SuperUnited Croatia: Caruana grabs the lead, Gukesh resurges

Caruana and Gukesh score 5/6

Before the start of round 4 at the SuperUnited Tournament in Croatia, players, organizers and spectators shared a minute of silence for the passing of Magnus Carlsen’s mother, Sigrun Øen, who sadly passed away after a long illness at 61 years of age.

A round with all five games ending decisively followed, with former sole leader Maxime Vachier-Lagrave losing (with white) to Gukesh after playing a one-move blunder in an equal position with all six major pieces still on the board. Fabiano Caruana and Wesley So both scored wins to leapfrog the Frenchman in the standings.

The second round of the day (the fifth of the tournament) featured four draws and a single decisive game, with Caruana grabbing the sole lead by beating local hero Ivan Saric with the black pieces. This round also saw Gukesh and Vidit — the two Indian representatives in the field — both missing winning chances in their entertaining direct encounter.

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.

Finally, Gukesh and Levon Aronian were the last ones to score victories on day 2, as they both grabbed wins in round 6, over Ian Nepomniachtchi and Saric respectively. Gukesh, who had suffered a loss against So on Wednesday, thus climbed to the top half of the standings table. He and Caruana were the two top scorers on the second day of action.

Going into the final day of rapid, Caruana is leading with 9 points (wins are with 2 points in the rapid), followed by So in sole second place with 8 points, and a three-player pack consisting of Gukesh, Vachier-Lagrave and Firouzja sharing third place with 7 points each.

The all-Indian encounter between Gukesh and Vidit | Photo: Lennart Ootes

Caruana 1 - 0 Aronian

Caruana, Fabiano2805

1–0

Aronian, Levon2729

SuperUnited Croatia Rapid 2024 Zagreb11.07.2024[CC]

1.d4 Nf6 2.c4 e6 3.Nc3 Bb4 4.f3 d5 5.a3 Bxc3+ 6.bxc3 c5 7.cxd5 Nxd5 8.dxc5 Qa5 9.e4 Nc7 10.Kf2

A new idea in this position. The adventurous Shakhriyar Mamedyarov had tried this line with white in the past, but opted for different plans in this setup. Mamedyarov won games both with 10.Be3 ...and 10.Qd4 10...0-0 11.Be3 Nca6 12.a4 Nxc5 13.Qd6 b6 14.Bb5 A very interesting setup! A single mistake might bear a huge cost - as demonstrated by Aronian's next move. Ba6 The simplifying lines that might follow this rather forcing move all favour White strategically, as Caruana masterfully demonstrated. Better is 14...a6 though after 15.Ne2 Black should not play axb5 due to 15...Bb7 is the way to go, and the game might continue with 16.Bd3 Nc6 17.Bc2 with tense equality. Surely a difficult line to foresee on move 14 - Caruana was still in his preparation, while Aronian was trying to fully understand the tough position over the board. 16.Bxc5 bxc5 17.axb5 and after capturing twice on a1, the undeveloped knight on b8 will be hanging: Qxa1 18.Rxa1 Rxa1 19.Qxb8 15.Ne2

Only here did Caruana begin to spend some time before making a move - and he found the correct developing manoeuvre. 15...Bxb5 16.Bxc5 bxc5 17.Qxc5 Nd7 This natural move leads by force to a favourable endgame for White. Keeping the queens with 17...Qa6 is better, though the resulting positions also look quite discouraging for Black, e.g.: 18.axb5 Qb7 19.Rhd1 18.axb5 Nxc5 19.Rxa5 Nd3+ 20.Kg3 f5 21.exf5 exf5 22.Nf4

Caruana is certain that he can win the double-rook endgame. Moreover, at this point, he had 15 minutes to Aronian's 1½ minute. It was a case of theoretical preparation being the crucial factor in an elite-GM encounter. 22...Nxf4 23.Kxf4 Caruana went on to show great technique to convert his extra pawn and more active king into a win. Rac8 24.Rxa7 Rc4+ 25.Kg3 f4+ 26.Kg4 Rxc3 27.Rd1 Rc2 28.Kh3 Rc5 29.Rdd7 Rg5 30.b6 h6 31.b7 Kh7 32.g4 1–0

Master Class Vol.17 - Boris Spassky

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.

Fabiano Caruana showed great opening preparation in his game against Levon Aronian | Photo: Lennart Ootes

Nepomniachtchi 0 - 1 Gukesh

Nepomniachtchi, Ian2770

0–1

Gukesh D2763

SuperUnited Croatia Rapid 2024 Zagreb11.07.2024[CC]

1.e4 c5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Nc3 Nf6 4.Bb5 Nd4 5.e5 Nxb5 6.Nxb5 Nd5 7.0-0 a6 8.c4 Nb4 9.Nc3 d6 10.exd6 Qxd6 11.d4 cxd4 12.Ne4 Qc6 Gukesh is the first one to deviate from theory in this intriguing Sicilian. Both players had blitzed out all their moves up to this point. 12...Qc7 13.Re1 Bf5 14.Qa4+ Nc6 15.Nxd4 Bxe4 16.Rxe4 was played in the past. 13.Re1 Bg4 14.Bf4 0-0-0

Gukesh did not take too long before playing this move - the engines' suggestion - as he is ready to go into a sharp fight against the 2-time Candidates Tournament winner. 15.Neg5 Bxf3 Gukesh found himself down on the clock after spending 7 minutes before capturing the knight. Better is the sharp (which Gukesh was surely calculating) 15...e5 16.Nxf7 Bxf3 17.Qxf3 Qxf3 18.gxf3 Nc2 with chances for both sides (especially in a rapid game), though engines favour White. 16.Nxf3 The correct way to capture. White might be tempted by 16.Qxf3 Qxf3 17.gxf3 f6 18.Nf7 but Black is, in fact, slightly better after Nd3 16...Qf6 17.Bg3 d3 18.Re5

A creative idea by Nepo, planning to play Rd5 next. However, engines consider that this manoeuvre partially gives up the advantage he gained in the opening phase. Stronger is 18.Qb3 Nc2 and only now 18...Nc6 is a more cautious approach, though one that concedes the initiative. 19.Re5 Qc6 Not 19...Nxa1 due to 20.Rc5+ Kd7 and Black is lost. 20.Rd1 18...Nc6 19.Rd5 Qxb2 20.Rxd8+ Nxd8 Allowing Black to capture the pawn on b2 was a mistake. Gukesh is now better, but the fight is only beginning. 21.Ne5 f6 22.Nxd3 Qd4 23.Rb1 e5 24.Qb3 Be7 25.Rd1 Qe4 26.f3 Qc6 27.Bf2 Ne6 28.Nb4 Bxb4 29.Qxb4 Rd8

Black finally finishes his development, and emerges a pawn up in a rather stable position. 30.Rb1 Rd7 31.Bb6 An inaccuracy by Nepo. Better is 31.h4 and after Qd6 White gets to play 32.c5 31...Qd6 32.Qb3 Now White cannot play 32.c5 because of Qd4+ and Black manages to force the exchange of queens, leading to a very favourable endgame. 32...Qd3 33.Qb4 Black is now winning, and Gukesh showed how patience plays a big role in converting these positions with small tactical tricks available for both sides. Qd2 34.Qb3 Nf4 35.Bf2 Ne2+ 36.Kh1 Nd4 37.Qa3 Ne6 38.Bg1 Qd3 39.Qb2 Kd8 40.c5 Ke7 41.Qb6 Nd8 42.Rb3 Qd5 43.Qa7 Kf7 44.Qa8 h6 45.h3 Kg6 46.Qc8 Qc6 47.Qb8 Qc7 48.Qa8 Rd1 49.Qa7 Qa5 50.c6 Nxc6 51.Qe3 Qd5 52.Rxb7 Nd4 53.Rb2 Nf5 54.Qf2 Rf1

A nice touch! 55.Qc2 55.Qxf1 Ng3+ 55...Qd4 0–1

Middlegame Secrets Vol.5 - The Inner Strength of Kings

In this video course, kings will play a role of strong and active pieces. We will explore how Kings can be helpful in defence and prophylaxis, or even in attack!

Gukesh, the winner of the 2024 Candidates, facing Ian Nepomniachtchi, the winner of the 2021 and 2022 Candidates | Photo: Lennart Ootes

Standings after round 6 (win = 2 pts, draw = 1 pt)

All games

Links

• Grand Chess Tour website
• Carlsen astonishes: 10 wins in a row grant him Superbet Poland triumph
• Caruana scores 3/3 in rapid playoff, wins Superbet Chess Classic