Superbet Classic R6: Firouzja beats Gukesh, joins the lead to make it four-way
D Gukesh suffered his second loss at Grand Chess Tour Superbet Chess Classic 2025 in Round 6. After deciding not to castle, the World Champion's king got into a precarious position. In the rook vs bishop endgame, Gukesh made an irrevocable mistake. His opponent, Alireza Firouja (FRA) had no trouble seizing the opportunity. He has now joined the lead with Fabiano Caruana (USA), Maxime Vachier-Lagrave (FRA) and R Praggnanandhaa at 3.5/6 each. Praggnanandhaa drew with Jan-Krzysztof Duda (POL) after the latter sacrificed his queen. Round 7 starts today at 3 p.m. local time, 5:30 p.m. IST. Photo: Lennart Ootes/Grand Chess Tour
Crowded at the top
With only three rounds left, currently there are four players at the top. It certainly means the tournament is heading for a close finish and playoff might also be required. The sixth round witnessed the fastest draw of the event between Maxime Vachier-Lagrave (FRA) and Nodirbek Abdusattorov (UZB). It lasted ten moves and Abdusattorov had more time on the clock when he finished than at the beginning.
Duda - Praggnanandhaa: 0.5-0.5
Jan-Krzysztof Duda (POL, 2739) and R Praggnanandhaa (2758) played twp Classical rated games against each other. Both of them ended in draws. The third one also had the same result.
16...Ra1 forced White to sacrifice his queen for a rook and knight 17.Qxa1 Nxa1 18.Rxa1 0-0 19.Rb1 Nd5 20.Nxd5 Bxd5 and the game ended in a draw via repetition after a dozen more moves.
Firouzja - Gukesh: 1-0
Alireza Firouza (FRA, 2757) and D Gukesh (2787) played a lot of Classical rated games against each other, seven to be exact. The score was tied at 3.5-3.5. It started out as the Giuco Piano or Italian opening where the World Champion was the aggressor. However, not castling his king put him in peril.
18...Kf8?! seems artificial. It does not seem like it will yield the result Black wants. 18...Rg8 or dxc4 were the obvious choices. 19.Qb3 Qd7 20.cxd5 Nxd5 21.Bc4 Nf4 22.Qa3+ Kg8 23.Nef5 Bb8 24.Qg3+ Ng6 25.Bxe6 Qxe6 26.Qe3 Ba7 27.Qxe4 Nxh4 28.Ne7+ Kg7 29.Qxh4 Qg4 30.Qxg4 hxg4 although Black has successfully managed to trade the queens to reduce the intensity of the attack, the position is far from pleasant. The game eventually liquidated into a rook vs bishop endgame with few pawns for each side.
Just when it seemed like the game end in a draw, the World Champion blundered 53...Bg5?? Find out the winning continuation which White played in the game.
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Schedule and Format
Superbet Chess Classic will have one round per day from 7th to 16th April. Rest day is on Monday 12th April. Each round starts at 3 p.m. local time, 5:30 p.m. IST, except the last round which starts at 2 p.m. local time, 4:30 p.m. IST. It will be a 10-player Round Robin event. Time control will be 40 moves in 90 minutes + 30 minutes + 30 seconds increment from move no.1.
Prize
The total prize fund for each Classical event is US$ 350000. The top three prizes are US$ 100000, $65000 and $48000.
Round 6 results
| Bo. | No. | FED | Rtg | White | Result | Black | FED | Rtg | No. | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 1 | POL | 2739 | GM | Duda, Jan-Krzysztof | ½ - ½ | GM | Praggnanandhaa, R | IND | 2758 | 6 | |||
| 2 | 3 | USA | 2751 | GM | So, Wesley | ½ - ½ | GM | Aronian, Levon | USA | 2747 | 4 | |||
| 3 | 2 | FRA | 2757 | GM | Firouzja, Alireza | 1 - 0 | GM | Gukesh, D | IND | 2787 | 5 | |||
| 4 | 10 | USA | 2776 | GM | Caruana, Fabiano | ½ - ½ | GM | Deac, Bogdan-Daniel | ROU | 2668 | 8 | |||
| 5 | 9 | FRA | 2723 | GM | Vachier-Lagrave, Maxime | ½ - ½ | GM | Abdusattorov, Nodirbek | UZB | 2771 | 7 |
Standings after Round 6
| Rk. | SNo | Name | FED | Rtg | Pts. | TB1 | TB2 | TB3 | TB4 | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 9 | GM | Vachier-Lagrave, Maxime | FRA | 2723 | 3,5 | 2 | 3 | 0 | 9,50 | |
| 2 | 2 | GM | Firouzja, Alireza | FRA | 2757 | 3,5 | 2 | 2 | 0 | 9,75 | |
| 3 | 6 | GM | Praggnanandhaa, R | IND | 2758 | 3,5 | 1 | 4 | 0 | 9,75 | |
| 4 | 10 | GM | Caruana, Fabiano | USA | 2776 | 3,5 | 1 | 3 | 0 | 10,75 | |
| 5 | 8 | GM | Deac, Bogdan-Daniel | ROU | 2668 | 3 | 1 | 4 | 0 | 8,75 | |
| 6 | 4 | GM | Aronian, Levon | USA | 2747 | 3 | 1 | 3 | 0 | 8,75 | |
| 7 | 3 | GM | So, Wesley | USA | 2751 | 3 | 1 | 2 | 0 | 9,25 | |
| 8 | 7 | GM | Abdusattorov, Nodirbek | UZB | 2771 | 2,5 | 0 | 4 | 0 | 7,50 | |
| 9 | 1 | GM | Duda, Jan-Krzysztof | POL | 2739 | 2,5 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 7,75 | |
| 10 | 5 | GM | Gukesh, D | IND | 2787 | 2 | 0 | 3 | 0 | 5,75 |
Round 7 pairings
| Bo. | No. | FED | Rtg | White | Result | Black | FED | Rtg | No. | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 6 | IND | 2758 | GM | Praggnanandhaa, R | GM | Firouzja, Alireza | FRA | 2757 | 2 | ||||
| 2 | 7 | UZB | 2771 | GM | Abdusattorov, Nodirbek | GM | Duda, Jan-Krzysztof | POL | 2739 | 1 | ||||
| 3 | 4 | USA | 2747 | GM | Aronian, Levon | GM | Caruana, Fabiano | USA | 2776 | 10 | ||||
| 4 | 5 | IND | 2787 | GM | Gukesh, D | GM | So, Wesley | USA | 2751 | 3 | ||||
| 5 | 8 | ROU | 2668 | GM | Deac, Bogdan-Daniel | GM | Vachier-Lagrave, Maxime | FRA | 2723 | 9 |
