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.
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.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 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
Living legend Veselin Topalov | Photo: Lennart Ootes
Fedoseev ½-½ Firouzja
Most players prefer to attack rather than defend. But what is the correct way to do it? GM Dr Karsten Müller has compiled many rules and motifs to guide you, along with sharpening your intuition for the exceptions.
Alireza Firouzja | Photo: Lennart Ootes
Standings after round 3 (win = 2pts; draw = 1pt)
All games
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