Weissenhaus QF: Sindarov knocks out Nakamura

by André Schulz
2/11/2025 – Magnus Carlsen and Fabiano Caruana came from winning their initial quarterfinal games at the Weissenhaus Freestyle Chess tournament, and also grabbed wins in their second encounters. Vincent Keymer, meanwhile, scored the draw he needed against Firouzja to reach the semifinals. Javokhir Sindarov prevailed against Hikaru Nakamura in a close match that went to tiebreaks. Levon Aronian won the battle for ninth place against Vladimir Fedoseev. | Photo: Freestyle Chess / Stev Bonhage

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On to the semifinals

Magnus Carlsen, Fabiano Caruana and Vincent Keymer each started their quarterfinal matches with victories against Nodirbek Abdusattorov, Gukesh Dommaraju and Alireza Firouzja, respectively. This allowed them to take a more relaxed approach on the second day of this knockout round and observe what their opponents would come up with. Hikaru Nakamura, on the other hand, narrowly escaped defeat against Javokhir Sindarov.

The battle for ninth place between Levon Aronian and Vladimir Fedoseev also took place. Aronian took the lead with a victory.

On the second day of the quarterfinals, all games opened with the move 1.Nb3. Black responded either with 1...Nb6 or 1...Nc6. Only Magnus Carlsen deviated from this pattern with the black pieces, opting for 1...f6.

Fabiano Caruana and Magnus Carlsen left no doubts in their respective matches, both securing a clear 2-0 victory with another win.

Photo: Lennart Ootes

Carlsen emerged from the opening in a superior position and gained a pawn. He then simplified the position into a rook endgame, which he guided to victory with his usual remarkable technique.

Fabiano Caruana and Gukesh played an extremely short game. The classical chess world champion lost a pawn early and hoped for compensation against Caruana's slightly exposed king. However, after the white king was evacuated from the danger zone with an unusually long short castle, Gukesh resigned - somewhat prematurely.

Photo: Stev Bonhage

Caruana, Fabiano28031–0Gukesh D2777
Freestyle Chess Grand Slam Tour Knock O
Weissenhaus, Germany10.02.2025[Schulz, A]
1.Nb3 Nb6 2.e4 e5 3.f3 Nc6 4.d4 exd4 5.Nxd4 f5
6.Nxf5 g6?! blunders a pawn. More logical would have been 6...Bxa2 and for example: 7.Ra1 Be6 8.Nd4 a6= Playing a6 instead of g6 is more useful. 7.Nd4 Bxa2 8.Ra1 Be6 9.Nxc6 dxc6 10.Rxa7 Qe7 11.Qa5 Bh6+ 12.Be3 Bxe3+ 13.Nxe3
13...0-0 A short castle that, in this case, is not that short. 14.Qc3 Ra8 15.Rxa8 Rxa8 16.b3 Qg5 16...Qa3+ 17.Kd2 Rd8+ 18.Bd3 The white king is safe. 17.Be2 c5 Black may have thought they had compensation for the pawn because White's king is somewhat exposed, but... 18.0-0 White could still castle as well. Black is clearly worse and resigned rather prematurely.
1–0

Vincent Keymer had also emerged victorious against Alireza Firouzja in the first game of the quarterfinals. In the second game, the German grandmaster had the white pieces, although in Freestyle Chess, this may not be as significant as in classical chess.

Firouzja needed to win to level the match and put in the effort, but it was not enough. In a winning position, Keymer settled for a draw.

Photo: Stev Bonhage

Keymer, Vincent2731½–½Firouzja, Alireza2760
Freestyle Chess Grand Slam Tour Knock O
Weissenhaus, Germany10.02.2025[Schulz, A]
1.Nb3 Nc6 2.e4 e5 3.f3 f6 4.Nc3 Nb6 5.0-0-0 Bb4 6.Qg3 Qe7 7.Nb5 a6 8.Nc3 Bxc3 9.dxc3 Na4 10.Be3 b5
White's position already looks almost "normal" and could have arisen from the classical starting position. Black has yet to castle. Chances are equal. 11.f4 Bc4 12.Qg4 Allows the following sequence, which gives Black a strong knight on e5. 12.f5!? 12...exf4 13.Qxf4 Ne5 14.Bd4 0-0
Now a position has appeared on the board that could well have arisen from a standard opening. Black has the more active pieces. 15.Qg3 Bf7 16.Bxe5 fxe5 17.Be2 c5 18.Rdf1 c4 19.Nd2 Qc5 19...Rfc8!? with the idea 20.-- b4 20.Rf5 b4 21.Nb1 The engine suggests grabbing the pawn with 21.Rxe5!? Qc6 and is not afraid of 22.Rf1 22.cxb4? c3-+ 22...bxc3 23.bxc3= 21...bxc3 22.Nxc3 Nxb2 23.Rhf1
23...Qa3 23...Qd4!? with the idea of Nd3. 24.Qf2 Qd6 25.Qe3 Qa3 26.Kd2 Qd6+ 27.Kc1 a5 24.Kd2 Qd6+ 25.Ke1 Be6?! Gives up a pawn. 25...Rbe8= 26.Qxe5 Qb4 27.Rxf8+ Rxf8 28.Rxf8+ Kxf8 29.Qf4+ 29.Kf2± 29...Kg8
The position is now level again. But Firouzja is behind in the match and needs a win. However, Keymer safely steers the game towards a draw. 30.Qd2 Qc5 31.h3 a5 31...Qg1+ 32.Bf1 leads to nothing. 32.Kf1 Qf8+ 33.Ke1 Qf6 34.Bg4 h5 35.Bxe6+ dxe6 36.Ke2 a4 37.a3 Qe7 38.Nb5 Qc5 39.Qb4 Qg1
One last smokescreen. Perhaps a perpetual check or the h-pawn might promote. 40.Qxb2 Qxg2+ 41.Kd1 Qxh3 42.Qe5 Qg4+ 43.Kd2 h4 44.Nd4 h3 45.Kc3 Kf7 46.Kb4 Qg6 47.Nf3 Qh6 48.Qg3 Kg8 49.Kxa4 Qc1 50.Qb8+ Kh7 51.Qh2 White is clearly winning but, given the match situation, settles for a draw. Kg8 52.Qb8+ Kh7 53.Qh2 Kg8 54.Qb8+
½–½

The final quarterfinal between Javokhir Sindarov and Hikaru Nakamura ended in another draw, which took the match to a tiebreak. In a somewhat surprising outcome, the Uzbek player prevailed in the rapid games with a score of 1½-½.

Javokhir Sindarov | Photo: Lennart Ootes

Hikaru Nakamura examines the starting position | Photo: Lennart Ootes

Levon Aronian won the match for ninth place, securing overall victory with a draw after his initial win.

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André Schulz started working for ChessBase in 1991 and is an editor of ChessBase News.

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