggnanandhaa R	2747		5.0	9		½	½	½	½	1	½	½	½	½	22.25	2794
2		Caruana,F	2805		5.0	9	½		½	1	½	0	½	½	½	1	22.00	2787
3		Gukesh D	2763		5.0	9	½	½		½	½	½	½	½	½	1	21.75	2792
4		Firouzja,A	2737		5.0	9	½	0	½		½	½	½	1	1	½	21.50	2795
5		Nepomniachtchi,I	2770		4.5	9	½	½	½	½		½	½	½	½	½	20.25	2748
6		Giri,A	2745		4.5	9	0	1	½	½	½		½	½	½	½	20.25	2751
7		Vachier-Lagrave,M	2732		4.5	9	½	½	½	½	½	½		½	½	½	20.25	2752
8		Abdusattorov,N	2766		4.0	9	½	½	½	0	½	½	½		½	½	18.00	2705
9		So,W	2757		4.0	9	½	½	½	0	½	½	½	½		½	18.00	2706
10		Deac,B	2680		3.5	9	½	0	0	½	½	½	½	½	½		15.75	2678
TBs: Sonneborn-Berger

The playoffs

As per the tour’s regulations, if more than two players finish a classical event tied for first place, the tournament winner must be decided in a single round-robin with a 10+5 time control. Arbiter Chris Bird remarked on X that a tweak in the regulations for this year’s series rewarded fighting spirit in the distribution of colours for the playoff:

The players in the tie shall initially contest a Rapid Round Robin, with the pairing numbers determined in the following tie-break order, with player 1 having the best tie-breaks: Most wins, most blacks, direct encounter, drawing of lots.

While Gukesh and Pragg finished the classical tournament undefeated (with 1 win and 8 draws), Caruana and Firouzja both won 2 and lost 1 throughout the 9 rounds of play. Thus, the latter duo got to play twice with the white pieces in the playoff.

Attack like a Super Grandmaster

In this Fritztrainer: “Attack like a Super GM” with Gukesh we touch upon all aspects of his play, with special emphasis on how you can become a better attacking player.

Alireza Firouzja was inches away from claiming outright victory | Photo: Lennart Ootes

Coincidentally, both Caruana and Firouzja started the rapid playoffs with wins over their Indian opponents. In the second round of the rapid round-robin, Caruana got the white pieces against Firouzja and scored what would turn out to be the deciding victory of the tiebreaker (see analysis of the game below).

Going into the third and final round of the playoffs, Caruana had 2 points, Firouzja and Gukesh had 1 point each, while Pragg was out of contention with 0 points. In the third round, Caruana beat Pragg with black to secure tournament victory with a perfect 3/3 in the tiebreaker.

Final standings - Tiebreaks

Rk.		Name	Rtg.	Nt.	Pts.	n	1	2	3	4	TB	Perf.
1		Caruana,F	2805		3.0	3		1	1	1	3.00	3549
2		Firouzja,A	2737		2.0	3	0		1	1	1.00	2897
3		Gukesh D	2763		1.0	3	0	0		1	0.00	2638
4		Praggnanandhaa R	2747		0.0	3	0	0	0		0.00	1968
TBs: Sonneborn-Berger

So far this year, Caruana has played the American Cup, the Candidates and the Norway Chess tournament. While he had an underwhelming performance in Stavanger, his showings in the American Cup and the Candidates were remarkable — importantly, he fell just short of reaching a playoff against Gukesh in Toronto.

Now, the US star had a great start at the Grand Chess Tour (he did not play in Kraków) as he intends to defend the title he superbly obtained in last year’s series!

Caruana 1 - 0 Firouzja

Caruana, Fabiano2805

1–0

Firouzja, Alireza2737

GCT Superbet Romania 2024-TB Bucharest05.07.2024[CC]

1.c4 e5 2.d3 Bb4+ 3.Nd2 c5 4.Ngf3 Nc6 5.g3 d6 6.Bg2 Nge7 7.0-0 Ba5 8.b3 0-0 9.Bb2 h6 10.e3 Be6 11.d4 exd4 12.exd4 cxd4 13.Nxd4 Nxd4 14.Bxd4 d5 15.cxd5 Bxd5 Out of an English Opening, the players have reached a somewhat symmetrical position, though there is plenty of chances for dynamic play with the centre wide open and most pieces still on the board. 16.Ne4 Playable is 16.Qg4 Nf5 17.Qxf5 Bxg2 and e.g.: 18.Qg4 g6 19.Kxg2 Bxd2 16...Nc6 Firouzja fails to foresee the good-looking tactical shot that Caruana found and played. 17.Bf6

The beginning of a two-punch tactical shot. 17...gxf6 18.Qxd5 Beautiful! Qe7 Objectively better is 18...Qxd5 19.Nxf6+ Kg7 20.Nxd5 but this was a 10-minute game, so Firouzja opts for keeping the queens on the board, as he probably considered that he had some chances of outplaying his opponent in the complications. 19.Rac1 Rad8 Firouzja again fails to foresee a tactical shot. 19...Bb6 is better, as it prevents White from playing the line seen in the game. 20.Qf5 Kg7 21.Rxc6

Removing the defender of the bishop on a5. 21...bxc6 22.Qxa5 Rd5 23.Qc3 Rfd8 24.g4 White has consolidated his advantage and begins to expand on the kingside. It's time to go for the win actively. Qe5 The best move in the position - keeping the queens would make Black's defensive task harder at this point. 25.Qxe5 fxe5 26.Bf3 Ra5 27.Rc1 Rxa2 28.Rxc6 Rb2 Both contenders had about a minute at this point, with only 5-second increments in the playoff. Naturally, there were many inaccuracies by both sides from here on. But it was Caruana who was putting pressure on his opponent - perhaps the biggest asset during mutual time trouble. 29.Kg2 Rxb3 30.Ng3 Rb6 31.Rc7 a6 32.Nf5+ Kf8 33.Ra7 Rf6 34.Be4 Rg6 35.Kf3 Rb6 36.h4 Ke8 37.h5 Rd7 38.Ra8+ Rd8 39.Rxd8+ Kxd8 40.g5 Kd7 41.Nxh6 Ke6 42.Bf5+ Ke7 43.Ng4 White has created a dangerous passer on the kingside. a5 44.h6 a4 45.h7 Rb8

46.Nf6 Much stronger is 46.Nxe5 since Black cannot play Rh8 due to the devastating 47.g6 46...Rh8 The engine's evaluation goes from over +9 to around +0.7. But both players had close to 30 seconds on the clock - so it is all about who can handle the pressure better. 47.Bb1 a3 48.Ke4 Kf8 49.Kxe5 Kg7 50.Nh5+ Kf8 51.Nf6 Kg7 52.Ba2 Rb8 53.f4 Rc8 54.Kd4 Rc2 55.Bxf7 a2 56.Bxa2 Rxa2 White has given up his bishop for the black queenside passer. The three connected passed pawns, the knight and the king look really menacing, but tablebases evaluate this position as drawn. 57.Ke4 Ra4+ 58.Kf5 Ra5+ 59.Kg4 Ra6 60.Kh5 Rc6 61.f5 Ra6 62.Kg4 Rc6 63.Kf4 Ra6 64.Ke5 Ra5+ 65.Ke6 Ra6+ 66.Ke7 Ra7+ 67.Ke6 Ra6+ 68.Ke5 Ra5+ 69.Kf4 Ra4+ 70.Kg3 Ra6 71.Kg4 Rc6 72.Kh5 Ra6

The losing mistake. Tablebases indicate that ...Rc5 or ...Kh8 draw for Black. 73.Nd7 Caruana finds one of the two moves that win, giving up the h-pawn. Remarkably 73.g6 also wins, giving up the knight, e.g.: Rxf6 74.Kg5 Rf8 75.f6+ 73...Kxh7 74.f6 Ra5 75.f7 Rf5 76.f8Q Rxg5+ 77.Kh4 Of course not 77.Kxg5 stalemate. 77...Rh5+ 78.Kg4 Game over. 1–0

A Supergrandmaster's Guide to Openings Vol.1 & 2

This video course includes GM Anish Giri's deep insights and IM Sagar Shah's pertinent questions to the super GM. In Vol.1 all the openings after 1.e4 are covered.

Alireza Firouzja resigns the rapid game | Photo: Lennart Ootes

Fabiano Caruana receiving the tournament trophy next to second, friend and podcast co-host Cristian Chirila | Photo: Lennart Ootes

All games - Classical

All games - Tiebreaks

Links

• Official site
• Fabiano Caruana outright winner at Superbet Chess Classic in Romania (2023)
• Vachier-Lagrave has a brilliant day, wins Superbet Chess Classic (2022)
• Shakhriyar Mamedyarov wins Superbet Chess Classic (2021)