Vladimir Fedoseev emerged as the winner of the Superbet Rapid & Blitz Poland, the first of three 2025 Grand Chess Tour speed-chess events, each featuring a $175,000 total prize fund. Held from April 26–30 in Warsaw, the tournament began with nine rounds of rapid play (2 points for a win, 1 point for a draw), followed by eighteen rounds of blitz (1 point for a win), totaling 135 games across five days.
The competition featured five tour players—Levon Aronian, Alireza Firouzja, Maxime Vachier-Lagrave, Rameshbabu Praggnanandhaa, and Jan-Krzysztof Duda—alongside five wildcards: Veselin Topalov, Bogdan-Daniel Deac, Vladimir Fedoseev, Aravindh Chithambaram, and David Gavrilescu.
The event was wide open after the rapid segment, with Firouzja, Fedoseev, and Chithambaram sharing the lead at 11/18. Aronian and Praggnanandhaa trailed by just one point, while Vachier-Lagrave was two points behind the leaders.
The first day of blitz belonged to Vladimir Fedoseev, who dominated the field with a stunning 8/9 score, ending the day 3.5 points ahead of second-placed Praggnanandhaa. Fedoseev maintained his momentum on the final day and clinched the title with three rounds to spare.
As he has done many times in GCT events, Maxime Vachier-Lagrave delivered a strong performance in blitz to secure clear second place, while Praggnanandhaa finished third.
Photos: Lennart Ootes / Grand Chess Tour