Super Chess Classic 2026 R4: Keymer Grabs Sole Lead As Firouzja Missing Due To Medical Issue

GM Vincent Keymer’s gamble of choosing to allow GM Maxime Vachier-Lagrave to be the first player ever to play the Najdorf against him paid off as he took the sole lead after four rounds of the Super Chess Classic Romania 2026.

The biggest news of the day was that GM Alireza Firouzja was unable to play vs. GM Fabiano Caruana for medical reasons, while the remaining games were drawn. GM Jorden van Foreest spoiled a promising position vs. GM Praggnanandhaa Rameshbabu, and GM Javokhir Sindarov pushed until move 107 vs. GM Anish Giri. GM Wesley So came closest to a win, against GM Bogdan-Daniel Deac, with the final twist coming on move 84 of an incredibly complex endgame. 

Round five is on Monday, May 18, starting at 9:10 a.m. ET / 15:10 CEST / 6:40 p.m. IST.

There was one win in round four, though only four games were played, as Caruana-Firouzja had to be postponed. 

Round 4 Results

That saw Keymer take a half-point lead over the field, though Caruana has a game in hand and could join Giri, Van Foreest, and Praggnanandhaa in second place.

Standings After Round 4

Caruana-Firouzja, a clash between two of the most combative players in chess, was one of the most anticipated games of round four, but just before it was due to begin, we got the news that, “due to a medical condition,” Firouzja was unable to play.

Due to a medical issue, Alireza Firouzja will not be able to play today’s game against Fabiano Caruana. We are hopeful that he will be able to continue in the event. A further update will be provided after today’s round.#GrandChessTour pic.twitter.com/g8XarMXeSK

— Grand Chess Tour (@GrandChessTour) May 17, 2026

No more details were released, but Firouzja has also not been announced as withdrawing from the tournament, so the game may still be played on Tuesday’s rest day.

That left only four games, but they were all packed with content, even if just one proved decisive.

Keymer 1-0 Vachier-Lagrave

Keymer, surprisingly for the latest generation of players who tend to flit between openings, has almost never played 1.e4. Instead he prefers 1.Nf3, 1.d4, 1.c4, and even 1.a3 (online) to GM Bobby Fischer’s best-by-test move. He’d also never faced the Najdorf, but knew it was likely against his French opponent. Keymer told GM Cristian Chirila after the game:

Of course I’m very happy. Also it’s my very first Najdorf game ever, to play against MVL, who’s of course a big specialist in the Najdorf.

It’s my very first Najdorf game ever, to play against MVL, who’s of course a big specialist in the Najdorf.

—Vincent Keymer 

Keymer, who’s in Bucharest with GM Peter Leko, said, “It took some convincing to get myself to do it,” but, while he hadn’t prepared exactly what happened in the game, he noted, “The whole concept of how I played and what worked so well is something I did prepare, so that worked out very nicely!”

Keymer noted that after he put his knight on h3, “there’s zero active play for Black, and of course he loves dynamics—that kind of kills his whole idea,” while GM Peter Svidler mentioned that Keymer seemed only to have to wait as Vachier-Lagrave found ways to “unimprove his position.”

Things fell apart for Black remarkably quickly, and Keymer was ruthless as he clinched victory before the first time control with 38.Rxf6! the final blow.

That’s our Game of the Day, which GM Rafael Leitao analyzes below.

Keymer’s second win took him into the sole lead, but when asked if he’d prepared specially for the tournament, he replied:

My big preparation was taking a break, finally! I think that’s a really underestimated part of preparation, because I myself and also many other players are playing so much that to come to a tournament fresh and with energy is very important. 

My big preparation was taking a break, finally!

—Vincent Keymer

Keymer is now only 1.4 rating points below Sindarov in sixth place, who remains behind Giri on the live rating list after their round-four clash ended in a draw.

The game began, and later ended, with laughter, after Sindarov couldn’t keep a straight face as someone he knows very well, GM Bibisara Assaubayeva, made the ceremonial first move in his game.

A razor-sharp opening followed, but one where neither player started thinking until move 17. Soon Sindarov had gone for a central break…

…but the mass exchanges that followed looked destined to fizzle out into a quiet draw. In a way that’s what happened, but the finale was dramatic. Sindarov got tricky around the time control, then Giri correctly sacrificed a piece to reach the drawn rook vs. rook + knight endgame. The world championship challenger decided to test his opponent anyway, all the way to move 107, which is why the players were again in good spirits when a draw was finally agreed! 

The other relatively quiet draw was the clash of the leaders, Van Foreest vs. Praggnanandhaa, which featured a very offbeat opening by the Dutch star. He blitzed it all out, with Praggnanandhaa explaining: 

The problem is there are so many interesting options that it was just very hard to choose, especially early on in the game when I’m not really warmed up. I’m certain I didn’t choose the right one.   

Van Foreest seemed to emerge with a promising position, but 14.exd4?! was played fast and very much welcomed by Praggnanandhaa, who was immediately no worse.

Those two draws were nothing compared to the third, however, which stretched for six hours and featured an incredibly complex endgame. Ultimately Deac, despite constantly finding himself in time trouble, survived the onslaught, avoided a third loss in a row, and dealt a significant blow to Wesley So’s chances.

Chess is hard! https://t.co/d2jKtQS2gC

— Garry Kasparov (@Kasparov63) May 17, 2026

It’s impossible to get to the bottom of all that happened, so let’s just look at some of the key moments.

So is the only player to have drawn all his games so far, but that leaves him only a point behind the leader Keymer.

Keymer has Black vs. Giri in round five, though perhaps the biggest question is whether Firouzja will be able to face Sindarov. If he does continue, Tuesday’s rest day may see Caruana-Firouzja.  

Round 5 Pairings

How to watch?

The 2026 Super Chess Classic Romania is the second event on the 2026 Grand Chess Tour and runs from May 13 to 23 at the Museum of the National Bank of Romania in Bucharest. It’s a 10-player round-robin with a time control of 90 minutes for 40 moves, followed by 30 more minutes for the rest of the game, plus a 30-second increment starting on move one. The prize fund is $475,000.