Firouzja on tilt? Bullet-chess spree in the middle of the candidates tournament

Back to his ball roots

After ten rounds, Alireza Firouzja is tied for 6th to 8th place in the Candidates Tournament in Madrid. So far, the youngster has lost three games and beaten Richard Rapport, and is out of contention for the top spot.

Last year, the Iranian-born star reached number two in the world rankings. Expectations were high after Magnus Carlsen hinted that he would happily face him in a World Championship match unlike other opponents. However, things didn’t go as planned in Madrid. After his round 10 loss, the 19-year-old played more than 300 games of chess online, not on an off day.

The world champion shared on Twitter:

One of Firouzja’s rivals on his chess spree was GM Daniel Naroditsky, who works as the official Candidates commentator. Anish Giri joked:

Unsurprisingly, Firouzja, perfectly prepared, had a good run during his marathon on LiChess. He earned almost 150 ranking points in 357 games!

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