Caruana Leads By 4.5 Points Ahead Of Final Day

GM Fabiano Caruana continues to lead the 2024 SuperUnited Rapid & Blitz Croatia, now by 4.5 points after the first day of blitz. GM Maxime Vachier-Lagrave scored the most points on Saturday and is Caruana's closest rival, along with GM Wesley So.

Meanwhile, local hero GM Ivan Saric earned our Game of the Day distinction after winning an exciting "street fight" in the Sicilian Najdorf against GM Ian Nepomniachtchi. This came after he also upset GM Levon Aronian earlier in the day.

The final day starts one hour earlier on Sunday, July 14, at 8:15 a.m. ET / 14:15 CEST / 5:45 p.m. IST.

SuperUnited Croatia Rapid & Blitz Standings After Day 1 Of Blitz

• 'Good And Lucky' Caruana Shines, Even After Blundering Rook 
• Vachier-Lagrave Performs Best In Blitz Day 1, Finishes Day Tied With So
• Croatian GM Saric Plays Game of the Day On Home Soil

With three days of rapid chess behind us, the event ends with two days of blitz. In the rapid portion, each win earned two points, while now a win is worth just one—a factor that certainly favors Caruana, who enjoys a massive lead ahead of the last day.

'Good And Lucky' Caruana Shines, Despite Blundering Full Rook

"One has to be good and be lucky" to succeed in blitz, said GM Evgenij Miroshnichenko on the broadcast, which sums up Caruana's day. The top seed's loss in round one was a brief scare, but with good play—and a bit of luck, especially against GMs Gukesh Dommaraju, Saric, and So—he managed to increase his already promising lead. All this, even with a horrific rook blunder against GM Alireza Firouzja in round six.

Caruana suffered a fairly one-sided loss in round one, and it was his first loss since landing in Zagreb. His bishop pair wasn't an advantage, and the most important factor was Black's a-pawn.

But the American GM quickly righted the ship in the next round, beating Gukesh in a game that could have also been a disaster.

Caruana bravely pushed the b-pawn and ended up winning, but in fact Gukesh could have won with 47...Qe3+!.

Instead, 47...Qxg3 was played and the white king ran to the queenside.https://t.co/LfWwigb656#GrandChessTour pic.twitter.com/9N5XdqgO6x

— chess24 (@chess24com) July 13, 2024

The blitz portion has been nothing short of a catastrophe for the Indian star, who suffered six losses and scored just 2.5 points out of the nine rounds.

After winning a clean exchange against GM Vidit Gujrathi, Caruana was again on the ropes against Saric, who played a nice exchange sacrifice and got a winning position—but went on to lose. Caruana blundered with 46...Nxf2?? against So, which should have lost a piece on the spot, but it was So who later dropped a pawn and the game in response.

Caruana's second loss came against Firouzja in round six when he played 38.Rc8+??, expecting checkmate to follow. Imagine the shock he felt, of course, the moment he let go of the piece that the game was in fact not over:

A shocking blunder from Caruana, who was winning with an extra rook!https://t.co/l2VP0MPcSl#GrandChessTour pic.twitter.com/HxQaKyUVzi

— chess24 (@chess24com) July 13, 2024

"I have this problem with hanging rooks. I really do hang rooks," admitted Caruana. "I blundered two rooks against Levon [in Germany] but somehow won the match. It's a problem for me. I also blundered a rook against Anish, not that I blunder them to tactics, I just put them on squares which are protected."

I have this problem with hanging rooks. I really do hang rooks.

—Fabiano Caruana

With two draws and then a win against Aronian in the final round (no hanging rooks this time!), he expanded his lead from the previous day. 

Vachier-Lagrave Performs Best In Blitz Day 1, Finishes Day Tied With So

When GM Cristian Chirila asked how he's going to catch Caruana on the final day, So responded with a joke: "I need to put sleeping pills in his drink!" It really does seem that desperate, but Vachier-Lagrave and So are the two closest players.

Let's start with the French number-two, who had the best day in the blitz alone, if ignoring the fact that the rapid scores do matter.

Vachier-Lagrave scored +5 -1 =3, and his win against a struggling Gukesh in round eight was surprisingly fast, with resignation on move 21. While he surely didn't miss the counterattack 18...Qc3!, Gukesh may have missed that his queen gets trapped a few moves later: 

So scored 4.5 points, with three wins, three losses, and three draws. His most dramatic game came in the final round against Nepomniachtchi, as So was dead lost by position but won on time.

It was a sour end to the day for Nepomniachtchi, who started optimistically with four wins out of his first five games. But he lost his last three and has also filed an appeal against the score of this final game, though the video does show his clock running down to zero.

Nepomniachtchi seems to have lost on time vs. So in the last round but is filing an appeal.

If ruled in So's favor, it will be three consecutive losses for Nepomniachtchi.https://t.co/5uB8XLuEx8#GrandChessTour pic.twitter.com/YtwqvGIMOK

— chess24 (@chess24com) July 13, 2024

Edited on 7/13: After this report was published, Nepomniachtchi compared today's game to one played in Levitov Chess Week last year and suggested that So's behavior was inappropriate. The game was still ruled a victory for So.

Regarding today's game with Wesley. Long story (almost) short.

He did precisely the same that you can see in the video below. This eventually played a role in the game, as I lost the pace and the feeling of clock and even lost on time (lol).https://t.co/raNJiH9BOH

— Ian Nepomniachtchi (@lachesisq) July 13, 2024

So is pessimistic about his chances of catching Caruana in the last nine rounds. "Unfortunately, he's very good in classical, rapid, and blitz. It's unfortunate Magnus is not here to challenge Fabi."

Croatian GM Saric Plays Game of the Day On Home Soil

Saric suffered seven losses in a row between Friday and Saturday, but he's also the lowest seed in the event. Once he stopped the bleeding with a draw against GM Anish Giri, he went on to score two wins against Aronian and then Nepomniachtchi.

The second is our Game of the Day, which is an opposite-sides-castling "street fight" kind of game that features key attacking and defensive themes. Particularly impressive is Saric's 25.Rxh7! followed by the inventive 27.Ba7!!. GM Rafael Leitao annotates the full game below:

One more day, nine more rounds. Can Caruana keep it together for one more day? Tune in an hour earlier to find out on Sunday.

And, who knows, there may be other surprise guests on the broadcast to come.

Anastasia's daughter, Nicole, joins the commentary!

"Who is your favorite commentator?"
"Anastasia Karlovich." Correct answer!#GrandChessTour pic.twitter.com/D3JKLDRxWf

— chess24 (@chess24com) July 13, 2024

The 2024 SuperUnited Croatia Rapid & Blitz is the third event of the 2024 Grand Chess Tour and runs July 10-14 in the Westin Hotel in Zagreb, Croatia. The 10 players first compete in a single rapid round-robin with a time control of 25 minutes plus a 10-second increment per move that is followed by a blitz double round-robin with a 5+2 time control.

Previous coverage:

• Day 3: Caruana Storms To Victory In Croatian Rapid, Takes 3-Point Lead Into Blitz
• Day 2: Caruana Leads In Zagreb As Gukesh Climbs Into Contention
• Day 1: Vachier-Lagrave Sole Leader After Day 1 Of Croatia Grand Chess Tour
• Caruana Wins Superbet Chess Classic Romania In Playoff After Dramatic Final Day
• Carlsen Wins Superbet Rapid & Blitz Poland With 10-Game Winning Streak