A textbook win: Erdogmus shows the power of the Spanish Exchange

by Johannes Fischer
12/8/2025 – Young players are often said to thrive on tactics while veterans rely on strategy. But the fifth game of the six-game match in Monte Carlo between 34-year-old Maxime Vachier-Lagrave and 14-year-old Yagiz Kaan Erdogmus told a different story. After four draws, the young Turkish talent claimed the first win of the match — a clean, textbook performance in the Spanish Exchange Variation.
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Emanuel Lasker and Bobby Fischer won a number of remarkable games with the Exchange Variation of the Spanish (1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bb5 a6 4.Bxc6!?), but theoretically the line is considered harmless. By exchanging on c6, White gives Black doubled pawns and hopes to trade all the pieces and reach a winning pawn ending, but in practice Black usually has more than enough counterplay.

Yet in the fifth game of the "Clash of Generations” between Yagiz Kaan Erdogmus and Maxime Vachier-Lagrave in Monte Carlo, things turned out differently.

A simple idea underpins the Exchange Variation of the Ruy Lopez. Take all the pieces off and White wins the ending. Naturally, the execution of this plan is anything but simple because Black obtains the Bishop pair and free piece play to compensate him for his doubled pawns on c6. Nevertheless, it is useful to have something to aim for! Many World Champions have employed 4.Bxc6

Since the first four games of the match ended in uneventful draws, Vachier-Lagrave now has to win the sixth and final game to level the match.

All games of the match

Clash of Generations: Vachier-Lagrave vs Erdogmus in Monte Carlo

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Topics: Maxime Vachier-Lagrave, Yagiz Erdogmus
Johannes Fischer was born in 1963 in Hamburg and studied English and German literature in Frankfurt. He now lives as a writer and translator in Nürnberg. He is a FIDE-Master and regularly writes for KARL, a German chess magazine focusing on the links between culture and chess. On his own blog he regularly publishes notes on "Film, Literature and Chess".
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See also

Clash of Generations: Vachier-Lagrave v. Erdogmus in Monte Carlo

12/2/2025 – A six-game classical match in Monte Carlo will see Maxime Vachier-Lagrave face 14-year-old Yagiz Kaan Erdogmus from 3 to 8 December, in an event organised by the Monaco Chess Federation with support from Evren Ucok. The encounter brings together an established top-20 grandmaster and Türkiye's leading junior. The format mirrors the match Erdogmus played against Peter Svidler in Marseille earlier this year, where he impressed in the classical section. | Photos: Official website
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Clash of Generations: Erdogmus wins classical match, Svidler dominates blitz

7/31/2025 – The Clash of Generations match in Marseille between veteran grandmaster Peter Svidler and 14-year-old Yagız Kaan Erdogmus concluded with a 4-2 classical victory for the Turkish prodigy, who impressed with strong preparation and mature play. Svidler responded by dominating the blitz section 10–2. The event offered a structured 6-game classical match followed by a 12-game blitz segment, highlighting contrasting strengths across formats and marking a milestone in Erdogmus's rapid rise. | Photo: Mark Livshitz / FIDE
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Video

60m English New ideas in the Najdorf_E

‘New ideas in the Najdorf – a Power Play 18 Update’ aims to complement Daniel King’s popular DVD from last year ‘The Sicilian Najdorf - a repertoire for Black’. Such a dynamic and popular opening as the Najdorf is developing the whole time. On this download, Daniel King updates lines that were included on his DVD but also responds to viewers’ requests, considering lines that he omitted from his original repertoire. The lines examined on this update are: • 1 e4 c5 2 Nf3 d6 3 d4 cxd4 4 Nxd4 Nf6 5 Nc3 a6 6 h3 e5 7 Nde2 • 5….a6 6 Bc4 in combination with the English Attack (Be3, f3 etc) • 5…a6 6 Be3 and the …a5 variation • 5…a6 6 Be2 and 9 Re1 • 5 f3 (instead of 5 Nc3) It isn’t necessary to have seen the original Najdorf DVD to understand the lines examined here – but it would help as they form part of a complete repertoire.