Round 3
The Super Chess Classic Romania is the second stage of the 2026 Grand Chess Tour. It is one of two classical chess tournaments, alongside the Sinquefield Cup, of the series.
The tournament is a 10-player single round-robin with a classical time control of 90 minutes for 40 moves, plus 30 minutes for the remainder of the game, with 30-second increments from the first move.
The event features a prize fund that amounts to $475,000, with $100,000 reserved for the winner. Grand Chess Tour points will also be awarded.
Rounds are played daily from 14 to 23 May, except for Tuesday, 19 May, the one rest day. From round one to eight, the action kicks off at 15:00 CEST. The final, ninth round kicks off two hours earlier than usual.
Read the tournament preview…
Live games and commentary
The Benoni family of openings has toppled world champions, decided match games under the highest pressure, and rewarded those brave enough to play them with some of the most electrifying chess imaginable. In this Fritztrainer, Grandmaster Ivan Sokolov –Â continuing his successful series “Understanding Middlegame Structures” – takes you deep inside the complexities of the Colour-Reversed Benoni, the Colour-Reversed Benko Gambit, and the Colour-Reversed Blumenfeld Gambit.
Free sample video: Introduction
Free sample video: Colour Reversed Banoni – Game 1
Participants – Super Chess Classic Romania
| Player | Rating | |
| 1 | Fabiano Caruana (USA) | 2788 |
| 2 | Javokhir Sindarov (UZB) | 2776 |
| 3 | Anish Giri (NED) | 2767 |
| 4 | Vincent Keymer (GER) | 2759 |
| 5 | Alireza Firouzja (FRA) | 2759 |
| 6 | Wesley So (USA) | 2754 |
| 7 | Jorden van Foreest (NED) | 2735 |
| 8 | R Praggnanandhaa (IND) | 2733 |
| 9 | Maxime Vachier-Lagrave (FRA) | 2717 |
| 10 | Bogdan-Daniel Deac (ROU) * | 2650 |
* Wildcard
Bent Larsen (1935–2010) was the greatest chess player in Danish history, and for a time, the second-strongest player in the Western world behind Bobby Fischer. Between 1954 and 1971, he won the Danish Championship six times, and achieved numerous international tournament victories throughout his career.Â
Free video sample: Introduction to Bent Larsen by Peter Heine Nielsen
Free video sample: Introduction to the Opening Section