Category: English

The tournament season got off to a flying start with the Freestyle Chess Paris, second leg of an innovative Chess 960 circuit format that offered me a wildcard to join a field of 12 players. The venue was superb, in the heart of the Parc de Vincennes, the level of play very high, and I was looking forward to rubbing shoulders with a format that was still new to me.

Freestyle discovery

The tournament began with Rapid games in Chess960, followed by Classical games – a real novelty for me. Unlike traditional formats, the theoretical preparation here is non-existent. Less time spent working on variations… but more intensity during the games! You can easily consume 30 to 40 minutes on the very first moves, as they determine the rest of the game.

A convincing Rapid Qualifier

Having returned from the Austrian Team Championship that same morning (see box), I followed up with a rather intense media day in Vincennes. After a rather laborious first day in the Rapid format, and three very difficult first rounds, I managed to reverse the trend the following day, putting in a string of good performances and qualifying for the final phase without too many scares – but with a hint of luck, I must admit.

Eliminated by Caruana

In the quarter-finals, I had the « choice » between Caruana and Nakamura. A Cornelian choice, of course 😊. In the end, I opted for Caruana, but the match didn’t go as well as I’d hoped.

In the first game, I quickly lost the thread in the opening; despite a good good come-back in the middlegame and a clear advantage, I couldn’t conclude. In the second, an early strategic decision cost me dearly and I couldn’t recover. In Freestyle, there are always decisions that are difficult to make: do you keep the balance, or try something a little different because the pieces are not placed in the same way and this changes certain configurations, which are more natural in classical chess?

Ranking matches and tournament atmosphere

Eliminated from the race for first place, I faced Abdusattorov and then Erigaisi for the places of honor. The result was a win and a loss.

In terms of atmosphere, the tournament was really enjoyable, despite one small regret: the absence of an on-site audience, which would have added a nice extra energy. Fortunately, a few friends of mine were able to drop by, which I was delighted about.

Pre-game reflection: a point worth revisiting?

A word on the format: the 10 minutes of common reflection before each game is an interesting idea for the public, but it can detract from the variety of possibilities. Players often agree on similar openings, which limits creativity. In contrast, at the Freestyle Open in Germany which immediately followed, there was no such thing, and the openings were far more varied. I was even the only one to play 1.b4 in the last round!

6th place in Paris, followed by Karlsruhe

So I finished in 6th place in Paris, a fair result without being exceptional. The rapid part went well, but the Classical games revealed a few shortcomings – logical for a first-timer.

As I’ve just mentioned, we were then off to Karlsruhe for a very busy Open, with two games a day. An intense format, inevitably exhausting. A defeat in round 2 seriously compromised my chances. I reacted well, but on the last day, two draws instead of two victories deprived me of qualification for the next Grand Slam in Las Vegas (July 15-19).

Nothing’s lost though: an online qualifying tournament is planned, so I’m staying focused 😊.

Despite everything, the Karlsruhe Open was a great time: over 3,000 players, an electric atmosphere, lots of photos and autographs (even if I declined during the games!).

Here are some interesting positions from my games in the two Freestyle tournaments:

FREESTYLE PARIS

MVL-NAKAMURA

In this completely hopeless position for white, Hikaru missed the final touch 44…c6!, and checkmate by …b5+ and …Ra3 is absolutely unstoppable! But even after 44…axb4 45.h8=Q, it was still time to play 45…c6!. But Hikaru got the idea too late, and after 45…Ra3+? 46.Kb5 Rc3 47.Ka4 Ra3+ 48.Kb5 Rc3 49.Ka4 c6, white had the resource 50.Rb8+! Nxb8 51.Kxb4, and although the defense remains delicate, the chances of a draw are still there (1/2, 77 moves).

MVL-CARUANA

My position is very superior, and Fabiano went into survival mode with the move 22…f4. Unfortunately, I made a big miscalculation here with 23.gxf4? completely forgetting that 23…Nxf4! was possible, after which black exchanges Queens and relieves his position considerably (1/2, 43 moves).

ABDUSSATOROV-MVL

A remarkable game from the young Uzbek. 26.Bg6! the first of a series of four bishop moves on the same square, each time proving to be the only moves towards victory. A truly spectacular occurrence! 26…Ncd6 27.Ne4 Nxe4 28.Bxe8 Kf8!? (an ingenious defense because 29…Rxe8 30.Qg7+ or 29…Kxe8 30.Qg7 followed by 31.Rxd7 but…) 29.Bg6! (and two!) 29…f5 (29…Nc5 30.Rh3! Rg8 31.Rh7 or 30…Rxh3 31.Qxh3 and the Queen’s penetration is decisive) 30.Bxf5 Nf6 31.Qg5 Qxb2

32.Rd4! (decisively cutting off the black Queen’s return to defense) 32…Ne8 33.Bg6! (and three! Threatening, among others, 34.Qd8) 33…Qa3 34.Qe5 Rg8 35.Bxe8 Rc2 (35…Qf3 would have been met with the same response) 36.Bg6!. The final touch! The only winning move, but it forces resignation, since 36…Rxg6 37.Qb8+ leads to mate.

ABDUSSATOROV-MVL (Tie-breaker)

White is completely dominant and will win a pawn, but after 23…Ng4, you have to choose which one to take. 24.Qxc5? (wrong pick! Black had no compensation worthy of the pawn after the simple 24.Qxe4) 24…Rf5! (a cold shower. Black’s Queen can no longer control e3 and white has to give the exchange) 25.Qd6 Ne3 26.g3 and after a few more skirmishes, the game ended in a draw.

FREESTYLE KARLSRUHE

PASTAR (2359)-MVL

After resisting for a long time, the Bosnian IM finally collapsed! 58.Nh1? (after any move from the Ta1, everything was still to be done for black) 58…Rxd3! 59.Kxd3 Rb3+ 60.Ke2 (60.Kc2 Rxh3 61.d3 would have forced black to find 61…Rf3!, dominating the Nh1 and preventing any counterplay based on Rf1) 60…Bxe4 61.Nf2 Bf3+ 62.Ke1 e4 and the black steamroller wins (0-1, 76 moves).

FEUERSTACH (2458)-MVL

An example of a game that can go wrong right from the start!

1.0-0-0 g6 2.d4 f5 3.h4?! (a first step in the wrong direction) 3…c5! 4.g3? (abandoning the center won’t bring the expected results) 4…cxd4 5.f4 e5! 6.Qxb7? (white makes his case worse) 6…Nb6 7.e4 fxe4 8.Qxe4 Bd5 9.Qe2 Ne6! 10.fxe5 0-0 and white’s position is already a field of ruins (0-1, 19 moves).

MVL-MENDONCA (2643)

The game of the last round which, as is often the case in Opens, turns out to be decisive. Despite the symmetry, white is better as his pieces are more active, better developed, and black’s King is not completely serene on f7. But you have to be very precise to prevent black from equalizing. 21.Qc2? (and this move, played too quickly, is not precise! It was necessary to play 21.Qb2! which prevented liquidation, because if black reacts as in the game with 21…Ra8 22.a4 Ne6, he loses after 23.e4 Qc6 24.Nxe6 [which is not possible with the Queen on c2] 24…Qxe6 [24…Kxe6 25.Qb3+ Kd7 26.Qf7 and black King’s ride won’t end well] 25.Qxb7 Rxa4 26.Bc5 Rc4 27.Qa7 and Black won’t free himself from the pin. After 21.Qb2!, black should have defended an endgame a pawn down, which occurs after 21…Ne6 22.e4 Qc6 23.Qb3 b6 24.Nxe6 Qxe6 25.Qxe6+ Kxe6 26.Rb1!) 21…Ra8 22.a4 Ne6 23.Rd1 Qc6 24.Qb3 b6 25.Ne4 Qxa4! the move that had escaped me, and which forces an immediate draw after 26.Nd6+ Kf8 27.Qxa4 Rxa4 28.Bxb6.

It’s impossible to conclude these lines on Freestyle without highlighting the historic performance of Magnus Carlsen, who won both tournaments (that’s routine 😊 ), and who achieved an extraordinary 9/9 in the Karlsruhe Open; superlatives are in short supply…

And now: back to the Grand Chess Tour

Next stop for me: the Grand Chess Tour. Back to « normal chess », with the Warsaw Rapid & Blitz (April 26-30), followed by a Classical tournament in Bucharest (May 7-16). This is one of my main objectives of the year, with the obvious aim of finishing in the top 3 of the circuit and, why not, finally winning the GCT, after so many second places over the last 10 years!

Maxime’s games in Paris :

Maxime’s games in Karlsruhe :

Just before starting his sequence of Freestyle tournaments, Maxime had spent a few days in Carinthia, in the south of Austria, to compete in the final phase of the National Team Championship. He and his comrades from the Linz club won the competition for the third year running, this time by a considerable margin. It has to be said that, with a team including Mvl, Mamedyarov, Maghsoodloo, Sarana, Esipenko and Bacrot, the bar was set far too high for the competitors. However, aware that his team was open to criticism, Club Director and President of the Austrian Chess Federation, Michael Stöttinger, decided to withdraw it from the competition next season. Stöttinger pointed out, though, that his team had been « built around GM’s who were old friends ».

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.

MY DECEMBER

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 😊. 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 😊. 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.

END-OF-YEAR POLEMICS

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.

LET’S LOOK AHEAD TO 2025

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 months…

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 😊.

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 Grünfeld. Here, I only knew 9. Nxb5]

9.e4!?

9…b4 [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 Grünfeld!]

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 black’s 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 black’s 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 » white’s 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 ½–½

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 Asnières on November 22 and 23. 57 teams have signed up, including for instance the Banque de France, Google, Microsoft Europe, Dassault Systèmes, 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 Asnières.

A competition not to be taken lightly, with 20 Grandmasters lining up on the entry list!

https://ecc2024.ffechecs.org