GM Vincent Keymer increased his lead to a full point over the Super Chess Classic Romania 2026 field after GM Alireza Firouzja’s withdrawal from the event gave him a forfeit win. All the other games in round six were drawn, with GMs Wesley So (vs. GM Maxime Vachier-Lagrave) and Fabiano Caruana (vs. GM Javokhir Sindarov) getting an edge with White but few clear-cut chances. The all-Dutch clash, GM Jorden van Foreest vs. GM Anish Giri, was balanced, while GM Praggnanandhaa Rameshbabu’s Dutch Defense didn’t manage to unsettle GM Bogdan-Daniel Deac.
Round seven is on Thursday, May 21, starting at 9:10 a.m. ET / 15:10 CEST / 6:40 p.m. IST.
This is a flash report—come back later for full coverage of round six!Â
The best result of round six was for a player who didn’t set foot in the playing hall.
Round 6 Results
Keymer now leads by a full point with three rounds to go, with Caruana, Giri, Van Foreest, and Praggnanandhaa forming a four-player chasing pack.Â
Standings After Round 6
For our Game of the Day we’ve gone with the round-four clash between Caruana and Firouzja, which actually took place two days later than expected during the rest day.
GM Rafael Leitao will analyze the game below.
It’s Van Foreest who gets a guaranteed full point on Thursday, while leader Keymer has the black pieces against Sindarov. Praggnanandhaa-Caruana will be another much-anticipated battle.Â
Round 7 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.
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