Superbet Poland: Fedoseev leads after exciting first day of rapid action

by Carlos Alberto Colodro
4/26/2025 – The 2025 Grand Chess Tour got underway in Warsaw with the first three rounds of rapid play at the Superbet Rapid & Blitz Poland. Held at the Museum of the History of Polish Jews, the opening day saw Vladimir Fedoseev take the early lead with 5 points, followed closely by Alireza Firouzja and Praggnanandhaa Rameshbabu. Former FIDE world champion Veselin Topalov, one of the main attractions of the event, recovered from a slow start to end the day with a notable win. | Photo: Lennart Ootes
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A lively start

The 2025 Grand Chess Tour opened on Saturday with the first three rounds of rapid chess at the Superbet Rapid & Blitz Poland, taking place at the Museum of the History of Polish Jews in Warsaw. A balanced field of experienced and young players provided a lively start to the event, which combines rapid and blitz formats.

Russian-born grandmaster Vladimir Fedoseev, who now represents Slovenia, emerged as the sole leader after the first day. Fedoseev scored two wins and one draw, collecting 5 points under the Grand Chess Tour's rapid-chess scoring system (2 points for a win, 1 for a draw). He began with a draw against Alireza Firouzja before defeating David Gavrilescu and Polish star Jan-Krzysztof Duda.

One point behind Fedoseev are Grand Chess Tour defending champion Alireza Firouzja and Indian prodigy Praggnanandhaa Rameshbabu, each with 4 points. Praggnanandhaa had taken an early lead after winning his first two games - convincingly beating Maxime Vachier-Lagrave and then prevailing in a sharp battle against his compatriot Aravindh Chithambaram. However, his momentum was halted in round three by Bogdan-Daniel Deac. The Romanian grandmaster, despite frequently falling into deep time trouble (à la Alexander Grischuk or Ray Robson), managed to upset the then tournament leader.

Deac is part of a four-player group currently on 3/6 points, which also includes Duda, who celebrated his 27th birthday on Saturday. As for 50-year-old Veselin Topalov, the former FIDE world champion had a slow start with back-to-back losses - however, he recovered in round three, defeating Vachier-Lagrave with the black pieces after a 54-move battle.

Three more rounds of rapid chess will be played on Sunday as the tournament continues in Poland's capital.

Praggnanandhaa Rameshbabu, Aravindh Chithambaram

Praggnanandhaa Rameshbabu first saw his opponent, Aravindh Chithambaram, failing to convert a clearly winning position in the endgame, and then even managed to score a win himself | Photo: Lennart Ootes

Veselin Topalov

Living legend Veselin Topalov | Photo: Lennart Ootes

Fedoseev ½-½ Firouzja

Alireza Firouzja

Alireza Firouzja | Photo: Lennart Ootes

Standings after round 3 (win = 2pts; draw = 1pt)

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Topics: Superbet Rapid & Blitz 2025, Vladimir Fedoseev
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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