Gukesh beats Caruana | Hans Niemann tops Super Rapid 2026

by Sagar Shah - 08/05/2026

Hans Niemann is letting his chess do the talking at his first ever appearance at Grand Chess Tour. At the Super Rapid 2026 in Warsaw, he scored 13.0/18 and took the pole position going into the blitz. He was followed by Wesley So on 12 and Vladimir Fedoseev on 11. India's D. Gukesh is on 9 points and is in joint 4th position. With 18 rounds of blitz left, there is everything to play for. This is what transpired on day 3.

Let's begin the article by having a look at the standings first at the end of 9 rounds of Super Rapid 2026:

Hans Niemann was surely the player of this first segment. He scored 13.0/18, with 4 wins and 5 draws. It will be interesting to note if he manages to keep his lead going in the blitz!

50% Gukesh

Each and every day, Gukesh has had similar results. He won one game, lost one and drew one. Thus, he ended the rapid section with a 50% score. On day 1, he was completely winning against Firouzja but drew with him and he was worse against Duda and beat him. On day two came the super important win against Sindarov and on day 3, Gukesh was winning against Fedoseev but drew that one and then made sure he ended the rapid section with a huge win over Fabi.

Gukesh has a very good score against Caruana and today didn't do anything to change that | Photo: Lennart Ootes/ChessBase India

Gukesh was in trouble against Fabi, but he kept his cool and kept looking for his chances and then it happened!

At this moment, Gukesh's eyes lit up. It is White to play and win. What do you do? You can also try solving it on ChessRanga.

Yes, absolutely right! The move is Bb7! The rook is now stuck. If it goes away, the c5 pawn falls. In the game Fabi played his rook to c7 and after Be4+ he lost the rook and the game.

Earlier in the day Gukesh had a very nice position against Vladimir Fedoseev, but was unable to make most of his chances.

Vladimir Fedoseev has been having a great performance here and ended with 11.0/18. His play hasn't been similar to last year, where he won the event, but then the field is also much stronger this year!

Javokhir's brilliant play

Javokhir Sindarov lost 3 games on day 2 but came back strongly to score a wonderful win against Vladimir Fedoseev in round 7. This game is definitely worthy of attention.

Javokhir Sindarov vs Vladimir Fedoseev

It's interesting to note all the tactics related to the situation when Black goes ...Nh5 and White plays Nxe5 and then all hell breaks loose!

Hans Niemann is the man!

Hans Niemann played all the 9 rounds and was unbeaten! It was a brilliant performance by him. He is the only player in the field who remained unbeaten! This is quite an achievement. I was especially impressed by his round 7 game against Wesley So. The main reason was his fighting skills. Hans just didn't want to draw the game. He kept on fighting. And it is this ability to fight and never give up - that's going to take him to the top.

The leader after three days of Rapid in Warsaw in Hans Niemann

Hans' only win on day 3 came against Jan Krzysztof Duda. It's a big surprise to all that Duda is playing a very rare line in the Petroff - the Damiano Variation.

Hans Niemann vs Jan Krzysztof Duda

When I was young I had learnt this as the first trap in my chess career! Turns out that this is actually playable! :)

How can someone play the endgame as well as Fabiano Caruana. Check out his win below against Wojtaszek

It's absolutely insane how Fabi managed to win this endgame in spite of being a pawn down. It just shows that one shouldn't put the pawn on the same colour as the bishop.

The new Berlin draw

There seems to be a new Berlin draw that is gaining prominence! Wesley So was part of both the games - once from White and the other from Black. It happens in e4-e5 Four Knights.

Results of each round

4 decisive games out of 5 made this a very bloody round

The only decisive game was Hans Niemann beating Jan Krzysztof Duda

Vladimir Fedoseev turned around a lost position against MVL and Gukesh got an important win in against Fabiano Caruana.

The Amazing part about any Rapid and Blitz event of Grand Chess Tour is that they announce the winner only as a consolidated winner after adding both rapid and blitz points. This makes it very exciting and I would say all 10 players are in with a chance to win the tournament. I kind of agree with what Gukesh says about Blitz:

Photo Gallery: Here

Video Gallery by ChessBase India: Here

The venue Tour

These two Polish girls started getting interested in chess because of the ChessBase India reels!

The Lineup | Photo: Lennart Ootes/Grand Chess Tour

The opening ceremony of the Super Rapid and Blitz 2026

Schedule: Rapid

Source: Official Site

Schedule: Blitz

Source: Official Site

Prize Fund

The total prize fund for each Rapid & Blitz event shall be Two Hundred Thousand Dollars ($200,000), which shall be distributed as follows:

Source: Official Site

Format and Time Control

Rapid: 10-player Round Robin, with 25 minutes + 10-second increment from move 1.

Blitz: 10-player Double Round Robin, with 5 minutes + 2-second increment from move 1.

Point System

2 points for a win, 1 point for a draw, and 0 points for a loss in a Rapid game
1 point for a win, ½ point for a draw, and 0 points for a loss in a Blitz game.

Line Up

Check out the Line-up: Here | Photo: Lennart Ootes/Grand Chess Tour

Venue: Museum of the History of Polish Jews

The Museum of the History of Polish Jews, also known as POLIN Museum, is located in Warsaw, Poland. It stands on the site of the former Warsaw Ghetto and serves as a cultural and educational center dedicated to preserving and showcasing the thousand-year history of Polish Jews. Opened in 2013, the museum offers a comprehensive journey through centuries of Jewish presence in Poland, highlighting their contributions to Polish society and the challenges they faced.