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On Sunday, May 12, the Norwegian Magnus Carlsen came from behind to win the Superbet Rapid and Blitz 2024 event in Warsaw, Poland, by a half a point margin against Wei Yi of China. He went on a nine-game undefeated streak on the final day of the Grand Chess Tour event, winning seven and drawing two, to secure the title triumph.
Magnus Carlsen finished with 26.5 points at the Superbet Rapid and Blitz 2024 event, half a point ahead of Wei Yi. Notably, the Chinese came into the final day of the tournament with a 2.5 lead over Magnus Carlsen, but he had an off day on the chessboard, letting the former world champion take home the title at the very end.
After his big victory, Magnus Carlsen spoke to the Grand Chess Tour, and remarked, as per Indian Express, “I just fight hard.” “I knew that if I had a good day today that I had a chance (to win). I could feel from the second game (on Sunday) onwards that I was a lot calmer than I was yesterday. So I felt I was in with a shot. I also knew that I have done this before in 2017 at the World Blitz, when I came in 2.5 points behind Sergey Karjakin and I erased that deficit in four games, beating him in the fourth game. It was exactly the same today. felt very calm today,” he added.
Magnus Carlsen also appreciated Wei Yi for pushing him right throughout the Superbet Rapid and Blitz 2024 event, and said, “There were so many times when I would win and see that he had won too, so I was not closer to leading the event’s standings. He had a performance that you win with every single time.”
Rameshbabu Praggnanandhaa, who finished in fourth place with 19 points, was the top performer among the Indian grandmasters at the Superbet Rapid and Blitz 2024 event. Arjun Erigaisi was in fifth place on the standings with 18 points, while the next World Chess Championship challenger Dommaraju Gukesh finished in 10th and last place with just 12 points to his name in the tournament.
