Firouzja scraped through the Croatia Super Rapid & Blitz with a title he nearly threw away. He led by three points after nine rounds with a perfect 8/9 score, then collapsed spectacularly in the blitz portion.
The final day turned into a nightmare. Firouzja called it his "worst blitz day of life," dropping games he should have won and watching his cushion evaporate. Nodirbek Abdusattorov clawed back into contention, forcing a decider.
Armageddon chess is brutal. One player gets five minutes with Black, the other four minutes with White. A draw counts as a win for Black. Firouzja and Abdusattorov battled through the sudden-death tiebreak under maximum pressure. Firouzja held his nerve when it mattered most.
He kept the title despite turning in the kind of blitz performance that haunts you. This wasn't a dominant victory where the best player romped through the field. This was survival. Firouzja had the fortress, Abdusattorov tried to breach it, and when they met in the final game with everything on the line, Firouzja's ice held.
The collapse in the blitz rounds raises questions about his consistency in faster time controls, but winning ugly still counts as winning.