Firouzja wins in all sections
Eight GMs have reached the quarter-finals of the Speed Chess Championship, an online event organized by chess.com that features games of 5 minutes, 3 minutes and 1 minute (all with one-second increments).
The first quarter-final took place on Tuesday, with a clear victory for Alireza Firouzja over Fabiano Caruana. Firouzja will face the winner of the match between Hikaru Nakamura and Ian Nepomniachtchi. On the other side of the draw, Hans Niemann takes on Wesley So (Wednesday) and Magnus Carlsen faces Arjun Erigaisi (Thursday).
In Tuesday’s match, Firouzja won in all three segments, first taking the lead with a 4½-2½ win in the 5-minute games, then widening the gap with a 5½-2½ win in the 3-minute section. It was still possible for Caruana to claw back the 5-point deficit in the bullets segment, but Firouzja continued to dominate, ending the match with a 4½-3½ victory in the final section.
The four winners of the quarter-finals will take part in the individual finals, to be held in Paris from September 6 to 8. Firouzja, who was born in Iran, obtained French nationality in 2021 and now represents France in official competitions. He lives in Chartres, about 90 km southwest of Paris.
In the Round of 16, Firouzja defeated Alexander Grischuk, while Caruana got the better of Alexey Sarana.
Firouzja 1 – 0 Caruana
Time control: 3+1
