Hans Niemann tops Grand Chess Tour Super Rapid 2026

By admin May 8, 2026 0 comments

Hans Niemann (USA) topped the Rapid portion of Grand Chess Tour Super Rapid and Blitz 2026. He is currently undefeated at 13/18, a full point ahead of Wesley So (USA) 12/18.

Gukesh beats Caruana, Sindarov bounces back

Javokhir Sindarov ended his losing streak by starting the last Rapid day with a win over Vladimir Fedoseev. The World Champion, D Gukesh had all three outcomes. He started the day with a loss against Maxime Vachier-Lagrave, then he drew against Vladimir Fedoseev and finished the Rapid portion with win over Fabiano Caruana. Caruana, Jan-Krzysztof Duda and D Gukesh are at 9/18 each. 18 rounds of Blitz chess will be played.

Hans Niemann (USA) has taken sole lead 13/18, heading into Blitz | Photo: Lennart Ootes / Grand Chess Tour

Round 7: Gukesh – Vachier-Lagrave: 0-2

The World Champion, D Gukesh (2682) started his consecutive day with a loss. This time it was against World Blitz 2021 champion, Maxime Vachier-Lagrave (FRA, 2735). In a tough rook endgame, Gukesh went wrong in time trouble.

Hans Niemann (USA) started the day with a hard-fought draw against Wesley So (USA) | Photo: Lennart Ootes / Grand Chess Tour

Javokhir Sindarov (UZB) ended his losing streak with a win over the defending champion, Vladimir Fedoseev (SLO) | Photo: Lennart Ootes / Grand Chess Tour

Round 8 in progress | Photo: Lennart Ootes / Grand Chess Tour

Round 9: Gukesh – Caruana: 2-0

D Gukesh and Fabiano Caruana’s (USA, 2727) have played five Rapid rated games. Gukesh won three and Caruana two. Their sixth Rapid battle went in favor of Gukesh when Caruana’s ambitious play did not work out.

D Gukesh got the better of Fabiano Caruana (USA) | Photo: Lennart Ootes / Grand Chess Tour

Replay live stream

Replay Super Rapid 2026 Round 7-9 live commentary by GMs Yasser Seirawan, Maurice Ashley, & Cristian Chirila, IMs Nazi Paikidze & Irene Sukandar, and WGM Anastasiya Karlovich | Video: Saint Louis Chess Club

Replay Round 7-9 games

Schedule and Format

Superbet Rapid and Blitz will have three rounds per day in the Rapid portion from 5th to 7th May. The Blitz event will take place on 8th and 9th May. It will be a double round-robin event for the Blitz which means nine rounds will be played on each day. Round 1 starts at 2 p.m. local time, 5:30 p.m. IST. It will be a 10-player Round Robin event. Time control for Rapid will be 25 minutes + 10 seconds increment. For Blitz it is, 5 minutes + 2 seconds increment.