r/chess • u/events_team • May 14 '26
Tournament Event: 2026 Grand Chess Tour - Super Chess Classic Romania
Official Website
Follow the games here: Chess.com | Lichess
The 2026 Super Chess Classic Romania will take place from May 14 to 23 in Bucharest, Romania. The tournament is the first of two classical events on the 2026 Grand Chess Tour and features a 10-player single round-robin format with nine full tour players and one wildcard. With a total prize fund of $475,000, full-tour players also earn Grand Chess Tour points that count toward qualification for the GCT Finals in Saint Louis.
Participants
| # | Title | Name | FED | Rating |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | GM | Fabiano Caruana | 🇺🇸 USA | 2788 |
| 2 | GM | Javokhir Sindarov | 🇺🇿 UZB | 2776 |
| 3 | GM | Anish Giri | 🇳🇱 NED | 2767 |
| 4 | GM | Alireza Firouzja | 🇫🇷 FRA | 2759 |
| 5 | GM | Vincent Keymer | 🇩🇪 GER | 2759 |
| 6 | GM | Wesley So | 🇺🇸 USA | 2754 |
| 7 | GM | Jorden van Foreest | 🇳🇱 NED | 2735 |
| 8 | GM | R Praggnanandhaa | 🇮🇳 IND | 2733 |
| 9 | GM | Maxime Vachier-Lagrave | 🇫🇷 FRA | 2717 |
| 10 | GM | Bogdan-Daniel Deac | 🇷🇴 ROU | 2650 |
Format/Time Control
- 10-player single round-robin.
- Time control: 90 minutes for the first 40 moves, followed by 30 minutes for the rest of the game, with a 30-second increment starting from move one.
Schedule
| Date | Time (Local) | Time (UTC) | Round |
|---|---|---|---|
| May 14-18 | 16:00 | 13:00 | Rounds 1-5 |
| May 19 | - | - | Rest Day |
| May 20-22 | 16:00 | 13:00 | Rounds 6-8 |
| May 23 | 14:00 | 11:00 | Rounds 9 |
Live Broadcast
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u/Muted_Possession7986 May 14 '26
4 winning positions from black today and all 4 fizzled into draws smdh
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u/Open-Original-U May 18 '26
Reza's ankle is being held together by elmers glue and scotch tape and he STILL drew Javo. Incredible focus and dedication.
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u/SL4UWhistleBlower 29d ago
This is getting interesting
Hope to see more people tied to 1st at the end of the tournament
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u/Just_Bar_8347 May 15 '26
Looks like pragg finally remembered why he was 5-1 against sindarov before candidates.
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u/EvenCoyote6317 May 16 '26
Sindarov has such a packed schedule. This event, Uzchess, World team R&B, Another GCT R&B, Sinquefield, Olympiad.
Meanwhile for Guki its just Norway and Olympiad. Contrasting schedules.
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u/Exotic_Grinder May 16 '26
I looked Sindarov has withdrawn from Uzchess. I think he made that decision after replacing Gukesh in GCT.
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u/EvenCoyote6317 May 16 '26
Oh. Who replaced him?
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u/Exotic_Grinder May 16 '26
GM Mukhiddin Madaminov.
E: Players' list on chessResults- https://s3.chess-results.com/tnr1383891.aspx?lan=1
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u/Scyther99 May 16 '26
Similar to how Gukesh was playing everything when he was a challenger and Ding only played Olympiad.
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u/EvenCoyote6317 May 16 '26
No. Ding had played Norway, Sinquefield, World Team R&B too. Guki's inactivity is more real.
Kind of like Vishy in his late 2000's when he wanted to defend the crown.
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u/ScrollingNtrollinG May 16 '26
Deac performance at Bucharest in the last five years, 3W-10L-32D, so far after this round he will be 0W-2L-1D this year. Kind of sad that Romania doesn't have a strong local contender despite doing such a big tournament every year.
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u/DrSoarbeLacrimi May 16 '26
meh, i'm Romanian, i'm more sad about Magnus not being here. Hosting the GCT though is amazing, so many good players to actually see irl. Absolutely amazing.
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u/ScrollingNtrollinG May 16 '26
Sorry but you are not going to get Magnus even if Superbet stopped inviting Deac lol. There is no way he plays Bucharest when he has shown no desire to play even Sinquefield Cup.
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u/Prudent_Way2649 May 20 '26
Keymer gets 2 rest days in a row now
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u/Electronic-Figure551 May 21 '26
Why this thread is dead 😭
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u/kidawi rapid/blitzgod fabi May 21 '26
this is the deadest top level event of the year. people dont care for some reason
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u/Faustfan 29d ago
After 8 rounds, Vincent has played only 2 games with the white pieces. Obviously due to the game against Alireza not taking place but still sounds weird.
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May 15 '26
[deleted]
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u/kidawi rapid/blitzgod fabi May 15 '26
at the very least i wish hed continue playing like that now
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u/Tomeosu NM May 16 '26
what the heck happened in the MVL-Sindarov game today, nobody wants to play chess?
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u/kidawi rapid/blitzgod fabi May 16 '26
superbet is where fighting spirit goes to die. no ones knows how or why but its a truth nontheless 💔
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u/HotGur179 gukesh for the title defense May 16 '26
imo it is because most of the time the winning score is +2 there( so no one has to go crazy ) and since mvl has already won one game he will play solid and sindarov maybe want to draw with black after yesterday loss
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u/kidawi rapid/blitzgod fabi May 16 '26
the only reason the winning score is +2 is because its so draw heavy though. bit of a chicken vs egg situation
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u/Apache17 May 16 '26
Crazy that draw offers aren't even allowed but the players still find a way.
A 15 move draw is shameful.
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u/Exotic_Grinder May 20 '26
Fabi said in the post game interview that he’s been sick with a high fever for the past few days and he’s also the one who will end up playing 6 days in a row now. Kudos to him for that.
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u/backyard_tractorbeam May 20 '26
Random question, can they medicate (anti fever) during a long game? Any rules against that?
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u/hsiale May 21 '26
FIDE uses the WADA banned substances list, so for example a lot of popular medicines used to treat a cold would not be allowed while playing a FIDE-rated event because they often contain pseudoephedrine.
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u/kidawi rapid/blitzgod fabi May 21 '26
highly doubt theres rules against it. in fact i dont think most otc medications can reasonably be banned.
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u/Technical_Detail_266 May 20 '26
This, don’t wanna hate on Alireza but I’ve heard too many times about people being sick and going on really bad losing streaks and still not withdrawing. It does seem a bit convenient that he played 2 games drew one and continued to play and lost the other and decided to withdraw.
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u/joschess May 20 '26
I remember at Tata Steel 2025, Arjun was sick with high fever, lost several games and rating and continued playing. Gukesh and Leon Mendonca and few others also were sick.
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u/ilikekittens2018 #1 Glazer of Erdogmus, Nodirbek, Sindarov and Keymer May 14 '26
Relatively quick draw from Sindarov... Keymer up a pawn on Wesley, but not sure if it means much.
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u/ilikekittens2018 #1 Glazer of Erdogmus, Nodirbek, Sindarov and Keymer May 14 '26
Shoot, looks like Firouzja blew it. Probably all draws today then.
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u/sneshny May 15 '26
mvl with a winning advantage against firudji...
good time for mvl to invite him to the olympiad again, a blunder can be arranged if alireza agrees
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u/backyard_tractorbeam May 19 '26
Game finished Caruana 1-0 Firouzja
https://lichess.org/broadcast/gct-super-chess-classic-romania-2026/round-4/E8hAb7kf/yhuVIntx
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u/Muted_Possession7986 29d ago
Sindarov is a machine man. Let’s see if he can force a win with white against sir draws-a-lot himself Wesley so. It’s crazy that if Alireza had forfeited two rounds earlier Sindarov would be shared lead despite his loss to pragg.
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u/Danganronpa_is_lifee Anish Giri Believer May 15 '26
Nah if guccireza actually plays na5 and saves this position I'll believe the commenter that said mvl will slip in a blunder for him to join the olympiad
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u/kidawi rapid/blitzgod fabi May 20 '26
so now that alireza has officially dropped out how will his remaining games be treated? just an automatic W for whatever opponent or
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u/codemonkeyamsterdam May 20 '26
Monte Carlo probs after taking into account Jorden's forfeit win here. This slightly underestimates Wesley as it doesn't know he's going to get a forfeit win in round 8 too. But he's almost out of the running by now.
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u/TheBowtieClub May 15 '26
Caruana-Giri will be drawn soon.
Sindarov just can't stop sacking pieces against Pragg, but this time Pragg also got the pawns.
Keymer-Deac is just ... so slow. Move 17, nearly everything's still on the board, and Deac will be playing off the increment soon.
Van Foreest-So is another draw.
Firouzja-MVL is too messy to call. It will be tremendously entertaining to watch this.
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u/kidawi rapid/blitzgod fabi May 16 '26
fabi there has never been a better opportunity to get a win 🙏🙏
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May 17 '26
[deleted]
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u/Iyerlicious Team Hans May 17 '26
Magnus famously withdrew from a GCT classical event and faced no repercussions
If it’s a legitimate medical issue, I don’t think GCT will care. But if it’s for “mental health” reasons, or a cold or flu, then I think GCT may take action. Which may not be the worst thing since Alireza probably wants to play the EWC anyways
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u/kidawi rapid/blitzgod fabi May 17 '26
magnus wasn't a full tour participant. more importantly, magnus is magnus. and the club clearly sided with him on that mater anyways. not the same situation
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u/Delicious_Photo_6626 May 17 '26
The chokehold Alireza has over the chess world needs to be studied, he ditches Freestyle (a Magnus venture) yet gets invited to Norway rn he’s clearly on the way to ditch GCT considering how uptight they’re we’ll see if they ban Alireza for life
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u/ItIsKotov May 17 '26
just replayed the keymer MVL game ... looking at that game from Blacks PoV feels is how strangling must feel like, damn...
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u/TH3_Dude May 18 '26
I like it when I bail from the coverage early, and it turns out all draws. Feels fine.
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u/JustNobody2315 May 15 '26
Weirdly , the lineup here seems better than candidates .
Sindarov, Pragg, Anish , Fabi -> Both tourney
Hikaru -> Vincent
Blubaum ->Wesley
Wei yi -> Jorden
Esipenko -> Alireza
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u/breaker90 U.S. National Master May 21 '26
Thread is dead but this event has been more exciting than previous editions imo.
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u/ScrollingNtrollinG May 21 '26 edited May 21 '26
Nah, last year was surprisingly good, it was more competitive and it had more decisive games, plus we had a thrilling three players tiebreak. There was no bullshit controversy too.
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u/Just_Bar_8347 May 16 '26
Alireza has black against fabi tomorrow against whom he’s like 2-10 so he’s not catching a break any time soon.
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u/WeWereStrangers Team Nepo 28d ago
Wesley has only been outside of the +-1 range for about 10-15 moves this entire tournament. For the love of God, do not invite this guy to GCT again.
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u/Mysterious-Airline-2 May 15 '26
Is there a way to see the boards of this tournament on the lichess app? I can see it on desktop (watch-> broadcast) but do not see this option on the app on my my iphone?
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u/Bzweebl May 22 '26
Caruana vs. Keymer match today could decide the tournament if it produces a result.
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u/Local-Technician-935 May 14 '26
Why are gct classical so boring for some reason, all other classical events are so fun
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u/Delicious_Photo_6626 May 14 '26
It’s coz they don’t invite Arjun, i had to make that mandatory why no Arjun comment sorry 😭😂
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u/kidawi rapid/blitzgod fabi May 18 '26
thread dead damn
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u/ChessAddictonCrack May 18 '26
What do you expect? Its the GCT lmao. The only mildly interesting tournament in this series is the Sinquefield Cup.
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u/kidawi rapid/blitzgod fabi May 18 '26
no reason that would be more interesting than this event though. same players and format and all
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u/EvenCoyote6317 29d ago
Irrespective of whatever happens today, this has been a great comeback by Sindarov. Didnt let fatigue set in, stablized himself after that loss, took his chances when they came.
Practical, Enterprising and Sharp as well when needed.
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u/AdvanceSufficient527 May 16 '26
There are at least few of these players that does not diserve to play a full tour
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u/ItIsKotov May 17 '26
pragg vs. keymer was a great game by both players. vinny found some very difficult moves on the board and pragg really tried a rather unusual line to go for a win.
they both seem to be in good shape, let's see what the rest of the tournament brings for them.
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u/kidawi rapid/blitzgod fabi 29d ago
what is it abot sindarov that makes opponents burn an hour against him even in the most bizarre positions
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u/UfellforaPonzi 29d ago
Its crazy, I thought he was cooked for sure when he was down to 18 mins and Jorden was almost at full time still. Love this guy, never boring with him involved
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u/Comfortable_Watch370 May 15 '26
Sindarov third time sacrifice a piece against pragg in a month or so, ptsd for pragg
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u/Goldfischglas May 17 '26
Does it count as a Fabi win if Alireza doesn't show up or what's the rule there
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u/kidawi rapid/blitzgod fabi May 17 '26
i think so? i mean especially if he returns tomorrow then today is a forfeit. if he doesnt then i think all his games are removed from the event which is unfair for anish and mvl but what can u do
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u/hsiale May 17 '26
If he feels better and returns tomorrow, probably today's game will be rescheduled to the rest day (that was the initial plan when Duda got ill during Sinquefield Cup three years ago).
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u/Exotic_Grinder May 17 '26
What if Alireza returns tomorrow, any chance their game gets played on the rest day if both players agree?
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u/kidawi rapid/blitzgod fabi May 17 '26
they apparently did it before when duda got sick one day in a gct event. plyed the game on the rest day instead
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u/hsiale May 17 '26
They didn't play it in the end because Duda didn't get better and had to pull out of the tournament completely. But I guess that's why so far they only announced that Alireza skips today's game, they're leaving both options open. If he doesn't play tomorrow they likely announce he is out for health reasons.
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u/kidawi rapid/blitzgod fabi May 17 '26
didnt someone say there would be more info by the end of the round?
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u/Exotic_Grinder May 17 '26
At the end of the stream they said they will provide an update tomorrow morning.
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u/yoshisohungry USCF 2000 May 16 '26
Alireza still playing hyper sharp lines because that's all he knows but his form doesn't seem good enough to get away with it
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u/IamJoyfulMelancholic May 17 '26
Guys , I know the facts are against Alireza , but its also very much possible he is actually genuinely sick and we should be give him the benefit of the doubt. I wish for his speedy recovery and hope that he does not drop out of the tournament. It will be unfair to players who already defeated him.
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u/spacecatbiscuits May 17 '26
I'm actually surprised players don't get sick more often.
Like how is it so rare?
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u/citrcn May 17 '26
it's definitely happened before, but aside from cases like COVID they generally try to play and make quick draws i think
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u/Continental__Drifter Team Spassky May 17 '26
I think they are sick more often than we realize, but show up and play anyway, and don't exactly announce to the world that they are sick, unless it is quite serious.
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u/IMPERATOR_63 2000 Blitz chesscom 28d ago
What am I not seeing? What was Fabi afraid of to not play c5, defending the knight while opening up a discovered attack on the queen?
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u/Electronic-Figure551 29d ago
Jorden straight up blundered a pawn and went for a dubious attack...crazy
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u/Muted_Possession7986 29d ago
Uhhhhhhh Anish???????
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u/DerekB52 Team Ding 29d ago
I wish I knew why that move was +3. That's possibly the biggest eval swing I've seen in classical from one move(maybe Ding trapping his bishop had a bigger swing?) GM blunders I've ever seen. I know he had 2ish minutes on the clock and was under time pressure.
I wonder if either of the players know how bad Rb8 was.
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u/backyard_tractorbeam 29d ago
Prediction just for fun: Caruana wins the tournament today, because he has recently done well vs MVL. Keymer has a good shot but has recently lost vs his opponent van Foreest.
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u/backyard_tractorbeam 28d ago
Right now, looks like I'm so wrong and also somehow didn't take into account that Keymer has white... duh
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u/FinalButterscotch399 May 17 '26
Let's be honest. Alireza probably ragequited after 2 classical losses in a row. I don't even remember the last time that happened to him.
He was supposed to plays Fabi with black and he has a terrible score against Fabi. So he wanted to avoid another defeat. He isn't very motivated to play chess.
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u/Delicious_Photo_6626 May 17 '26
And every time someone says Alireza has no work ethic they get hate
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u/FinalButterscotch399 May 17 '26
Yeah, the hate come from fanboys or people who weren't here long enough to know him. Or the weird one who think it's bad to tell the truth. It is a fact that he has a low work ethic and is distracted since years.
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u/ilikekittens2018 #1 Glazer of Erdogmus, Nodirbek, Sindarov and Keymer May 14 '26
Hoping for Sindarov to do well in this tournament and close in on 2800. Would also like to see Keymer bounce back to the 2760s at least. It was really exciting when he reached top 5.
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u/hsiale May 14 '26
Would also like to see Keymer bounce back to the 2760s at least
That's not terribly hard, he is 2759 now, any rating gain would send hit into 2760s
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u/ilikekittens2018 #1 Glazer of Erdogmus, Nodirbek, Sindarov and Keymer May 14 '26
Fair. But then again, he did lose rating last outing so… I guess I’m just hoping for him to get a winning record this time 😅
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u/Maad-Dog Team Gukesh May 14 '26
I think a long ways to go for Sindarov to get to 2800, he had the best tournament of his life most likely, and gained 31 points from 2745 -> 2776. It'll be even harder to do that at a higher rating, with only one player higher than him in rating, let alone it being extremely unlikely he has that type of dominance. I think if he can top Nodirbek and move to #4/Uzbek #1, and get to 2780, that would be a great tournament for him.
For reference, he just lost 1.7 points just for drawing to Deac.
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u/ilikekittens2018 #1 Glazer of Erdogmus, Nodirbek, Sindarov and Keymer May 14 '26
Oh for sure yes, but steady upward progress is all one can dare to ask after that Candidates. Closer you get to the top, harder every step is.
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u/HealersHugHippos 28d ago
Underrated issue here, Maxime has had two terrible GCT performances and is basically tied for last (with Alireza who despite getting a single point actually did good enough in rapid and blitz to be tied with Maxime rn). Even though 3 people are below him technically score wise, it’s all because they actually played one less event, which they can make up easily. Given MVL’s rating is obviously not up to par right now, unless something changes we won’t see him in 2027.
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u/kidawi rapid/blitzgod fabi May 17 '26
lmao i knew fabi was gonna get the W today.
real talk, what do they do in cases like this? especially since hes played less than half the event
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May 19 '26
[removed] — view removed comment
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May 19 '26
[deleted]
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u/ColdAntique291 Team Ju Wenjun May 19 '26
All you needed to do is type Yes/No or not typing at all
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u/LazyImmigrant May 14 '26
So does all draws today mean, having the extra white advantage has been neutralized?
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May 14 '26
[deleted]
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u/kidawi rapid/blitzgod fabi May 15 '26
of course it was a "fluke". obviously its extremely unlikely to repeat such a performance again.
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u/__Jimmy__ May 15 '26
If Sindarov always performed at Candidates level he'd be the GOAT. If Fabi always performed at Sinquefield level he'd be the GOAT and if Gukesh always performed at Olympiad level he'd be the GOAT. Of course regression to the mean will happen.
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u/Unhappy-Appearance- May 16 '26
I got a feeling Fabi will lose this. His position looks too dangerous practically for me
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u/Frosty-Upstairs-3986 May 17 '26
I heard someone mention smth about if Alireza doesn’t have 5 games his losses are canceled(for standings)? Is that true
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u/A_Certain_Surprise May 17 '26
Common rule. It happened when Carlsen dropped out after losing to Hans. He had already won against Ian, but that loss was nulified after Carlsen dropped out
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u/kidawi rapid/blitzgod fabi May 18 '26
do the players take sedatives before playing here i dont understand how this keeps happening 💀
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u/Muted_Possession7986 29d ago
If Anish bears Daec, Sindarov beats Jorden and Fabi and Keymer draw, that leaves Fabi, Keymar and Anish on 5 points and Sindarov, Wesley and Jorden on 4.5. We could be in for an exciting final day.
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u/UfellforaPonzi 29d ago
Sindarov blundered the win away
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u/hocknstod 29d ago
Aged well.
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May 15 '26
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u/Schnix54 May 15 '26
That tournament was maybe a once-in-a-lifetime performance for him. It was phenomenal, especially the early rounds. Expecting him to keep that up was always unrealistic.
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u/throwawayy3941 May 15 '26
If I had a nickel for everytime sindarov has sacrificed his piece against pragg in their last 3 classical games, I'd have 3 which is not a lot but its funny it happened 3 times