Maxime Vachier-Lagrave | Chess player | 2021 World Blitz Champion
The first quarter of the year, as is often the case, was very quiet for Maxime. Things will get serious again in April (see Agenda), with a particularly busy schedule.
In the meantime, here is a new, lighter video in which Maxime discusses the somewhat ancillary aspects of the life of a world-class chess player.
At the start of 2025, the latest chess news is overflowing with information and advanced developments.
A new and young world champion, new game formats, an undeniable appeal; chess seems to have entered a new era and undergone a real makeover.
Is this really the case? What are the real strengths of this ancient game, and the potential obstacles?
Maxime gives us his analysis of the situation.
A look back at December, which was a busy month in terms of Rapid and Blitz games, with the Champions Chess Tour Finals in Oslo, followed by the Rapid and Blitz World Championships in New York. I was obviously highly motivated, with a stated goal of winning one of the three. It’s fair to say that I didn’t achieve my goal, and not by a long shot đ. The main cause, and this was even more glaring in the Blitz, was the profusion of miscalculations. This was something we had already noticed at the London Blitz tournament the previous week.
In this normal position at the end of the opening, I played the terrible 14.Bd2?, completely forgetting 14…Nd3 with a double attack on the Re1 and the b2-pawn.
And these unusual miscalculations were repeated throughout the month, as well as a few stunning errors of judgment…
So, during the Champions Chess Tour semi-final against Magnus in Oslo, I had a rather new and surprising experience. I had the feeling that I fought on equal terms in positional play and piece placement, which I must admit is quite rare đ. But on the other hand, in terms of pure tactics, I was completely dominated, which is also very unusual!
In this game, I had obtained a clearly winning position, and I could probably have avoided this endgame, which poses real conversion problems. But that was no reason to play the inept 47.Nxc6? Nxc6 48.c5, and with the blockade on c6 unbreakable, the position is completely drawn.
Those who followed my tournament in New York will have noticed that these miscalculations were particularly flagrant on the Blitz day, which qualified only the top 8 players for the finals. And I was never able to get into the race because of these really serious errors, at least by my usual standards. The second day of the Rapid also went badly from that point of view, but it was less obvious.
To date, I don’t know what conclusion to draw, but in any case, I’m obviously thinking about it with my whole team. It’s a negative point that was very important at the end of the season, and one that absolutely must be resolved in 2025.
On the subject of the FIDE Dress Code, I’ve already had the opportunity to express my views in various interviews. For good or for bad – and I have been quite active in the discussions about it in the past few years – the dress code rules for this year were explained in advance, including the fact that you would not be paired after a second offense. I’m not a fan of the ban of jeans and sneakers, but there is a logic behind it : to not have to sort on the day which jeans and sneakers are acceptable for the event and which ones are not. Once I’ve said all this, the rules in place should apply for everyone, and that is what happened, as FIDE, the chief arbiter and Magnus Carlsen remained principled. The public aftermath was a bit unfortunate to my taste, but at the same time, in every sport where there is a controversial decision e.g. Djokovic being disqualified in US Open 2020, it also generally leads to debates and serious media coverage.
As for sharing the world title in Blitz, I’ll be even more explicit: I don’t like it. Once again, it’s not something you see in other sports. Especially since, in this case, there was still plenty of time to decide between the players. We were only three games into the tie-break. I’d have been more understanding if, for example, after eight tie-breaking games, or even after six, i.e. 1.5 hours and an overall day of 7 or 8 hours, the players still hadn’t broken the tie. I could accept that in this case, the « we’re of equal strength today » aspect could be put forward, why not? But this was early and I don’t understand why FIDE accepted it. Nor do I understand why Magnus, who loves the sport so much, even proposed this deal. For Ian, of course, it’s a bit different. In a way, he’s in a bit of a bind. If he turns it down and loses, he looks really stupid. I don’t want to blame Magnus unnecessarily either, because sometimes, in the heat of the moment, you lose your lucidity…
But it leaves a bitter taste from a spectator’s point of view, in the sense that really, it could have been a pretty legendary, pretty epic end to the match. I’m thinking of the last football World Cup final between France and Argentina, which went to penalty shoot-out and became a legend after France were trailing 0-2 (just like Ian!) and equalized at the very end.
New for 2025, there are two fresh circuits! Before that, of course, there’s the return of the Candidates qualification cycle, as in every odd-numbered year. We’re a little short of information on dates and locations, although I hope things will soon settle down. I’ve once again qualified for the Grand Chess Tour, which starts at the end of April, thanks to my third-place finish last year. We also have the Champions Chess Tour, which is back once again, but in a slightly different form, with only two online qualifying tournaments, and a 16-player final to be played as part of the Esport World Cup (EWC) in Riyadh (Saudi Arabia), from July 31 to August 3. And of course, the brand-new 26-player FreeStyle Chess circuit, with its cycle of five tournaments, among them the first one in Germany (February), and the second in Paris (April). After the Speed Chess finals last September, it’s great to see chess back at the highest level in France.
So it’s true that it’s going to be a very busy year, but if I find my form and come back well, I think I’ve got every chance of competing with the best!
Maxime’s games in London:
Maxime’s games at the Champion Chess Tour Finals:
Maxime’s games at the World Rapid:
Maxime’s games at the World Blitz:
In addition to the aforementioned London blitz tournament, in which Maxime took second place behind Firoujza, the chief organizer of British chess, Malcolm Pein, put up a blindfold tournament with 10 players, including the best English, such as Adams, Vitiugov, Mc Shane and Jones, as well as Mamedyarov and Vidit. Blindfold play is one of Maxime’s strong points, and he considered himself a favorite for the tournament. And rightly so, since he won quite easily at a time control that suited him very well, namely 10+5. The competition took place on computers, in front of empty chessboards.
I was invited to the tournament in Chennai (India, November 5-11) rather late – at the beginning of September – through my Global Chess League team captain, Srinath Naranayan. We talked about it within my team, and figured there were quite a few advantages to accepting. I was in a good frame of mind in general, and wanted to play more Classical games at the end of the year. Of course, I was also hoping to regain a few Elo points and, in the event of a miracle, play my tiny chance at the Circuit Fide. The list of participants was also interesting, since apart from Levon (Aronian), a client against whom I’d played hundreds of games, I’d met very few of the other players. In particular, I could see that, for example, I’d never played with white against Sarana, not even in a blitz game!
It was therefore an opportunity to meet the younger generation, because Gukesh, Prag or Abdussatorov, even if they are part of it, are first and foremost Elite players. Sarana, Maghsoodloo and Tabatabaei, on the other hand, are fairly young players whom I won’t be playing much in the near future, especially as they haven’t (yet?) qualified for the Grand Chess Tour.
I arrived a few days early in South India to try and get into shape and avoid jet lag. But it’s true that I felt tired even before the tournament started, because I played a lot in August, September and October. I also felt weary during a training camp before leaving for India. I may have underestimated the physical and mental load I was carrying. In hindsight, I understand that I didn’t arrive in Chennai having fully recovered from those three monthsâŠ
Small glimmer of hope at the drawing of lots though, as I picked rather favorable pairings for once, with four whites and three blacks. And black in particular against the highest rated in the field, Levon and Erigaisi, the rising terror who was very close to 2,800 and whom I’d just met in the final of the WR Masters in London. So I thought this was my chance to be solid with black and seize the opportunities with white.
Things went very well at the start, as I was able to beat Maghsoodloo thanks to a rather nice preparation cooked for me by my trainers. Faced with numerous problems and running out of time, the Iranian player was unable to defend the position. Then, a fairly easy draw with black against Aravindh, another Indian player I didn’t know very well either, who won the tournament and climbed to 2718 Elo!
So far, the tournament was going pretty well. Plus, I was doubling white in the following rounds, so I thought this was my opportunity to win at least one of the two games. And that’s when things went off the rails đ.
I have to say that Tabatabaei played an absolutely perfect game, including some really difficult moves. At one point, I failed to recognize the latent danger in the position and found myself in trouble. It was a real setback for me, especially as it brought my unbeaten streak to an end at 72 Classical games!
The next day against Vidit, I decided to avoid the Berlin, and we ended up in a closed Catalan that I hadn’t necessarily anticipated. But as the game went on, it got more complicated and I had my chances. Unfortunately, I took a wrong turn and ended up having to fight hard to draw a tricky Rook endgame. Then, I have to say that I played a real non-game against Levon, accumulating an opening improvisation and some unfortunate errors in the beginning of the middle game. Levon was precise in the conversion and calculation of lines to earn the full point.
At 2 out of 5 with two rounds to go, it goes without saying that things weren’t going well any more! After an insipid draw against Sarana, I at least had the pleasure of playing a pretty crazy last-round game against Erigaisi, so I’ve chosen to analyze it in full below.
-1 in the end (3/7), it’s clearly not satisfactory, with one very bad game out of the seven, and a few other uneventful ones. In my defense, I struggled during the tournament to find my form.
A word about the playing conditions in Chennai, which were very pleasant. There’s a real chess boom in India and it’s really showing, especially in the number of fans attending!
Now I have to get ready to get back in the saddle, as there are two big end-of-year objectives.
First of all, the 2024 Champions Chess Tour Final in Oslo (December 17-21), followed by the Rapid & Blitz World Championship in New-York (December 26-31).
The idea is that I’ve got almost a month to prepare for these two events. And the stated aim is to win one of the three!
Erigaisi – Mvl
Chennai, Ronde 7
1.d4 Nf6 2.c4 g6 3.Nc3 d5 4.Qb3 dxc4 5.Qxc4 Be6 6.Qb5+ Bd7 7.Qb3 c5 8.d5 b5 [Erigaisi managed to surprise me with this rather marginal line against the GrĂŒnfeld. Here, I only knew 9. Nxb5]
9.e4!?
9âŠb4 [Better was 9…c4! 10.Bxc4 bxc4 11.Qb7 Qb6 12.Qxa8 Ng4! (on the board, I only saw 12…Bg7? 13.Be3 Qxb2 14.Rb1 Qxc3+ 15.Bd2+-) 13.Nge2 (13.Nh3? Bg7 and the action of the Bishop on the long diagonal changes everything) 13…Bg7 14.0-0 0-0 15.h3 Na6 16.Qxf8+ Kxf8 17.hxg4 Bxg4 and all is well for black]
10.e5 bxc3 [10…Ng4 11.e6 didn’t really appeal to me during the game, even if the machine disapproves. Besides, I’m more used to…bxc3/exf6 transactions in the GrĂŒnfeld!]
11.exf6 Qb6
12.Ne2 [Here, Erigaisi thought for a very long time, and opted for a really interesting move. Of course, I was mostly expecting 12.Qxc3 exf6 13.Nf3 and my intention here was 13…c4 (13…Bg7 14.Qe3+ Kd8 15.Qc3) 14.Be3 Bb4 15.Bxb6 Bxc3+ 16.bxc3 axb6 17.Bxc4 0-0 with hopes of compensation for the pawn; 12.bxc3 was quite possible too]
12…Qxf6 [I also looked at 12…cxb2 13.Bxb2 exf6 14.Qxb6 axb6 15.Bxf6 Rg8 16.Nc3 but here I didn’t find a satisfactory move: indeed, 16…Bf5? (yet 16…Be7! 17.Bxe7 Kxe7 18.Rb1 Bf5 19.Rxb6 Nd7 followed by 20… Rgb8 certainly gave enough play for the pawn, which I didn’t realize during the game) 17.Bb5+ Nd7 18.0-0 doesn’t work at all!]
13.Nxc3 Bg7 14.Be2 [I was thinking 14.Bc4 0-0 15.0-0, but here black has 15…Bf5! unlike in the game!]
14…0-0 15.0-0 Bc8 [I wanted to make 15…Bf5 work but after 16.Qb7 Nd7 17.g4 (the reason behind 14.Be2!) 17…Bxg4 (17…Rfb8 18.Qc6) 18.Bxg4 Ne5 19.Be2 it doesn’t work, e.g. 19…Rfb8 20.Qc7 Rc8 21.Qa5]
16.Be3 Nd7 17.Qa3 Bb7 18.Rac1 Rfd8 19.Rfd1 Qh4!
20.Bb5 [After another brainstorm, not necessarily the first choice, but very interesting]
20…Be5 [20…Qb4 21.Bc6 (21.Qxb4!? cxb4 22.Na4) 21…Qxa3 22.bxa3 Bxc3 23.Rxc3 (23.Bxb7 Rab8 should have been enough to equalize) 23…Bxc6 24.dxc6 Ne5 = (the point I missed, the threat of back rank mate allows to regain the c6 pawn and save the game); 20…Nf6!? was also very tempting, but we had to see a complex line that eluded us both; 21.Qxc5 Ng4 22.Bf4 Rdc8 23.Bc6 Be5! (23…Bxc6 24.dxc6 Rxc6 25.Qxc6 Qxf2+ 26.Kh1 Qxf4 27.Qxa8+ Bf8 28.g3 Qf2 would be nice, but unfortunately, the Queen returns to g2!) 24.Bxe5 Nxe5 and black will win back the pawn on c6; 25.Rd4? Nf3+ 26.gxf3 Qg5+-+]
21.h3 [21.g3 Qh3]
21…Bd6 [That was the idea, even though I understand that the computer doesn’t approve]
22.Bc6 [22.Bxd7 Rxd7 23.Bxc5 Be5 left some activity to black]
22…Bxc6 [I decided to embark on a high-risk tactical operation, not least because I hadn’t seen 22…Rab8 23.Qxa7 Bc8! (yet another return of the Bishop to its starting square!) 24.Qa4 Rb4 and blackâs pieces begin to covet the King].
23.dxc6 Ne5 24.Bxc5 Nc4
25.Qa6 [I was analyzing as a madman 25.Qb4 a5 26.Qb5 Rdb8 (26…Rab8? 27.c7! Bxc7 28.Rxd8+ Rxd8 29.Nd5+-) 27.Bxd6 (As it happens, 27.Rd4! wins but it’s such a difficult move to envisage, especially from a distance! 27…Qg5 ((27…Rxb5 28.Nxb5 Qg5 29.Rdxc4 the c6-pawn is too strong)) 28.Qxc4 Qxc1+ 29.Rd1 Qxb2 30.Bxd6 exd6 31.c7 Rc8 32.Rxd6 and the c-pawn is again too strong) 27…Rxb5 28.Bg3 Qg5 29.Nxb5 Qxb5 30.c7 Rf8 (30…Nd6 31.Bxd6 exd6 32.c8Q+ Rxc8 33.Rxc8+ Kg7 34.Rc2, white will continue with Rd4, a3 and Rcd2 winning the d6 pawn and probably the game) 31.Rd8 Nb6 32.Rb8 Kg7 (the right move order! 32…Rc8? 33.Rd1 Kg7 34.Rd8 Qc5 35.Rbxc8 Nxc8 36.Rxc8 e5 37.Re8 Qxc7 38.Bxe5++-; 32…Qxb2? 33.Bf4! and 34.Be3) 33.c8Q Rxc8 34.Rcxc8 Qxb2 and the game goes on! Given the complexity of the variations, I knew I might have missed something (in this case 27.Rd4!), but that went for my opponent too].
25…Bxc5 26.Rxd8+ Rxd8 27.c7 Rf8 [27…Qxf2+? 28.Kh1 Rd2 is totally insufficient as Queens return to defense, e.g. 29.c8Q+ Kg7 30.Qac6]
[Here, white had three plausible moves, so we had a large mass of complex variations to calculate!]
28.Ne4!? [First of all the logical 28.Nd1, which has the merit of protecting f2 while setting a skewer on blackâs minor pieces on the c-file. 28…Nb6! 29.Rxc5 Qd4 30.Rc1 (30.c8Q?? Qxd1+ 31.Kh2 Qd6+ 32.g3 Nxc8) 30…Qd2 31.Ra1 Qe1+ 32.Qf1 (32.Kh2 Qe5+) 32…Qe5 33.Rc1 Rc8 34.Qd3 Nd5 35.Qb5 e6 and Black ends up capturing the c7-pawn, with equality!]. 28.c8Q! was finally the most trivial and best move; 28…Qxf2+ (28…Bxf2+? 29.Kh1 Rxc8 30.Qxc8+ Kg7 31.Ne2 ((31.Ne4? Be3; 31.Nd1? Bb6; 31.Qg4 right away was also strong)) 31…Nd6 ((31…Nxb2? 32.Qc3+ Qf6 33.Qc2)) 32.Qg4) 29.Kh1 Rxc8 30.Qxc4 Qxb2 31.Ne4 white will win a piece, but with 2 pawns and a counter-pin on the c-file, black’s situation is not yet hopeless.
28…Qxe4 29.c8Q [29.Qxc4? Bxf2+ 30.Kxf2 Qxc4 31.Rxc4 Rc8 32.b4 Kf8 33.a4 Ke8 and black wins c7 just in time].
29…Bxf2+ 30.Kh1 [30.Kxf2?? Qe3+ 31.Kf1 Nd2#]
30…Ne3?! [Here I thought for a long time, but not, as many thought, because I was hesitating to play the endgame resulting from 30…Rxc8 31.Qxc8+ Kg7 32.Qxc4 Bd4 (only move, the endgame without Queens offers absolutely no hope) 33.Rd1 e5, as I wasn’t very optimistic about it. In fact, I very quickly decided to leave white with both Queens, as I realized that their joint attacking strength wouldn’t really be able to express itself in this position, and that white might not be able to force the favorable exchange of a pair of Queens. My real dilemma was to choose the Knight’s square: d6 or e3? e3 seems more natural, with more direct threats, but analysis shows that d6 was necessary to avoid an exchange of Queens, e.g. 30…Nd6! 31.Qc2 Qh4! (I had seen 31…Qf4? 32.Qae2 Bd4 33.Rf1 ((33.Qxe7? Nf5)) 33…Qh4 ((33…Qg3 34.Qcd3)) 34.Qg4) 32.Qae2 Bd4 followed by …e5]
31.Qcc6 Qd4 [31…Qf4 32.Qf3 Qxf3 33.gxf3 Nf5 34.Rc8 is hopeless in the long run because of the Queenside majority]
32.Qaa4! [White has no time to save his majority, e.g. 32.b3? Rd8! and black’s threats become very real]
32…Qxb2 33.Qb3 Qd2 [33…Qxb3 34.axb3 Nf5 would have left a better chance of establishing a fortress, because with a b3 pawn instead of a2, the Bishop would have stable access to the b6 square (no a4-a5). But at that point, I still thought I could avoid the Queens exchange!
34.Qbc3? [Right square, wrong Queen! He probably forgot that after 34.Qcc3! black had to exchange Queens with 34…Qxc3 (34…Qd6? 35.Qbb2 Nd1 allowed a funny mate on g7 with an original Queens battery!) 35.Qxc3 Nf5 36.g4 Nd6 and the chances of building a fortress in this endgame are slim].
34…Qxa2 35.Qf3 [35.Ra1 Qe2 36.Qf3 Qxf3 37.gxf3 Nf5 looks like a fortress this time].
35…Nf5 36.Qc2 [tantamount to a draw proposal but there was no way to continue: 36.g4 Ng3+ 37.Kg2 Ne2 38.Qc2 Nxc1; 36.Ra1?! Ng3+ 37.Kh2 Qe6 and it’s White who has to be vigilant on the black squares around his King, e.g. 38.Ra4 (38.Qxf2? Ne4 with a rare fork on 2 Queens!; 38.Qb2 Qd6) 38…Qd6]
36…Ng3+ [I vaguely considered playing for the win, which I might have done in other circumstances. Indeed, after 36…Qxc2 37.Rxc2 Bg3!, the Bg3 is a permanent thorn, « grounding » whiteâs King. Black doesn’t care about his a-pawn and will seek to stabilize the Bg3 and then create favorable conditions for an e-pawn push, after a follow-up like 38.Qb7 h5 39.Rc8 Rxc8 40.Qxc8+ Kg7 41.Qa6 h4 42.Qxa7 e5 43.Kg1 Nd4 44.Kf1 Bf4. This is certainly objectively insufficient, and the machine shows an unflappable 0.00, but it’s definitely very tedious for white to play in practice].
37.Kh2 Nf1+ 38.Kh1 Âœ–Âœ
A really spectacular game that was fun to play!
Maxime’s games in Chennai:
France is at the origin of the European Corporate Championship: this competition was created in 2016, during the 87th FIDE Congress. Open to companies located in Europe, it is played with teams of 4 players, at a time control of 15+5. Each team is allowed two players from outside the company. This year, the competition will take place in AsniĂšres on November 22 and 23. 57 teams have signed up, including for instance the Banque de France, Google, Microsoft Europe, Dassault SystĂšmes, Volkswagen and the European Commission.
What does this have to do with Maxime, you may ask? Because he’ll be taking part in the competition under the colors of Leonard Echecs, which supports local authorities, clubs and companies in the design, development and animation of their chess life, and whose President, Jean-Claude Moingt, is also in charge of his French club in AsniĂšres.
A competition not to be taken lightly, with 20 Grandmasters lining up on the entry list!
In October, I spent a lot of time in London, where I played in two consecutive tournaments…
This was the second season of this 6-player team tournament organized by the Indian company Tech Mahindra. Our Mumba Masters team missed Alexander Grischuk, who was unable to obtain a visa; he was replaced by Peter Svidler. We also had a change on the Prodigy Board, with the arrival of Raunak Sadhwani. On the whole, there was a good atmosphere. These team matches are always fun, with lots of convivial moments, blitz, ping-pong sessions etc. But unfortunately we lost a lot of tense matches at the start of the competition. As a result, we were quickly eliminated from the race for the top 2 qualifying places for the Grand Final, and had no choice but to save our honor. The rhythm of play was 20+0, which is a bit weird, but increment-free is clearly coming back into fashion! On a personal note, I achieved a score of 5/10 on the Icon Board against Carlsen, Anand, Giri, Firouzja and Nakamura, each of whom I met twice.
Of course, I’m pleased with my 1.5-0.5 victories over the first three, in games that were rather well controlled; but a little less satisfied with my defeat to Naka, and especially with the 0-2 that Alireza inflicted on me⊠Indeed, it’s never pleasant to suffer two losses in positions that could easily have led to victories! It’s the difference between a decent result and a good one⊠From the team’s point of view, my two losses against Alireza led to match defeats, and that meant a lot in the race for the play-offs. But I also won the team some other matches đ.
Two tube stations further, back to classical chess at the Langham Hotel, a beautiful London palace with an excellent French restaurant run by Michel Roux, the Palm Court. It’s worth noting that Alireza, never stingy with surprises, knew it from the Netflix series « Five Star Chef », which takes place precisely at the Palm Court!
The tournament itself had an original format, which I certainly enjoyed, but was nonetheless very difficult (1h/30, 30’/20 + 30’ko). Cup format, two potentially 4-hour games per day, and a possible tie-break late in the evening! A game at 10am (that’s really early), the return match at 5pm, and the tie-break at 10pm, makes for some busy days! With games lasting up to 3 hours, we could easily start at 11am, or even noon. But 4 hours is the FIDE minimum for a classical game to be rated (for those of you wondering why we had to play at such an odd pace without increment). We had a few technical discussions beforehand, as there were quite a few issues to be addressed due to the lack of increment, notably how to deal with players flying pieces in zeitnot⊠I also suggested that, in those forthcoming 16-player knockout tournaments, there shouldn’t be 16 seeds, with the whole bracket determined from A to Z, but 4 seeds and a draw, as is done in tennis.
Time to play! I started the round of 16 against Sindarov, the lowest-rated player I’d played in the tournament, but who gave me a lot of trouble throughout the match (including the Armageddon!). It was a heck of a struggle. I knew it was going to be a tough match, because he is the player who knocked me out of the 2023 World Cup and who’s capable of performing at a very high level. I’m pretty pleased to have escaped unscathed!
After that, I finished my Uzbek championship against Abdusattorov đ. In fact, I’ve played 5 games in a row against Uzbeks (including the last game of the Olympiad), and even 7 if you ake into account the first 2 Armageddon games of this tournament! I did a little better in this match, even if with black, I found myself in a bit of difficulty. But I managed to solve it like the GrĂŒnfeld acrobat that I am đ. Let’s go straight on to the Armageddon, which was the occasion for me to play a nice game.
12…Nh5 is logical insofar as 12…exd4 13.cxd4 Bxf3?! 14.gxf3 was inferior, but also because if 13.Be3, there would now be 13…Bxf3 14.gxf3 Nf4 which is no good for white (since there was no exchange on d4). So I had to close the center with 13.d5, but took an edge after 13…Ne7 14.h3 Bxf3 15.Qxf3 Nxg3 16.fxg3! a typical move in this kind of position, and one that’s nice to show my dear readers đ.
I was gradually able to improve my position, especially after 16…f5 17.g4 fxe4?! (17…fxg4 was stronger, but it wasn’t easy to see) 18.Qxe4 Kh8 19.Be3, as the Ne7 found itself really dominated in the position. After 19…c6 20.Bb3 (20.c4! was more accurate), I thought he absolutely had to take on d5, and after 20…cxd5 21.Bxd5 Nxd5 22.Qxd5, try to equalize with 22…Qb5!. 20…c5? was a strategic error, after which black is suffering. I thought I was playing on the Queenside, as you always do in these structures, but in fact I have a big advantage on the Kingside, which is paradoxical.
There was a very strong plan, which I didn’t see, to put my pawns on h4, g5 and g4, then continue with Kg2, Rh1, h5 and Bc2 and I’m the attacker on the Kingside!
Here, I’ve kept my Queenside advantage, but there’s a move that’s very difficult to find. You have to understand that black threatens 37…h5! – to incite an en passant capture and revive its Bg7 – much more than 37…Rf4; hence 37.Bd2! with complete domination, e.g. 37…Qf2 38.Qe1!. But both Nodirbek and myself only anticipated 37.Rxb7? Rf4? while 37…h5! equalized, admittedly somewhat miraculously. White has a multitude of ways to continue attacking, but none of them is satisfactory. 38.Be6? Ne2! would really not be a good idea. 38.Qxg6 Qf4+ only gives the perpetual. 38.gxh6 Bxh6 gives access to the f4 square, and black doesn’t care about 39.Bxd4 exd4 40.Qxd4+ Rf6!. Finally, 38.Bxd4 exd4 (38…hxg4? 39.Bg1!) 39.Be2 looks strong since if 39…Be5+? 40.Dxe5; but black still has the resource 39…Qc1!, and with the threats …Be5+ or …Qxg5, the position remains very uncertain.
In the game, I concluded with 38.Rb8+ Bf8 39.Qe1 (I’d also seen the simpler 39.Rxf8+ Rxf8 40.Bxd4) 39…Qd3 40.b5! and black is caught out all over the board. In the end, it’s the whole concept that with pawns on d5 and g5, black’s position is completely paralyzed throughout the game.
In the semi-final the following day, I was up against my compatriot Alireza (Firouzja). The first game, a Sicilian Alapine, turned out to be quite tricky, especially when I started to lose control of the position… But as we were running out of time, we were naturally led, as is often the case in this kind of situation, to variations in which all the pieces were exchanged. The game with black went well, thanks to a very good preparation that dried out the position.
On the other hand, my third Armageddon went totally out of control; it must be said that I didn’t expect Alireza to go after me in such a huge variation of the Najdorf!
I knew I wasn’t playing my preparation exactly, but I was fairly familiar with this line where white sacrifices the d5 pawn. Here, I thought 19.Bxf6 Bxf6 20.gxh5 e4? (better is 20…Nc4) 21.fxe4 Qe5 was strong, but in fact it’s very bad because there’s 22.c3 Qxh5 23.Qf2 Nd7 24.Rh1. But he played 19.Qh2, the move I was expecting, after a very long thought. It’s « badly played » on his part, because these are positions where I’ll be able to play moves instinctively and he much less so. I played 19…Rae8?! a little too quickly because I missed
20.Qxe5 Qxe5 21.Rxe5 and if 21…hxg4? 22.Rxe7!. As a result, I was forced to play 21…Bd8
but now he has 22.Rxe8 Rxe8 23.Nc5 hxg4 24.Nxb7 and I had the choice between suffering martyrdom with 24…Be7 or giving the piece away and trying to fish in troubled waters with 24…gxf3!? 25.Nxd8 Ne4. Obviously, true to form I made the second choice, with a lonely onslaught of my f2-pawn after 26.Nc6 f2. He took quite a lot of time as everything looks winning for white, but nothing is really completely clear, which is the advantage of this kind of position. Personally, I thought the cleanest move would have been 27.Be3, but his 27.Kc1 seems logical.
But then, as I knew he was threatening 28.Be3, I played 27…Ng3. There’s 28.Ne7+ Kg7 29.Be3 which is enough here; these are fairly simple variations, but there are so many options… He played 28.b3 and suddenly it’s a little less clear, although after 28…Re1 29.Bf4 Nf5, the simplest win was 30.Kd2 Nxh4 31.Nd4. After 30.Bd2 Rg1 there was still 31.Ne7+! Nxe7 32.Be3, but now it becomes hard to find! He played the more natural 31.Rf1 with a similar idea (if 31…Ng3 32.Be3! Nxf1 33.Bxf2!). So I replied 31…d4. There, 32.Nxd4 was still strong, and if 32…Ng3 33.Rd1. But he chose 32.Kb2 Ne3 33.Bxe3 dxe3 34.Bxa6 Nd5 35.Nd4 Nf4, which is still winning but the position gets very tricky, especially as he was starting to run out of time. After 36.c3 Nh5, he finally blundered with 37.b4?? Ng3 38.Rc1 Rxc1 and 0-1 as blackâs pawn queens after 39.Kxc1 e2!. However, despite the many inaccuracies, white would have kept a winning endgame had he played 37.Nc2! Ng3 38.Nxe3 Nxf1 39.Nxf1. A big turnaround, as sometimes happens in this kind of Najdorf đ.
Then, the final against Erigaisi, who was, and still is, in dazzling form, tickling the 2800 Elo mark. Once again, I started with white. It’s true that I perhaps didn’t reach the full potential of the positions I got in my white games, but these were all morning games đ. What’s more, you have to be super careful because a loss is almost the same as an elimination; indeed, the only person to come back from a defeat with white was Abdusattorov against Kosteniuk in the first round, and it’s fair to say that this upset wasn’t really expected.
Against Erigaisi, I was probably a little too solid with white, but with black it went rather well. In the 6.Be2 Najdorf, I was familiar with the somewhat atypical sub-variation 6…e5 7.Nb3 Be7 8.h4 Be6 9.f4!?. I figured there were quite a few moves that had to be ok, but I wanted to try a line against which he would be less prepared, hence 9…g6!?. The debate became very tense immediately!
Here the best was 15.Bxb7! after which there were two possible continuations; first 15…Ra7 16.Bf3 Qxd6, which to me seemed the best, but the machine shows us that 17.Bh6! is very strong. The alternative 15…Bc4+ 16.Kg1 Bxb3 also gives white the advantage after 17.Ne4! (but not 17.axb3?? Qc5+), though it’s far from obvious at first sight. Erigaisi preferred
15.Ne4 Nc6 16.Nxg3 Qxg3 17.Bxc6 (there’s still 17.Be3!, but it’s too hard) 17…bxc6 18.Qd4
(the logical continuation) 18…f6. Just after playing this move, I realized that the spectacular 18…Bd5! might have been playable! The more I looked at the lines, the more I thought it would have been interesting since 19.Qxh8+? Nf8 didn’t work because of the double threat of …Bc4# and …Qxg2+. But my regrets were limited as I quickly understood that 19.Qe3+ was possible and that I wouldn’t have been better after the Queens exchange. After
19.Bf4 Qg4, I looked carefully at 20.Nc5. At first, I wanted 19…Bd5?!, but it’s actually not very good because of 20.Qe3+ Ne5 21.Qg3!, and the Nc5/Pd6 construction is overpowering. 19…0-0 is the safe little move I probably would have played. But he ended up playing 20.Bd2, which seemed a bit odd, I must say. After 20…Ne5, I was looking at 21.Rh4 which is the best move, but he probably didn’t want 21…Bc4+ 22.Kf2 Qe2+ 23.Kg1 Bd5, and played
21.Qxg4 Bxg4 22.Ba5. I’d seen this in advance, with the transfer of the Bishop to c7 to support the d6 pawn. If he gets the Bishop on c7 and my Rook remains on a8, it can get a bit unpleasant, hence the immediate 22…Rb8!. I thought it was starting to look good for me with the Rook coming to b5, the Nb3 being a bit dominated, and not too many possibilities to play c4…
After the exchange sacrifice 30…Rxb3! 31.cxb3 Bd5! I figured it was going to be very difficult for him, but the computer is laughing đ. And our future +2800 club member found the moves! 32.Rd4 is the easiest as it prevents 32…Nf3+ because of 33.Rxf3 Bxf3 34.Rf4 and 35.Rxf6. 32…g5 33.Rf1 Rh1+ 34.Ke2 Rh2+ 35.Kd1. Now, if 35…Rxb2, there’s 36.Rb4, or even 36.Rh3, hence 35…Bf3+ 36.Kc1 c5. Beforehand, I thought I’d be much better here, but I realized as I went along the lines that 37.Rc4! was possible (37.Rd2? Rh1+ 38.Kc2 g4! is losing). So we agreed upon a draw after 37…Nxc4 38.bxc4 Bg4. A fighting draw where we both felt we had a chance, but especially me in fact! Strangely enough, we didn’t miss a thing, it was a game of high quality.
So all that remained was a final Armageddon game to decide who would clinch the tournament…
I had no idea what he was going to play exactly, but I didn’t think it would be the Petroff! I did have an idea in the variation he chose though, except I handled it badly.
I played 22.Be6? too quickly. I should have started with 22.Rb5 Qa3 23.Rxd5, because after 22…Nc6, if 23.Rb5? now there’s 23…Nd4 24.Bxf7+ Kf8! (the move I missed). During the game, I thought that 24…Kh8? was winning for black, but no! 25.Qe8+! Rxe8 26.Rxa5 +-. So I was forced to take on f7, and after 23.Bxf7+ Kxf7, to play 24.Rb5. And now, admittedly there’s only one move for black, but it’s not very hard to find as you have to protect the Nc6, so it’s 24…Qc3. After 25.Qh5+ Kf8 26.Rxd5 Rd8 27.Rfd1 Ne7, black has two pieces for the Rook, has consolidated his position and my attack is moribund. I noticed when I played 28.Rb5? that 28.R5d2 would have set the trap 28…Bxh2+? 29.Qxh2 Rxd2 30.Qf4+. But I saw it half a second too late, even though I’d taken quite a bit of time on this move; in fact, 12 seconds, which in Armageddon is an eternity đ.
I still managed to find resources later in the game.
I started to regain confidence here, because if 35…Nd4? 36.Qe8+ Kh7 37.Rf8 Qc1+ 38.Kg2 Qc6+ 39.Qxc6 Nxc6 40.Rc8 wins. I felt he saw it in time, panicked and came back with 35…Ne7. Bad news for him, the position is equal again, good news it’s « only » equal and I’m obliged to win with white! 36.Rf8+ Kh7 37.Qe4+ Ng6 38.Re8 Be5 39.Re6 Bf6 40.h4 Qd4 41.Qf5 Qc5. But I didn’t see my last possibility to try something by playing 42.Qxc5 bxc5 43.Ra6, even though I’m not very optimistic about my objective chances in this endgame. But with less than 2 minutes on the clock, it wouldn’t have been so easy in practice for black.
In the game, I tried to force events by keeping the Queens on with 42.Qb1, but I even ended up losing this game!
Congratulations to Arjun Erigaisi on his final victory in the tournament, which follows on from his Olympic title with India; based on what he’s produced over the past year, he deserves these awards!
Maxime’s games in the Global Chess League:
Maxime’s games in the WR Chess Master:
For all chess players who, like a certain A Karpov, have a soft spot for philately, there are 10 stamps bearing the effigy of Maxime, all issued between 2012 and 2019, and all from African countries!
From Togo to the Maldives, from Guinea-Bissau to the Central African Republic, from Niger to Guinea, all the way to the small island of Sao TomĂ©-et-Principe, you’ll find special Chess issues as part of collections on sport or other more original themes in which the Royal game is included.
