Firouzja is running away with Zagreb. The Iranian grandmaster sits at 10/12 points, three clear of the pack after a dominant two-day stretch where he won both his black games on Thursday. This is his second consecutive day of 2/1 scoring, and his performance suggests he's operating on another level entirely.
The chase behind him is crowded but stalled. Vincent Keymer, Maxime Vachier-Lagrave, Gukesh Dommaraju, and Bogdan-Daniel Deac all share second place with 7/12 points. Gukesh and Deac both scored 4/6 to reach that cluster, but neither made a dent in Firouzja's cushion.
What's striking is Firouzja's consistency. Most players who jump out to big leads in rapid tournaments benefit from a soft opening draw or two. Firouzja is instead crushing opponents with both colors, particularly biting hard as Black. That's the mark of a player in elite form.
Gukesh needs to find a gear or two to stay in contention. He's playing solid chess to sit joint-second, but three points is a chasm in a super rapid event where games pile up quickly. With several rounds remaining, the tournament isn't decided, but Firouzja has positioned himself to coast unless something unexpected shifts.