This was the individual objective of the last two months: to secure one of the qualifying places for the esport World Cup in Riyadh (July 29 – August 1). Then came the team target, with the Top 16 (French Team Championships). A look back at these two competitions:
CHAMPIONS CHESS TOUR, Chess.com Classic
I played in the second Champions Chess Tour tournament from Vitality’s headquarters in Paris. They’ve been my esports team since the beginning of the year, and their « hive », the V Hive, is located in the heart of Paris, not far from my home. I thought it was important to get into the right mindset and not play from home, so I could feel like I was in a tournament setting. The V-Hive offers a rather pleasant environment for this kind of event: a well-equipped, modern venue with a gaming touch right to the spectators, but without being too noisy, which suited the audience of the day. As for me, I was placed in a separate room to avoid any distractions…
The Hive!
The tournament was indeed decisive: I had a wild-card for the 16-player final phase, but I had to win points to reach the Top 12 in the overall ranking and qualify for the World Cup. I had estimated before the competition that I would have to win 2 matches out of 4, but in the end I had to win 3 to secure qualification! I started with a match against Caruana, which I won quite convincingly, even though I won the only one of the 4 games in which I didn’t dominate, the last one!
Then Magnus stood in my way. Of course, I knew it was going to be a tough match, but I’d already beaten him in this format, so I wasn’t going to feel hopeless. But the first game was a huge setback for me, as I was completely winning and then I blundered a Rook in one move in the zeitnot. I never recovered from that.
Then I had a very important day in the Losers’ Bracket, where I had to win both my matches. First, against Erigaisi… It was a very tense match, decided in an Armageddon where anything could have happened. However, I managed to use my time advantage at the start, and in a slightly more pleasant endgame, very difficult to defend in this time control (10 + 0), I ended up winning. Then I beat Levon (Aronian) in a much controlled match. The main thing was done, as I had secured my place for the esport World Cup. I was more relaxed the next day, and won my three matches against Nepo, Abdusatorrov and Nakamura, before losing the Grand Final to Carlsen. Nothing to say, he played really well, and I was a bit under the weather. My mission now is to find a way of getting my revenge in Riyadh!
I’m satisfied with my tournament and overall with the level of play I produced; the idea is to be able to repeat this type of performance…
The first 12 qualified players (out of 16) for the Esports World Cup in Riyadh (Image: Liquipedia).
TOP 16, Belfort
I entered the tournament late because of my Champions Chess Tour journey, which caused me to miss the first two rounds.
So I left on Saturday morning, with the 8.27 am train from Gare de Lyon, not far from home. I headed for Belfort, normally arriving at 11.09 am, well in time for a round scheduled at 2.30 pm. All was well up to Dijon, but the station stop there seemed unusually long. And indeed, we were finally told that the train wouldn’t be leaving Dijon at all! From then on, I could either wait for the replacement bus to Belfort, almost 200 kms away, but that would have been very dicey. So I decided to go straight for a cab, and I have to say that it didn’t take long 😊 . Despite this little mishap, I still managed to play a good game, and help the team win the match. My ambition was obviously for my Asnières team to reclaim the title we won two years ago. Especially as last year we were never really in a position to fight for first place. For a long time, things went rather well; admittedly, we had some pretty tense matches, but most of them we won.
Unfortunately, we lost an important match against Cannes. We therefore found ourselves neck-and-neck in the last round with the other favorite, Chartres, but with the obligation to win this « final ». But in the third hour of play, we were down 1-2 and all that was left was my game, for honor’s sake. As usual, I faced Laurent Fressinet with white, and as always, he defended himself well. But he made a small mistake just before the 40th move and I found myself in a Queen + 3 pawns versus Queen + 2 pawns endgame on the same side, which is theoretically a draw, but still leaves room to work on the position. I tried to press on to the end, and I really wasn’t that far from achieving something, but in the end, it was a draw all the same…
I think I played pretty well overall. I won two good games against Yannick Gozzoli and Amin Tabatabaei. I put a lot of pressure with white, something I’d been lacking for some time; and here, between Bucharest and the Top 16, I’ve managed to do it again. Of course, it’s also the law of series, with, over a given period, the preparations working a little better, etc. But it’s still quite encouraging for the future.
The Belfort Salle des Fêtes, which hosted the Top 16 (Photo: Ffe).
Now it’s time for a vacation, before resuming my preparations in July. But in terms of competition, I’ve got nothing scheduled before a sequence that will take me first to Riyadh on July 27 for the esport World Cup. Then, from August 9, it’s on to the American season, with the usual Grand Chess Tour combo in St. Louis; Rapid & Blitz, followed by the Sinquefield Cup. Then, at the very beginning of September, it’s time to change hemispheres, heading for Uzbekistan for the Grand Swiss, a qualifier for the 2026 Candidates!
Here’s a spectacular game from the Champions Chess Tour:
Mvl – Erigaisi Champions Chess Tour (2.1), 21.05.2025
1.e4 c5 2.Nf3 e6 3.c3 [Inviting my opponent to leave the waters of the Sicilian for those of the French, of which he is also a regular practitioner] 3…d5 4.e5 Nc6 5.d4 Bd7 6.Be2 f6 7.0-0 fxe5 8.Nxe5 Nxe5 9.dxe5 Qc7 10.Re1 0-0-0 [Erigaisi had already played this position several times, but his opponents had always replied 11.Bf1, protecting e5] 11.a4!? [A pawn sacrifice introduced by Hungarian GM Gabor Papp, which leads to massive complications!] 11…Qxe5 12.Na3 Nf6 13.Nb5
[My new idea. Even though Black should objectively get away with it, I knew that in a rapid game, the task would be arduous!] 13…a6 14.g3 Qb8 15.b4 e5 [The refutation of white’s sequence was to take the piece with 15…axb5 16.axb5 c4, then evacuate the King on e7 with 17.Be3 Re8! followed by …Kd8-e7. However, if we don’t let ourselves be influenced by the computer’s assessment, the position continues to be very frightening for black]. 16.Be3 axb5 [16…d4? is unplayable due to either the opening of the c-file or the opening of the h2-b8 diagonal, with fatal consequences for black’s King in both cases]. 17.axb5 c4 18.Bb6
18…Be7? [The first real mistake. 18…Be6 followed by 19…Bd6 would have consolidated the position and put pressure on white to justify the absence of his Knight!] 19.Ra7 [19.Ba7 Qc7 20.Bc5 led to an equal endgame following an untraceable sequence! 20…Bxb5 forced 21.Bg4+! (21.Ra8+? Kd7 22.Bg4+ Kc6-+) 21…Nxg4 22.Ra8+ Kd7 23.Qxg4+ Kc6 (23…Ke8? 24.Qxg7 Rf8 25.Rxe5+-) 24.Qe6+ Rd6 (24…Bd6 25.Rxd8 Rxd8 26.Rxe5+-) 25.Bxd6 Qxd6 26.Qxd6+ Bxd6 27.Rxh8 and after the only move 27….d4!, black develops enough play to compensate for being two exchanges down!] 19…Bxb5 [I was rather expecting 19…Be6 20.Qa4 Kd7 and the position remains on the razor’s edge] 20.Qa1? [A move played on instinct without much thought, and we both forgot a hidden defensive resource. Possible was 20.Bg4+ Bd7 21.Bf3; however, the best was to start with 20.Ra5! according to the machine, but these complex nuances were not detectable in blitz chess]. 20…Qd6? [A natural move, but a losing one. Yet Black had the opportunity to refute white’s play with 20…Rd6! 21.Bc5 (21.Qa5 Ba6 and the game’s maneuver doesn’t work: 22.Bf1 ((22.b5 Bd8!-+)) 22…g5 23.Rxe5 Rxb6!) 21…Qxa7! followed by 22…Ra6, missed by both of us!] 21.Qa5 Qc6
22.Bf1 [A rare backwards winning move! The double threat of 23.Rxe5 and 23.Bh3+ is too strong. Note that without this pretty resource, seen in advance, white would be lost here]. 22…Kd7 23.Rxe5 Rb8? [If 23…g5 24.Rxg5 I wasn’t sure I’d win the game. But I knew it was the only line able to offer black practical chances of defense]. 24.Bh3+ Ke8 25.Bc5 Ng8 [now I was sure I was clearly winning, but I calculated for a long time because there were too many tempting possibilities!] 26.Re6 b6 27.Raxe7+ Nxe7 28.Rxe7+ Kd8 [28…Kf8 29.Qa7] 29.Qa7 bxc5 30.Rd7+ Qxd7 31.Qxb8+ Ke7 32.Qe5+ Kf7 33.Bxd7 Bxd7 34.Qxd5+ Be6 35.Qxc5
Diagramme
[Erigaisi defended like a devil for 25 more moves, but the final outcome was never in doubt]. 35…Rd8 36.b5 Rd1+ 37.Kg2 Bd5+ 38.f3 Ke6 39.b6 Rb1 40.Kf2 Rb3 41.Qd4 g6 42.Re3 Kd6 43.Qg7 Rxb6 44.Kd4 Be6 45.Qxh7 Rb2 46.Qh8 Rd2+ 47.Ke3 Rd3+ 48.Ke2 Bd5 49.Qf6+ Kc5 50.h4 Kb5 51.g4 Ka4 52.h5 gxh5 53.gxh5 Kb3 54.h6 Bg8 55.Qg7 Rd8 56.Qe7 Rb8 57.Kd2 Rb5 58.Dd8 Bh7 59.Qd7 Rh5 60.Qb7+ 1-0
Maxime’s games at the Champion Chess Tour:
Top 16 Maxime’s games:
Maxime’s games at the world rapid & blitz team championship:
Just before the holidays, a final competition awaited Maxime in the English capital: the World Rapid & Blitz Team Championship, which he contested on behalf of the favorite WR Chess team. This 6-board competition requires 1 female player and 1 amateur player (-2000 Elo), and was held in London for its third edition. Despite a strong team, including Firouzja, Mvl, Nakamura, Duda, So and Hou Yifan, WR Chess only took a modest fifth place in the Rapid portion. But the team, bolstered by the last-minute arrival of Nepo for the Blitz, consoled itself by claiming the world title. After a rather modest 6/10 in the Rapid tournament, Maxime made a major contribution to his team’s Blitz title with an unbeaten score of 11.5/13, albeit against more heterogeneous opposition.
Warsaw was the venue for this year’s Grand Chess Tour (GCT) debut. We were in the old town, which was nice and made for pleasant strolls. Otherwise, the rest was pretty much the same as always, with the same hotel, the same venue and the same competition format. I always like to launch the GCT, since it’s a circuit that’s been working well for me for the last 10 years, even if I still haven’t won it 😊 (4th and 6th at the start, then five times 2nd and twice 3rd! Ed.)
As far as the competition was concerned, things got off to a very, very bad start on the first day, with a loss in a winning position against Prag, followed by a draw in a position that I found rather tricky against Aronian. And finally another defeat, this time against Topalov. I gradually got back into the swing of things, getting to 50% by the end of the Rapid. It wasn’t necessarily brillant, but considering the nightmare of the first day, it wasn’t too bad.
Then the blitz got off to a very bad start too, with a couple of early losses. But suddenly, something changed… The end of the first day, and most of the second day, went very well. It allowed me to move up, not into first place, because Fedoseev had already been very strong in the Rapid and even stronger in the Blitz, winning just about any position he could get his hands on! In fact, he finished the tournament with a score almost worthy of Magnus, winning three or four rounds before the end. But in any case, it enabled me to come back and finish overall second in the end. It was a good result, since Fedoseev had a wild card, which enabled me to collect as many points as possible from the Tour players present in Warsaw.
With the fans (Image: GCT)
I was able to rest for a few days in Paris between Warsaw and Bucharest, the venue for the first of the two classical GCT tournaments. I quickly realized when I arrived in Romania that I wasn’t necessarily in the best of moods and that the tournament was going to be complicated. I was feeling sick, with a fever and a headache. And I was feeling very tired.
Nothing that really prevented me from playing, but it took up a lot of my energy during the tournament.
The first day was one of the hardest, especially against Firouzja where, after a few hours of play, I realized that I was unable to really think; this was particularly obvious after the 40th move; anyway, Firouzja had played a very good game and deserved to win. Then, paradoxically, for the next few days I wanted to rest and regain my strength, so quick draws would have done the trick. But things turned out differently, and I ended up having some long games, which still turned out well 😊. In fact, against Wesley So, I got an extra pawn in the endgame, which was certainly a draw though, but I gradually managed to put on a lot of pressure. I even let the win slip away at one point, but eventually recovered it. Another win was the surprisingly quick one against Gukesh, the reigning world champion.
Analyzing with the World champion (Image: GCT)
A draw with black against Prag after a very good game took me to the rest day with +1, but having spent a lot of energy, and still feeling sick. And here, I was lucky. Indeed, one of my worst days in physical terms was this rest day, when I was unable to do anything. So it didn’t cost me too much, apart from the fact that I came back to the board the next day, without any preparation. I didn’t take any risks and decided to draw quickly (against Abdussatorov), and gained more time to recover. I really felt better for round 8 against Caruana, after a draw with black that I’d describe as « uneventful » against Deac; even if the position wasn’t so clear, it nevertheless always remained balanced. On the other hand, against Caruana, it was very tense and could have turned out very badly for me. I didn’t necessarily realize it during the game, and neither did he! In fact, he was looking for « the » big advantage, but without really finding it. To his credit, it wasn’t easy, whatever our friend the computer might say.
And that brings us to the last round, where Prag was in the lead after winning round 8; Firouzja, Caruana and I were half a point behind. I was playing against Duda with white. He was at the bottom of the tournament rankings, so this was an opportunity to win. He decided to play a Spanish Arkhangelsk rather than a Berlin for example, or a Petrov, which he had already tried a few times against me. I was perhaps a little surprised, but it turns out that I had reviewed my files on this variation and had some ideas. This specific line had surprisingly been played for the first time in April 2025; but, I told myself, it wasn’t a big deal, as the position was still quite complicated. So my preparation went well. Duda took a long time, and he didn’t necessarily come up with the best answers. In fact, it’s this game that we’ll be analyzing in greater detail below…
In the end, I won and qualified for the tie-break. After a homeric game, Firouzja also qualified and we ended up in a three-way tie-break which was very tense, with two draws to start with.
Decisive blitz game… (Image: GCT)
The third and final game was therefore decisive, and it was the one I played against Prag with black. Unfortunately, I ended up making a mistake in the endgame and lost. So, in the end, Prag won the Bucharest tournament quite deservedly, as he was very convincing and unbeaten throughout. He also took risks at the right time, notably against Wesley So with this Gambit Benko.
By sharing the points in Bucharest and capitalizing on my good tournament in Warsaw, I now lead the Grand Chess Tour. That’s pretty good news, and it puts me in a very good position to qualify for the Sao Paulo Finals at the end of September (the top 4 will be there. Ed.).
GCT standings after two tournaments (Image: GCT)
MVL – DUDA
1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bb5 a6 4.Ba4 Nf6 5.0-0 b5 6.Bb3 Bc5 7.c3 d6 8.d4 Bb6 9.a4 Rb8 10.a5 Ba7 [10…Nxa5? 11.Rxa5 Bxa5 12.dxe5 Nxe4 (12…dxe5 13.Qxd8+ Kxd8 14.Nxe5) 13.Qd5 is known to be losing].
20…Nc6 [There is no perpetual after 20…Nxg3? 21.fxg3 Qxg3+ 22.Kh1 Qxh3+ 23.Nh2]
21.Bf4 Qf6 [21…Qd7 22.Kg2 f6 23.h4 Nxa5 24.h5 was the continuation I remembered].
22.Bxe4 [First thought, but an easy one as there’s really no choice].
22…dxe4 23.Rxe4 Qf5 [With the idea …Qd5. After 23…Nxa5 I wanted to play 24.Be5 Qe6 (24…Qf5 25.Rf4 and if 25…Qxh3? 26.Ng5 Qh6 27.Rh4 Qxg5 28.Rg4 Qh6 29.Qd2! wins) 25.Ng5 Qg6 (25…Qf5 26.Rf4) 26.Bxg7! Qxg7 27.Rg4 f5 (27…Kh8 28.Nxh7!) 28.Ne6 fxg4 29.Nxg7 Kxg7 30.Qxg4+ and even if the machine gives equality, it’s not at all the impression I had. In practice, black can be prepared to suffer].
24.Ne5! [As soon as I saw it, I understood that this exchange sacrifice was powerful].
24…Nxe5 [24…Qxe4? 25.Nxc6 followed by 26.d5, and the Ba7 is a zombie; 24…Bxd4 25.Nxc6 Bxf2+ 26.Kxf2 Qxe4 27.Qf3 should not allow black to survive either; 24…Nxa5? 25.Qe1! Nb3 26.g4 is just as nightmarish].
25.Rxe5 Qxh3 26.Re7? [Unfortunately, I missed all the defenses based on …Rce8, hence this inferior move. The simple 26.d5! completely locked up black’s position, with an already decisive strategic advantage].
26…h6 27.d5 [A move too late!]
27…g5! 28.Be5 [My original idea was 28.Be3 Bxe3 29.Rxe3 but after 29…Qf5 I obviously have compensation for the pawn, but probably no more].
28…Rce8! 29.d6 [The only way to continue since 29.Rcxc7 Bb8! is a key resource, whereas 29.Rxe8 Rxe8 30.Bxc7 Bxf2+ 31.Kxf2 Qh2+ 32.Kf1 (32.Kf3? f5! would be suicidal) 32…Qh1+ 33.Kf2 Qh2+ would lead to perpetual].
29…cxd6 30.Rxa7 [30.Qxd6 always fails to 30…Bb8]
30…dxe5 31.Rxa6 e4 32.Qf1 Qg4 [32…Qxf1+ 33.Kxf1 could lead to a tricky Rook endgame for black, because of the a5 pawn. But 32…Qh5 was the most natural here, and on the board I saw no alternative but to accept my fate with 33.Qd1 Qh3 34.Qf1 and draw. I think that here, Duda wanted to keep the option of playing for the win].
33.Rxh6 [At first, I wanted to force a draw with 33.Qd1, until I saw that pushing the e-pawn was risky for him].
33…e3?! [33…Kg7 34.Qh3 Qxh3 35.Rxh3 kept the balance]
34.Qd3! [For sure, missed by Duda].
34…Re4? [This time, the mistake is decisive. With little time on the clock, Duda failed to appreciate the dangers on the h-file, and the astonishing security of my King. It was compulsory to exchange Queens with 34…Qe4, with an objectively equal double Rook ending, but undoubtedly easier to play for white].
35.Kg2! [A very aesthetic multi-purpose move. It threatens 36.f3 while protecting g3, prevents taking f2 with check, and connects the Rooks!]
37.Kxf1 Qf5+ 38.Kg2 Qe5 39.Rh8+ Kg7 40.Rxf8! [The last trap was 40.R1h7+?! Kf6 41.Rxf8? (41.Rh6+ Kg7 42.Rxf8 Kxh6 43.Rxf7 was still winning, but more laboriously) 41…Qxb2+ and the icing on the cake was 42.Kf3?? (42.Kf1 Qc1+ 43.Kg2 with perpetual) 42…g4+! 43.Kxe4 Qe5#]
40…Qxb2+ [40…Kxf8 41.Qd8+ Kg7 42.Qh8+ Kg6 43.Qh6+ Kf5 44.Rf1+; 40…Re2+ allowed white’s King to make a nice round trip win: 41.Kf3 g4+ 42.Kxg4 Re4+ 43.Kf3 Qf5+ 44.Kg2]
41.Kf3 Rd4
42.Rxf7+! [The most expeditious]
42…Kxf7 43.Qf5+ Ke7 44.Qe5+ [The Rh1 will come into play and it’ll be mate].
1-0
Maxime’s games in Warsaw :
Maxime’s games in Bucharest :
A few months ago, Maxime played the truth game, which Chess.com has organized several times, as part of its « Lie Detector Chess » series. Two players are there, questioning each other under the supervision of an operator who determines whether the answer given to each question is true or false. This is an opportunity to see Maxime and his colleague and friend Levon Aronian compete in a series of tricky or amusing questions, most often related to the world of chess, of course, but sometimes also more personal.
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.
The position of the day is chosen randomly, like in the lottery.
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!
With Keymer and Abdussatorov; 10 minutes of joint analysis before the games…
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).
The purple jacket was assigned to Maxime.
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
3000 players in 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 :
Mvl-Kadric on first board (1-0).
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.
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