Five-time World Chess Champion Magnus Carlsen won the 2023 Superbet Rapid & Blitz Poland, the second leg of the Grand Chess Tour (GCT), here at the Museum of the History of Polish Jews.<\/p>\r\n\r\n
The Norwegian Grandmaster, the World No.1, finished with a score of 24\/36, taking home the $40,000 1st place prize on Thursday night.<\/p>\r\n\r\n
Placed second was local favourite and defending champion Jan-Krzyzstof Duda, who led until the final day and ended just a point behind with 23\/36, after nearly winning a final game against Carlsen that would have forced a playoff.<\/p>\r\n\r\n
Tied for third were Wesley So of the United States and France's Maxime Vachier-Lagrave, each with 21.5 points, with Levon Aronian finishing in clear fifth place with 20.5.<\/p>\r\n\r\n
Carlsen's day started with a victory against Vachier-Lagrave, extending his fantastic win streak from the end of the previous day to seven.<\/p>\r\n\r\n
He was then held to a draw by Romanian Grandmaster Bogdon-Daniel Deac before going on to defeat Radoslaw Wojtaszek (Poland), Kirill Shevchenko (Romanian), and another Romanian Richard Rapport in consecutive rounds to overtake the lead.<\/p>\r\n\r\n
Then draws with Anish Giri (Netherlands) and Levon Aronian (America), putting Carlsen a full point ahead of the previous day's leader, Duda.<\/p>\r\n\r\n
Going into the final round, Duda needed to defeat Carlsen with black pieces to catch up and force a playoff. Despite losing an exchange out of the opening, Duda managed to survive into the endgame and completely turn it around.<\/p>\r\n\r\n
But in the time scramble, the Pole missed a few chances and Carlsen managed to hold after 124 moves of play, clinching the title.<\/p>\r\n\r\n
The 2023 Grand Chess Tour continues with the SuperUnited Rapid & Blitz in Zagreb Croatia, taking place from July 3-10 and Saint Louis in USA (November 12 - 19).<\/p>\r\n\r\n