Carlsen is the winner of Grand Chess Tour Croatia
Magnus Carlsen is the winner of the SuperUnited Rapid & Blitz Croatia 2025, part of the Grand Chess Tour. Carlsen won the Zagreb part of the Grand Chess Tour with a round to spare, collecting 22,5 points in nine rounds of rapid and eighteen rounds of blitz. Wesley So had a strong blitz part of the championship, finishing clear second with 20,0 points. Gukesh dominated the rapid, and despite a first day blitz problems, managed to take the bronze medal with 19,5 points. Calendar: Magnus Carlsen next tournaments / Wesley So next tournament / Gukesh next tournaments
Grand Chess Tour 2025 so far
Warsaw: Grand Chess Tour 2025 Warsaw (replay) / Grand Chess Tour 2025 – Warsaw, Rapid info
Bucharest: Grand Chess Tour 2025 – Bucharest (replay) / Grand Chess Tour 2025 – Bucharest, Classical info
Zagreb: Grand Chess Tour 2025 – Zagreb (replay) / Carlsen wins Grand Chess Tour Croatia
Next: Saint Louis Rapid and Blitz 2025 and Sinquefield Cup
The World Champion Gukesh dominated the rapid section of the Grand Chess Tour Croatia, co-leading after day 1, continuing to sole lead in day 2, and finally Gukesh finished top of the table after the rapid stage. However, things turned around in the blitz, after a Carlsen turned on beast mode in blitz day 1 and collected 7,5/9. Carlsen finished the job in the second day of the blitz, scoring 5,0/9
This is the sixth consecutive tournament victory for Magnus Carlsen this year. Carlsen celebrated it with a cryptic tweet
After his victory, Magnus Carlsen stated that his victory was mainly due to his first blitz day play. “From the morning I felt this will be a tough day. […] It was a very tough tournament, very strong field […] and I am happy to come out on top.” See the whole interview with Magnus Carlsen here.
The quick draw of Gukesh and Carlsen in day 2
Carlsen misses the blitz record
Vladimir Fedoseev had a standout performance in the 2025 Grand Chess Tour, particularly in the Superbet Rapid & Blitz Poland, the first event of the tour held from April 26–30 in Warsaw. As a wildcard participant, Fedoseev dominated the tournament, securing the title with three rounds to spare and finishing with an impressive 26.5/36 points, one of the highest scores in Grand Chess Tour rapid and blitz history, only surpassed by Magnus Carlsen (27 points in Kolkata 2019) and Fabiano Caruana (27 points in Zagreb 2024). He remained undefeated in the rapid portion, scoring 11/18, and lost only one game out of 27 across both rapid and blitz, against Jan-Krzysztof Duda in Blitz Round 12. In the blitz portion, he scored a record-breaking 15.5/18, eclipsing Carlsen and Firouzja’s previous best. In Croatia Carlsen had the chance to surpass the record of Fedoseev, after starting with 7,5/9 the blitz section of the Grand Chess Tour Croatia. See more here