SuperUnited Rapid 2024 R1-3: MVL is walking tall
Vidit Gujrathi had a tough day at Grand Chess Tour SuperUnited Rapid 2024. He lost all three of his games against Fabiano Caruana (USA), Levon Aronian (USA) and Ivan Saric (CRO). It was not an easy day for D Gukesh either. He mistimed an exchange in the first round against Wesley So (USA) in the endgame. He drew the second round against Alireza Firouzja (FRA). In his last round of the day, the teenager missed a winning opportunity versus Anish Giri (NED). The game ended in a draw after 116 moves. Maxime Vachier-Lagrave (FRA) emerged early sole leader 5/6. He is closely followed by Caruana and So at 4/6 each. Round 4 starts today from 3 p.m. local time, 6:30 p.m. IST. Photo: Lennart Ootes/Grand Chess Tour
Tough day for Vidit; Gukesh misses a win against Giri
Magnus Carlsen (NOR) won the last two editions of the tournament in 2022 and 2023. Before that in 2021, it was Maxime Vachier-Lagrave (FRA) who won this event. Could the Frenchman repeat the same feat again? We will know in the next few days.
Round 1: Nepomniachtchi - Firouzja: 1-1
Ian Nepomniachtchi (2754) and Alireza Firouzja (FRA, 2724) had an exciting draw in the first round. Nepomniachtchi had an opportunity in the final stage of the endgame.
The above position should still lead to a draw if Black trades pieces correctly. 39...Bxd3 40.Rxf4 Bxc2+?? 41.Kxc2 Bxf4 42.Kxc3 Kg7 now White needed to push the pawn first a5 to keep winning chances. Instead, 43.Kc4? allowed Black to salvage a draw Kf7. It all could have been avoided if Black decided not to capture the c2-pawn. 40...Bxf4 41.cxd3 Kg7 the black king manages to reach on time.
Caruana - Vidit
White has formed a battery on the e-file. The idea is to take either d4 or e7-pawn after Bh3. Black reacted poorly 28...Kf8?? It cost him material and the game 29.Bh3 Ng7 30.Rxd4 Qa3 31.Rxd7 Qa1 32.Rd8+ Ne8 Black could not move the king as it would run into a checkmate combination after 33.Ng5+. The game continued 33.Bd7 Rxe1+ 34.Nxe1 Qa7 35.Bxc6 Qc7 36.Rxe8+ Kg7 37.Bb5 and White won the game in another ten moves.
Aronian - Vachier-Lagrave
Maxime Vachier-Lagrave (FRA, 2747) could have finished things much earlier with nice tactical shot after 33.Nd7. Find out what it is.
So - Gukesh
Black should not trade the rooks himself and lose control of the d-file, the position and the game. Instead, 27...c5 28.Rxd8 Qxd8 keeps Black in the fight. 27...Rxd4? 28.Qxd4+ Kg8 29.Qd7 Qd6 30.Qe8+ Kg7 31.Qf7+ Kh8 32.Qxg6 and things just went out of hand for Black.
Vachier-Lagrave - Saric
MVL made a nice exchange sacrifice to gain positional advantage 17...Bxc5+ 18.bxc5 b4 19.Nd5 Bb5 20.Nxf6+ gxf6 21.Qe3 Bxf1 22.Rxf1 utilizing the vulnerability of the king is the primary reason behind the exchange sacrifice 22...Kh8 23.Nh4 Rg8 24.Qf3 Qd8 25.axb4 Rb8 26.Rd1 Qe7 27.Nf5 Qb7 28.Ne3 Rg6 29.Nd5 White maneuvered his knight to a perfect square and he went on to win the game.
Vidit Gujrathi lost against Levon Aronian after he did not improve the position of his weak king stranded at the center of the board.
Gukesh - Giri, Round 3
Black did one thing he should not have done take the the d5-pawn 41...Rxd5?? 42.Qb3 gave White a decisive advantage c4 43.Qa4 Qf5 44.Qxc4 Qf7 45.Qc8+ is winning for White. Instead, White made the mistake of playing 45.Re8+ Bf8 and Black is out of danger. The game went on for another 71 moves before ending in a draw.
Replay live stream
Replay Round 1-3 games
Round 3 results
| Bo. | Name | Result | Name | PGN | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | GM | Caruana, Fabiano | ½ - ½ | GM | Firouzja, Alireza | PGN | ||
| 2 | GM | Aronian, Levon | ½ - ½ | GM | Nepomniachtchi, Ian | PGN | ||
| 3 | GM | Saric, Ivan | 1 - 0 | GM | Vidit, Santosh Gujrathi | PGN | ||
| 4 | GM | So, Wesley | ½ - ½ | GM | Vachier-Lagrave, Maxime | PGN | ||
| 5 | GM | Gukesh, D | ½ - ½ | GM | Giri, Anish | PGN |
Standings after Round 3
Round 4 pairings
| Bo. | Name | Result | Name | PGN | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | GM | Firouzja, Alireza | GM | Giri, Anish | ||||
| 2 | GM | Vachier-Lagrave, Maxime | GM | Gukesh, D | ||||
| 3 | GM | Vidit, Santosh Gujrathi | GM | So, Wesley | ||||
| 4 | GM | Nepomniachtchi, Ian | GM | Saric, Ivan | ||||
| 5 | GM | Caruana, Fabiano | GM | Aronian, Levon |
Schedule and Format
SuperUnited Rapid and Blitz will have three rounds per day in the Rapid portion from 10th to 12th July. The Blitz event will take place on 13th and 14th July. It will be a double round-robin event for the Blitz which means nine rounds will be played on each day. Round 1 starts at 3 p.m. local time, 6:30 p.m. IST. It will be a 10-player Round Robin event. Time control for Rapid will be 25 minutes + 10 seconds increment. For Blitz, it will be 5 minutes + 2 seconds increment.
Prize
The total prize fund for each of the Rapid and Blitz event is US$ 175000.
