GM Alireza Firouzja has opened up a three-point lead after beating key rivals GMs Vincent Keymer and Praggnanandhaa Rameshbabu with the black pieces on day two of the 2026 Super Rapid & Blitz Croatia. GM Bogdan-Daniel Deac began in style with a win over GM Gukesh Dommaraju, but the world champion bounced back with wins over the Dutch duo of GMs Jorden van Foreest and Anish Giri to end the day alongside Deac, Keymer, and GM Maxime Vachier-Lagrave (three draws) in second place.
Day three starts Friday, July 3, at 9 a.m. ET / 15:00 CEST / 6:30 p.m. IST.
For a second day in a row, Firouzja scored five points out of a possible six to increase his lead over the field in Zagreb.
Super Rapid & Blitz Croatia Standings After Day 2
If Firouzja’s successful first day could be downplayed on account of his beating “only” local hero GM Ivan Saric and the struggling Van Foreest, on day two he showed the same skill in winning difficult positions against two of the players who began the day only a point behind.
In round four, it seemed Keymer was perhaps on course to take over the lead himself, but in a promising position he went for a variation with a gaping hole—Firouzja spotted it and was completely winning a few moves later.
Keymer would bounce back by getting to play one of the moves of the day, 32…Ng3!! against Saric.Â
Firouzja, meanwhile, took a breather by making a very well-known quick draw against Vachier-Lagrave’s Grunfeld. That stored-up energy proved helpful, as the slow-burning final game of the day against Praggnanandhaa seemed to be going nowhere until it became a time-trouble thriller.
Early on, it was the Indian star who looked on the brink of victory, with Firouzja commenting: “I played two or three moves with two seconds. I think that affected everything. I didn’t make a mistake, so that was very important, and I just stayed in the game!”
Praggnanandhaa got into time trouble himself and made a series of big mistakes, such as 51.Bc5?, allowing 51…Rxa7!.
The rook can’t be taken without allowing the c-pawn to queen, but the game went on and Praggnanandhaa was surviving until finally stumbling into a position where Firouzja could give up his rook for the bishop and win the ensuing pawn endgame. He clinched victory in 79 moves.
Firouzja’s wins over Keymer and Praggnanandhaa meant it had been another dream day for the Iranian-born French star, but he had some other concerns: “Now the only question is if I should stay awake to watch the game or not!”
Now the only question is if I should stay awake to watch the game or not!
—Alireza Firouzja
He was referring to Portugal-Croatia in the Last 32 of the FIFA World Cup, scheduled for 1 a.m. in Croatia.Â
For Praggnanandhaa, a win over Van Foreest in the first round of the day had been spoiled by losses to GM Nodirbek Abdusattorov and Firouzja, while another Indian player had the opposite results. World Champion Gukesh began the day with a tough loss to an inspired Deac.
Deac’s fine day continued with draws against Giri and Keymer, while Gukesh also managed to bounce back with two wins. The first had an element of luck, as Van Foreest had been pushing almost all game before blundering everything in one move.
The next win, however, was altogether smoother. Gukesh commented: “The last game was very pleasurable to play, because it’s very rarely you get to attack with full control.”
The last game was very pleasurable to play, because it’s very rarely you get to attack with full control.
—Gukesh on his win over Giri
That’s our Game of the Day, which GM Rafael Leitao analyzes below.
Gukesh trails Firouzja by three points, but he has the chance to reduce that gap when they face off in the final round of rapid chess. It’s mainly about jockeying for position, however, since the rapid will be followed by 18 rounds of blitz over the weekend.
How to watch?
The 2026 Super Rapid & Blitz Croatia is the third event on the 2026 Grand Chess Tour and runs July 1-5 in the Westin Hotel in Zagreb, Croatia. The 10 players first compete in a single rapid round-robin with a time control of 25 minutes plus a 10-second increment per move, followed by a blitz double round-robin with a 5+2 time control.
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