Firouzja Wins STL Rapid & Blitz, Seizes GCT Lead From Caruana
GM Alireza Firouzja captured first with two rounds to spare at the 2024 Saint Louis Rapid & Blitz on Friday. Leading the event during the entire last day, his victory was never in doubt, echoing his convincing performance at the same tournament in 2022.
GM Wesley So finished second while GM Hikaru Nakamura leapfrogged into clear third with a win vs. GM Praggnanandhaa Rameshbabu in the final round.
Final Standings
Firouzja began the day with a victory vs. GM Leinier Dominguez, increasing his lead to two full points. In a level ending, Firouzja outplayed his seasoned opponent one step at a time in the ending.
As the day continued, victory steadily grew closer. In round 13, Firouzja used his stellar endgame technique to defeat Praggnanandhaa, stretching his lead to three points. The French-Iranian grandmaster slowly took over the position, creating weak points on both sides of the board until his opponent's forces were overwhelmed.
Firouzja suffered his first loss of the day at the hands of GM Nodirbek Abdusattorov in round 15.
Yet, the very next game, he recovered with a victory vs. GM Ian Nepomniachtchi, clinching the event two rounds early.
There are still 2 rounds to go, but Alireza Firouzja can no longer be caught! #GrandChessTour pic.twitter.com/8rftw5NWwX
— chess24 (@chess24com) August 16, 2024
With this tournament victory, Firouzja also seized the Grand Chess Tour lead from GM Fabiano Caruana. Leading the tour by a significant margin, these two will duke it out for the throne in the last event, the Sinquefield Cup, which begins on August 19.
Finally catching his breath at the close of this 27-round tournament, Firouzja shared:
I’m feeling very happy. It’s a very good feeling to play in this club, and I’m going to enjoy the rest of the days. I’m looking forward to the Sinquefield Cup.
[Leading the GCT] matters a lot. The most important tournament of the year is probably the Grand Chess Tour. I’m looking forward to winning it.
So won clear second with an incredibly steady performance, maintaining his spot in the standings the entire day. Pressing in the endgame with an extra exchange vs. GM Levon Aronian in round 14, So converted with a crafty finish.
Having a much more turbulent day, Nakamura rose up the standings to finish third. He began the day with a trio of victories vs. GM Maxime Vachier-Lagrave, Abdusattorov, and Nepomniachtchi. The most shocking of these was his win vs. Abdusattorov.
It's never over until it's over!♟️🫣
— Saint Louis Chess Club (@STLChessClub) August 16, 2024
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♚#STLChessClub #STLRapidBlitz #GrandChessTour #chess #hikarunakamura pic.twitter.com/OkTFWi7Lil
In the middle of the tournament, Nakamura faced a two defeats that shook his momentum: a time scramble loss against Dominguez and then a second loss vs. Aronian. Nakamura shared his perspective in his recap:
Unfortunately, disaster struck in the sixth round when I lost a very messy time scramble against Leinier Dominguez from the United States and I followed this with another loss against Levon Aronian who completely outplayed me in the middlegame in the third to last round.
Chess is still painful🫣 part two🙂↔️
— Saint Louis Chess Club (@STLChessClub) August 16, 2024
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♚#STLChessClub #STLRapidBlitz #GrandChessTour #chess #chessplayer pic.twitter.com/UmpngO7WxP
Yet, in the last round, he won on demand vs. Praggnanandhaa to leapfrog ahead of Vachier-Lagrave and Aronian into the top three. His determined victory vs. the Indian prodigy is our Game of the Day. See GM Rafael Leitao's insights below.
What a fascinating win by Hikaru to end the tournament in third place!🙌🚀
— Saint Louis Chess Club (@STLChessClub) August 17, 2024
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♚#STLChessClub #STLRapidBlitz #GrandChessTour #chess #hikarunakamura pic.twitter.com/UTFUqzWvE7
Praggnanandhaa himself came back in much stronger form the last day. Like Nakamura, he also began the day with three wins in a row, including one vs. the defending champion.
Though Abdusattorov finished eighth, he challenged and played spoiler vs. numerous players in contention. In addition to his victory vs. Firouzja, he knocked Nepomniachtchi out of third early in the day and then did the same to Aronian in the penultimate round. His win vs. Nepomniachtchi featured a splendid tactical idea.
Round 17 was a rarity: Every game was decisive, and Black won every time. Even the tournament victor got swept into this. After clinching first in the previous round, Firouzja had a disastrous hallucination vs. his GCT rival, Caruana.
Vachier-Lagrave won a brilliant miniature vs. Praggnanandhaa, playing against the Trompowsky Attack.
How to watch?
You can review the round's broadcast on the Saint Louis Chess Club YouTube or Twitch channels. The games can also be reviewed from our dedicated 2024 Saint Louis Rapid & Blitz events page. You can also watch Nakamura's stream on Kick.
The broadcast was hosted by GMs Yasser Seirawan, Peter Svidler, Cristian Chirila, and IM Nazi Paikidze.
The 2024 Saint Louis Rapid & Blitz is the fourth leg and final rapid and blitz event of the 2024 Grand Chess Tour. Ten players compete in a rapid (25+10) single round-robin followed by a blitz (5+2) double round-robin for their share of a $175,000 prize fund.
Previous Coverage
- Day 4: Firouzja Leads By 1.5 Points, Wesley So Scores Most Points In Blitz
- Day 3: Nepomniachtchi, Firouzja, Vachier-Lagrave Lead Ahead Of Blitz, Nakamura Inches Closer
- Day 2: Firouzja, Nepomniachtchi Jump Into 3-Way Lead With Vachier-Lagrave
- Day 1: Fueled by Escapes, Vachier-Lagrave Leads Rapid After Day 1
- Gukesh, Praggnanandhaa, Abdusattorov Join 2024 Grand Chess Tour
Vanessa West is a National Master, a chess teacher, and a writer for Chess.com. In 2017, they won the Chess Journalist of the Year award.
You can follow them on X: Vanessa__West
