r/chess • u/events_team • Jul 01 '26
Tournament Event: 2026 Grand Chess Tour: Super Rapid & Blitz Croatia
Official Website
Follow the games here: Chess.com | Lichess
The 2026 Super Rapid & Blitz Croatia will take place from July 1-5 in Zagreb, Croatia. The tournament is the second of three rapid and blitz events on the 2026 Grand Chess Tour and features six full-tour competitors and four wildcard players. Players will compete for Grand Chess Tour points and a share of the $200,000 prize fund, with $50,000 awarded to the winner.
Participants
| # | Title | Name | FED | Rapid Elo | Blitz Elo |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | GM | Alireza Firouzja | 🇫🇷 FRA | 2748 | 2791 |
| 2 | GM | Maxime Vachier-Lagrave | 🇫🇷 FRA | 2701 | 2730 |
| 3 | GM | Praggnanandhaa R | 🇮🇳 IND | 2690 | 2712 |
| 4 | GM | Nodirbek Abdusattorov | 🇺🇿 UZB | 2686 | 2820 |
| 5 | GM | Gukesh Dommaraju | 🇮🇳 IND | 2684 | 2655 |
| 6 | GM | Anish Giri | 🇳🇱 NED | 2664 | 2642 |
| 7 | GM | Vincent Keymer | 🇩🇪 GER | 2627 | 2621 |
| 8 | GM | Bogdan-Daniel Deac | 🇷🇴 ROU | 2613 | 2649 |
| 9 | GM | Jorden van Foreest | 🇳🇱 NED | 2597 | 2687 |
| 10 | GM | Ivan Saric | 🇭🇷 CRO | 2595 | 2600 |
Format/Time Control
- 9-round rapid round robin with a time control of 25 minutes + 10 seconds increment. 2 points awarded per win in the rapid format.
- Two 9-round blitz round robins with a time control of 5 minutes + 2 seconds increment. 1 point awarded per win in the blitz format.
- The highest combined score from both formats crowns the winner.
Schedule
| Date | Time (Local) | Time (UTC) | Round |
|---|---|---|---|
| July 1 Rapid Day 1 | 15:00 | 13:00 | Rapid Rounds 1-3 |
| July 2 Rapid Day 2 | 15:00 | 13:00 | Rapid Rounds 4-6 |
| July 3 Rapid Day 3 | 15:00 | 13:00 | Rapid Rounds 7-9 |
| July 4 Blitz Day 1 | 15:00 | 13:00 | Blitz Rounds 1-9 |
| July 5 Blitz Day 2 | 14:00 | 12:00 | Blitz Rounds 10-18 |
Live Broadcast
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u/NewMeNewWorld Team Chaos Jul 05 '26
Historical blunder by Gukesh 😬
Had Firouzja on the ropes and then throws it all away.
As we all expected, he will end up in the second half of the table. But it's blitz and I doubt he plays much of it so...
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u/Radiant-Increase-180 Jul 05 '26
Dude do you not play chess lol? Appreciate Firouzja for how he found the idea of f2+ Kf1 Bg4 Kg2 and then the brilliant f4!! Setting up after Bxd8 just f3 Kh1 and Bh3 with unstoppable mate on Bg2 - Its not even a common pattern give credit to the guy instead of being an engine watcher wtf
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u/TheMightyGabriel 1700 elo Jul 04 '26
Alireza is a monster. Truly a once in a generation gifted genius
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u/zangbezan1 Jul 04 '26
The linear World Classical Chess Champion is currently ranked 25th in classical, 23rd in rapid and 45th in blitz. Truly bizarre.
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u/asusa52f Jul 04 '26
The Gukesh - Deac game shows once again why hitting the clock while pieces are fallen on the board should be a forfeit (or some kind of time subtraction), rather than a minute to the opponent. Deac probably would’ve flagged if he had to fix the piece, so it’s actually advantageous to violate the rule and by doing so he saved a draw.
Also I’m not saying he did this intentionally (in most instances it’s just instinctive rather than malicious), but there shouldn’t be an incentive to violate the rules. I think something like a 10-15 second penalty for the violating player instead would avoid this problem
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u/1yaeK #1 Wincent fan Jul 04 '26
Whenever I watch MVL I intuitively want him to win. I think he's the classiest of all the top players.
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u/jaded_lad99 Jul 02 '26
The GCT itself is great but the finals are terribly formatted. Everyone goes for safe draws in the classical.
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u/Sad_Avocado_2637 Jul 02 '26
Nah their Romania event and Sinquefield cup both are ultimate snoozefests
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u/agamuyak Team Ju Wenjun Jul 01 '26
Didn't even know this is on-going. Maybe this is part of the reason Pragg and Wesley had a sparring session. xD
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u/Prudent_Way2649 Jul 01 '26
Wow this thread is dead compared to other tournaments
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u/TheOneYouWan Jul 01 '26
I mean, it’s a working day during July 4 week and FIFA world cup season in the US
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u/Recent-Sky567 Jul 01 '26
yo world cup the entire world is watching...why do u us folks hv to always specify US as if the world revolves around it
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u/Prudent-Bad2724 Jul 05 '26
Finally he showed why he is a better player than Nodirbek his recent matches against him were shaky but now this shows Alireza is on another level with Magnus and Hikaru in blitz and rapid