Uzbekistan's Nodirbek Abdusattorov added another podium finish on the Grand Chess Tour, winning the blitz competition before taking second place overall at the SuperUnited Rapid & Blitz Croatia 2026 tournament.
The prestigious tournament, held in Zagreb, Croatia, featured a total prize fund of $200,000 and brought together some of the world's leading grandmasters.
Representing Uzbekistan, Abdusattorov delivered the strongest performance in the blitz section, scoring 12.5 points over 18 rounds to claim first place. Firouzja finished second in blitz with 11.5 points, while France's Maxime Vachier-Lagrave took third with 10.5 points.
In the rapid event, Firouzja secured first place with 12 points, edging India's Rameshbabu Praggnanandhaa on tiebreaks after both players finished with the same score. Vachier-Lagrave completed the podium with 11 points.
Following the combined rapid and blitz standings, Abdusattorov and Firouzja finished level on 24 points, forcing a tiebreak to determine the overall champion.
After the first two tiebreak games ended in draws, the title was decided in an Armageddon game, where White received five minutes on the clock and Black four minutes, with Black declared the winner in the event of a draw.
Firouzja, playing with the black pieces, held the game to a draw to secure the overall championship and the tournament's top prize of $47,500.
Abdusattorov finished as runner-up, earning $42,500 in prize money.
Other participants included India's reigning World Champion Gukesh Dommaraju and Praggnanandhaa, Dutch grandmasters Anish Giri and Jorden van Foreest, Germany's Vincent Keymer, Romania's Bogdan-Daniel Deac, Croatia's Ivan Saric, and France's Maxime Vachier-Lagrave.
Abdusattorov recently climbed to world No. 2 in the FIDE blitz rankings, while fellow Uzbek grandmaster Javokhir Sindarov won the inaugural Daniel Naroditsky Memorial rapid tournament in the United States and moved into the world's top 10 in the FIDE rapid rankings, highlighting Uzbekistan's continued rise in international chess.
