MVL wins Superbet Chess Classic 2022
Maxime Vachier-Lagrave wins the 2022 Superbet Chess Classic in Romania after an impressive 3/3 score on the last day against Alireza, So, and Aronian.
The French GM did not make the cut for the 2022 Candidates, but as he said last year after winning the Sinquefield Cup: “I have absolutely no doubt that I am part of the chess elite. I want to prove it tournament after tournament.” He is clearly acting on this plan based on his performance at the 2022 Superbet Chess Classic. A convincing win is something you rarely see in top-level chess these days (if you don’t take the 2022 Championship match into account).
The last round of the Superbet was critical, with MVL fighting against the tournament’s favorite Alireza Firoujza. MVL beat Alireza with black, climbed to the 10th place in the live rating list, and tied for first with 5.5 points along with the US grandmasters, Welsey So and Levon Aronian.
A single round-robin between the three would decide the winner of the tournament. The 31-year-old Frenchman managed to beat both in playoffs to win the event!
