Magnus Carlsen emerged as the winner of the Chess.com Classic after a convincing performance in the Grand Final against Maxime Vachier-Lagrave. The match concluded with a round to spare, as Carlsen secured two victories and one draw in the best-of-four encounter. His victory in the online rapid event was marked by consistency as he remained unbeaten across all 18 games played. With this result, Carlsen takes home the $25,000 first prize.
The first game of the final was a swift 24-move win, with Carlsen demonstrating sharp attacking play. The key moment came with 19.g4, an aggressive pawn push that appeared risky but ultimately proved decisive in opening lines toward the black king.
Vachier-Lagrave was unable to regroup in time, and the game ended in a collapse.
21.Qd3 left the f3-knight en prise. But soon came Black's resignation - after 21...Rxf3 22.Qh7+ Kf7 23.Bg6+ Kf6 24.Bh5, with mate-in-five on the board.
Game two saw both players display accurate play throughout, resulting in a draw. However, with momentum on his side and the match lead in hand, Carlsen pressed again in game three, this time converting a favourable endgame.
The decisive error came with 24...Re8, overlooking a tactic that allowed Carlsen to force a pawn-up rook endgame.
MVL missed 25.Rxd6, and after 25...Rxe4 26.Rxd7 Rd4, White held a clear advantage with his passer on the d-file.
The alternative defensive idea was 24...Qf7, creating counterplay against the f2-pawn, but even there, after 25.Qe6 and a forced queen exchange, Carlsen would still have held a slight edge - more than enough, given his lead in the match.
Carlsen showed his usual endgame precision to convert the edge and win the game, the match and the tournament.
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With the Chess.com Classic concluded, Carlsen now shifts his focus to classical over-the-board play. Beginning Monday, he will take part in the Norway Chess super-tournament in Stavanger. The prestigious double round-robin will feature six top players: Carlsen, reigning world champion Gukesh Dommaraju, Hikaru Nakamura, Arjun Erigaisi, Fabiano Caruana and Wei Yi.
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