GM Magnus Carlsen struggled on the final day but still won the 2025 SuperUnited Croatia Rapid & Blitz with a round to spare and a 2.5-point margin. GM Wesley So took second place after winning a crazy game against GM Fabiano Caruana in the final round, which was enough to overtake World Champion Gukesh Dommaraju, who stabilized to finish third. There was no more Gukesh-Carlsen drama, as their third individual clash was a 14-move draw.
The final standings in Zagreb had a familiar look.
SuperUnited Rapid & Blitz Croatia Final Standings
Carlsen Era Isn’t Over Yet, But Last Day Was A Struggle
Carlsen took sole first place, his 10th victory in 12 Grand Chess Tour rapid and blitz events that he’s played. It was a sixth straight win in such events, and a sixth consecutive victory in tournaments in 2025, after the Chessable Masters, Paris Freestyle Chess Grand Slam, Grenke Freestyle Chess Open, Chess.com Classic, and Norway Chess. Carlsen had mentioned playing “old man chess,” but the 13th world chess champion felt it was going just fine.
Not bad for “old man chess!” 😂 https://t.co/95jRKxCu0N
— Garry Kasparov (@Kasparov63) July 6, 2025
Kasparov had wondered aloud if Carlsen’s era of domination was coming to an end when Gukesh won their rapid game, but by the end of the event the status quo looked largely intact.
That didn’t mean it had been easy, however. Carlsen said on receiving his trophy:
I had one good day, really, which was yesterday, and that turned out to be enough, which was a little bit lucky, but it speaks to the fact that 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, and then I usually end up winning!
Or as he tweeted:
When nobody else has a great performance, my B-game is usually enough. Always striving for more though! https://t.co/PAofdSP9H3
— Magnus Carlsen (@MagnusCarlsen) July 6, 2025
After scoring 7.5/9 on the first day of blitz, Carlsen had just the fifth-best score, 5/9, on the second. What should have been a procession when his closest rival, GM Jan-Krzysztof Duda, opened with three losses, became a painful slog to clinch the title.
Carlsen said, “When I woke up, my head was heavy and it was just not easy at all, so on those days you kind of just try to survive,” and he needed all his survival instincts to hold an 89-move draw against GM Anish Giri in the first round of the day.
That was followed, though, by the brightest moment of the day, a win over the dangerous GM Alireza Firouzja, who had just defeated Duda and would go on to score 6/9.
With the tricky 25…Nd5! Carlsen began to pose problems that ultimately saw White’s position collapse in time trouble.
That win gave Carlsen a three-point lead with seven rounds to go, with the margin remaining the same after a draw against GM Fabiano Caruana.
That meant there was no reason for the world number-one to be too upset when the world champion decided not to go for glory but make an instant and very well-known draw.
Gukesh and Carlsen play the infamous 14-move Berlin draw! 😀 pic.twitter.com/pPcuQ9XxdQ
— chess24 (@chess24com) July 6, 2025
Still the three-point lead remained intact, and it just seemed to be a question of how many rounds in advance Carlsen would win the tournament.
He stumbled again before escaping with a draw against So, with the gap cut to 2.5 points, before in the 15th round of blitz he was finally beaten by GM Nodirbek Abdusattorov.
Abdusattorov finished rock bottom in the rapid but top-scored with 7/9 on the final day of blitz. He rounded up Carlsen’s d6-pawn, and the reaction 19…Ne4? was a mistake after which no more chances were given.
That left a fascinating situation. There were three rounds to go, but in the next round, Carlsen was facing Duda, who, despite a difficult day, had returned to two points behind the leader, just as he’d started the day.
Carlsen could clinch tournament victory with a win, but a loss would leave Duda within a single point. Perhaps unsurprisingly, therefore, the world number-one chose maximum solidity, but he still managed to weave a winning position…
Magnus is suddenly clearly winning the endgame! pic.twitter.com/h0rxCH5mnC
— chess24 (@chess24com) July 6, 2025
…before going on to spoil it.
The saga continued, with GM Praggnanandhaa Rameshbabu the opponent up next. The young Indian had unfortunately taken over from his colleague Gukesh in underperforming, scoring 0.5/7 for the day to that point. It looked as though it would be a slam-dunk for Carlsen, who now needed only a draw, but instead he slipped into a dead-lost position.
Just as that was happening, however, it suddenly no longer mattered, since Duda, the only player who could catch the leader, got checkmated by GM Ivan Saric.
Carlsen looked as though he’d win the tournament with a loss, but in fact he escaped with a draw. Then the “victory lap” in the final round, a win against Saric to get back to a plus score, was in keeping with the rest of the day—Carlsen missed the simple win of a piece and had to bamboozle his opponent in an equal endgame instead!
So it was far from smooth, but the final margin to second place was 2.5 points, and no one else had shown the consistency to challenge for the title. Carlsen explained that’s one thing he likes about the rapid and blitz events:
It’s 27 games. That helps a lot! That’s partly what I really, really like about the format is that it’s a lot of games and you have time to come back.
The battle for second place was much closer.
So And Gukesh Complete The Podium
In a way, Carlsen’s triumph wasn’t critical to most of the field, since as a wildcard he wouldn’t take home any Grand Chess Tour points, though he did pocket the $40,000 top prize. It was So who topped the standings among those battling to finish in the top four and qualify for the Tour Finals in Sao Paulo later this year.
This is how the race currently looks—each of the nine-tour regulars competes in two classical events and two of the three rapid and blitz tournaments.
| Rank | Player | FED | Poland | Romania | Croatia | Total | Prize Money |
| 1 | Alireza Firouzja | 6 | 10 | 6.5 | 22.5 | $100,166 | |
| 2= | R Praggnanandhaa | 8 | 10 | 2 | 20 | $110,666 | |
| 2= | Maxime Vachier-Lagrave | 10 | 10 | 20 | $97,666 | ||
| 4 | Wesley So | 3.5 | 10 | 13.5 | $47,125 | ||
| 5 | Gukesh Dommaraju | 3.5 | 8 | 11.5 | $42,125 | ||
| 6= | Jan-Krzysztof Duda | 3.5 | 1 | 6.5 | 11 | $37,500 | |
| 6= | Nodirbek Abdusattorov | 6 | 5 | 11 | $37,000 | ||
| 8= | Fabiano Caruana | 7 | 3.5 | 10.5 | $41,500 | ||
| 8= | Levon Aronian | 7 | 3.5 | 10.5 | $37,125 | ||
| — | Vladimir Fedoseev | 13 | 13 | $40,000 | |||
| — | Magnus Carlsen | 13 | 13 | $40,000 | |||
| — | Bogdan-Daniel Deac | 5 | 3.5 | 8.5 | $28,125 | ||
| — | Aravindh Chithambaram | 3.5 | 3.5 | $9,500 | |||
| — | Anish Giri | 3.5 | 3.5 | $9,500 | |||
| — | David Gavrilescu | 2 | 2 | $8,000 | |||
| — | Veselin Topalov | 1 | 1 | $7,000 | |||
| — | Ivan Saric | 1 | 1 | $7,000 |
At the moment So would squeeze into the top four, having played one event fewer than two of the players above him, two-time tour champion Firouzja and Praggnanandhaa.
The last day of blitz began with a clash between the two players who joined Carlsen on the podium, with Gukesh going astray on move 16 and getting put to the sword in brutal fashion.
That attacking win is our Game of the Day, which has been analyzed by GM Rafael Leitao below.
The contrast in fortunes between the two players is visible in the final scoretable of the blitz. So was joint second just behind Carlsen, while Gukesh couldn’t quite escape bottom place.
Gukesh’s fantastic result in rapid, however, meant that margins were very fine. On the last day he beat Duda, Saric, and Caruana to score 4/9, a modest score that if he’d achieved it on the first day of blitz would have kept him on top of the standings. It was still very nearly enough for second place.
Finished 3rd -GCT Zagreb R&B ! pic.twitter.com/ykcJvff2fD
— Gukesh D (@DGukesh) July 6, 2025
So, meanwhile, had suffered in the rapid, commenting: “After the rapid portion, I wanted to quit chess because I was playing so badly. I think I was in eighth place, but yesterday really brightened up my spirits!”
“Everyone is very strong here. You basically have the top 10 strongest in the world, plus Ivan Saric who’s really good.”
Wesley So after getting 🥈 at GCT Croatia. pic.twitter.com/OICqUMaTwG
— Take Take Take (@TakeTakeTakeApp) July 6, 2025
He felt his energy levels dropped on the last day: “That’s one of the things I can improve on, my stamina and my endurance—that’s why Magnus is the best!”
That’s one of the things I can improve on, my stamina and my endurance—that’s why Magnus is the best!
—Wesley So
Nevertheless, a last-round thriller—five players were within a single point of second place—ended with So ahead of the pack. So’s own game against Caruana was the wildest, since as he put it, “I was losing first, then winning, then losing, then two moves before the end of the last game I wasn’t sure!”
We got a stunning last twist, with Caruana making the final mistake on the brink of victory.
“Last year I tied for second, this year clear second—it’s a great result!” said So.
That’s all for Croatia, with the Tour now moving to the U.S. for the Saint Louis Rapid & Blitz and the Sinquefield Cup in autumn before the Tour Finals in Brazil at the end of September.
How to rewatch?
The 2025 SuperUnited Croatia Rapid & Blitz was the third event on the 2025 Grand Chess Tour and ran July 2-6 in the Westin Hotel in Zagreb, Croatia. The 10 players first competed in a single rapid round-robin with a time control of 25 minutes plus a 10-second increment per move, followed by a blitz double round-robin with a 5+2 time control.
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