Magnus Carlsen wins Superbet Rapid and Blitz 2023 in style
Magnus Carlsen scored an unbeaten 7/9 on the final day to win Grand Chess Tour Superbet Rapid and Blitz 2023. He avenged his previous day loss against Wesley So. Jan-Krzysztof Duda suffered three losses in his first five games against - Anish Giri, Levon Aronian and Maxime Vachier-Lagrave. It made things difficult for him to stay in the championship hunt. However, he kept things interesting by winning against Wesley So, Bogdan-Daniel Deac and Radoslaw Wojtaszek before facing Carlsen in the final round. After a 124-moves long grueling battle, Duda could only manage a draw against Carlsen. Thus, Duda finished second scoring 23/36, Carlsen won the event scoring 24/36. So and MVL tied for the third place. Photo: Lennart Ootes/Grand Chess Tour
"My retirement lasted only a couple of days"
"It's one of those things you know, when you can feel your energy slipping like a little bit when a day goes like, at the start, I was playing with more flow and it was easier. Then with three rounds to go, in the fifth-sixth round games, I was not feeling as energetic anymore. I was already starting to think about the last game. I was really hoping that I wouldn't have to get a result in that game. To Duda's credit, he kept going. Even in the last game, I think he made a poor opening choice because these dubious lines, that's really my territory (laughs)... He dug in after that and he played extremely well. I really had to fight so hard. Of course, a lot of it was self-inflicted but like if he didn't play as well as he did like in the last 3-4 games, there wouldn't have been a thrilling conclusion. You know, happy to come out on top." - Magnus Carlsen on winning the tournament.
Magnus Carlsen tweeted on his victory
Anish Giri tweeted the selfie
Radoslaw Wojtaszek tweeted on his performance and the tournament
Highlights of Day 5
Replay Blitz Round 10-18 games
Final standings after Blitz Round 18
Prize
The total prize fund for each of the Rapid and Blitz event is US$ 175000 with the first prize being US$ 40000.
