So grabs second place, Gukesh finishes third
Magnus Carlsen claimed overall victory at the 2025 SuperUnited Rapid & Blitz Croatia tournament, securing first place in both the blitz tournament and the combined standings. While the second day of blitz was less dominant than the first for the Norwegian, his performance remained solid enough to maintain his lead and win the event with a 2½-point margin and a round to spare. With this result, Carlsen has now won the Zagreb leg of the Grand Chess Tour for a fourth time.
Carlsen had started the blitz phase in superb form, scoring 7½/9 on the first day to move from third place into the lead. His motivation and precision were evident throughout Friday's games. In contrast, Gukesh Dommaraju, who had dominated the rapid section, collapsed with just 1½/9, falling to the bottom of the blitz table and losing the top spot in the overall standings. Wesley So, meanwhile, finished the first blitz day with 6½/9, positioning himself as Carlsen's main challenger going into Sunday.
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Sunday's nine remaining blitz rounds were more balanced. Carlsen began slowly, with just one win and four draws in the first five rounds. His only loss in the entire blitz tournament came in round 15 against Nodirbek Abdusattorov, but this did not jeopardise his lead. He finished with two more draws and a final-round win against Ivan Saric, bringing his total blitz score to 12½/18. That proved sufficient to secure both the blitz title and the overall tournament win.
Carlsen later confessed:
It was a fairly even tournament overall, and nobody could really break away from the pack. It doesn't feel like I've won, really. It feels like I just came here, played alright - and nobody really did anything special in the end.
Magnus Carlsen ended the tournament with a win over local representative Ivan Saric - he had already secured overall victory with a round to spare | Photo: Lennart Ootes
A football fan, Magnus Carlsen received a shirt of the Croatian national team during the closing ceremony | Photo: Lennart Ootes
Gukesh, by contrast, continued to struggle, although his performance improved compared to the previous day. After beginning the day with two more losses, he scored a morale-boosting win against Jan-Krzysztof Duda. He later added victories over Sarci and Fabiano Caruana, and held Carlsen to a short 14-move draw in round 13. However, defeats to Anish Giri and Alireza Firouzja, along with a final-round draw against Praggnanandhaa Rameshbabu, limited him to 5½/18 in blitz, leaving him at the bottom of the blitz standings. Nevertheless, thanks to his excellent rapid result, he still managed third place in the overall table.
Wesley So took second place overall after a consistent blitz performance across both days. He scored 12 points in total - just half a point behind Carlsen - and ended his tournament with a wild final-round win over Caruana. So lost only two games across the blitz phase, and his steadiness paid off as he edged out Gukesh in the combined standings. Abdusattorov matched So's 12-point total in the blitz section.
Final standings
WC = Wildcard
|
Player |
Rapid |
Blitz |
Total |
Tour Points |
Prize money |
| 1 |
Magnus Carlsen (NOR) |
10 |
12½ |
22½ |
WC |
$40,000 |
| 2 |
Wesley So (USA) |
8 |
12 |
20 |
10 |
$30,000 |
| 3 |
Gukesh Dommaraju (IND) |
14 |
5½ |
19½ |
8 |
$25,000 |
| =4 |
Jan-Krzysztof Duda (POL) |
11 |
8 |
19 |
6.5 |
$17,500 |
| =4 |
Alireza Firouzja (FRA) |
8 |
11 |
19 |
6.5 |
$17,500 |
| 6 |
Nodirbek Abdusattorov (UZB) |
6 |
12 |
18 |
5 |
$11,000 |
| =7 |
Anish Giri (NED) |
8 |
9 |
17 |
WC |
$9,500 |
| =7 |
Fabiano Caruana (USA) |
9 |
8 |
17 |
3.5 |
$9,500 |
| 9 |
R Praggnanandhaa (IND) |
9 |
6 |
15 |
2 |
$8,000 |
| 10 |
Ivan Šarić (CRO) |
7 |
6 |
13 |
WC |
$7,000 |
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Wesley So grabbed second place | Photo: Lennart Ootes
Gukesh Dommaraju reached the podium thanks to his outstanding performance in the rapid | Photo: Lennart Ootes
This win marks Carlsen's tenth Grand Chess Tour rapid and blitz victory out of twelve appearances, and his sixth straight tournament win in 2025, adding to successes at the Chessable Masters, Paris Freestyle Chess Grand Slam, Grenke Freestyle Chess Open, Chess.com Classic and Norway Chess.
In the Grand Chess Tour overall standings, Alireza Firouzja currently leads. Carlsen, who only participates as a wildcard, does not compete in the overall tour rankings.
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 tops the 2025 Grand Chess Tour overall standings | Photo: Lennart Ootes
Final standings - Blitz
All games - Blitz
Final standings - Rapid (win = 2pts.; draw = 1 pt.)
All games - Rapid
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