The Superbet Chess Classic Romania was held from 25th June to 5th July at the Grand Hotel in Bucharest, Romania.
The 10-player round robin tournament featured nine Grand Chess Tour regulars and one wildcard, local Romanian favorite Bogdan-Daniel Deac. The total prize fund was $350,000.
In the final 9th round the overnight leader Fabiano Caruana lost to Anish Giri. Alireza Firouzja had a chance to overtake Caruana and claim the tournament, but he couldn’t defeat Praggnanandhaa.
Consequently, four players proceeded to round-robin playoff: Fabiano Caruana, Gukesh D, Praggnanandhaa, and Alireza Firouzja.
Fabiano Caruana recovered from the classical round and won all three playoff games to claim the tournament and lift the winner’s trophy. His prize is $68,750.
Round 9 results:
Giri Anish NED 2745 – Caruana Fabiano USA 2805 1-0
So Wesley USA 2757 – Gukesh D IND 2763 ยฝ-ยฝ
Deac Bogdan-Daniel ROU 2680 – Vachier-Lagrave Maxime FRA 2732 ยฝ-ยฝ
Nepomniachtchi Ian FID 2770 – Abdusattorov Nodirbek UZB 2766 ยฝ-ยฝ
Praggnanandhaa R IND 2747 – Firouzja Alireza FRA 2737 ยฝ-ยฝ
Round 9 standings:
1-4 Caruana Fabiano USA 2805, Gukesh D IND 2763, Praggnanandhaa R IND 2747 and Firouzja Alireza FRA 2737 – 5.0
5-7. Nepomniachtchi Ian FID 2770, Giri Anish NED 2745 and Vachier-Lagrave Maxime FRA 2732 – 4.5
8-9. So Wesley USA 2757 and Abdusattorov Nodirbek UZB 2766 – 4.0
10 Deac Bogdan-Daniel ROU 2680 – 3.5
Live commentary was provided with Grandmasters Yasser Seirawan, Evegeny Miroshnichenko, and Cristian Chirila along with International Master Jovanka Houska on the Saint Louis Chess Clubโs Twitch & YouTube channels.