4/14/2025 – Magnus Carlsen holds a 1–0 lead over Hikaru Nakamura after winning the first classical game of the Paris Freestyle Chess Grand Slam final. Fabiano Caruana also took the lead in the third-place match, defeating Vincent Keymer with Black. Elsewhere, Arjun Erigaisi and Ian Nepomniachtchi both scored wins in the fifth and seventh-place matches respectively. | Photo: Lennart Ootes
Winning starts with what you know
The new version 18 offers completely new possibilities for chess training and analysis: playing style analysis, search for strategic themes, access to 6 billion Lichess games, player preparation by matching Lichess games, download Chess.com games with built-in API, built-in cloud engine and much more.
Winning starts with what you know The new version 18 offers completely new possibilities for chess training and analysis: playing style analysis, search for strategic themes, access to 6 billion Lichess games, player preparation by matching Lichess games, download Chess.com games with built-in API, built-in cloud engine and much more.
In this course, Grandmaster Felix Blohberger delivers a complete opening repertoire for White, centred around the flexible move 1.Nf3.
€34.90
A draw away from the title
The first game of the final at the 2025 Paris Freestyle Chess Grand Slam featured a tense and strategic battle between the world's top two players, Magnus Carlsen and Hikaru Nakamura. Carlsen ultimately emerged victorious, outmanoeuvring his opponent in an endgame to take a 1–0 lead in the two-game match.
The encounter began with a sharp opening phase in which Carlsen, playing with the white pieces, immediately began the fight for the initiative.
Carlsen v. Nakamura
Carlsen played 4.b4 to open up the dark-squared long diagonal - there followed 4...Nxb4 5.Nxe5 g6 6.d4 and the fight was on
Nakamura found himself under pressure, with his position becoming more difficult as Carlsen continued to make progress. Despite this, the US grandmaster demonstrated his usual tenacity in defence, repeatedly finding practical resources to stay in the game and hold off Carlsen's advances.
As the players transitioned into the endgame, the position remained complex. Carlsen's pieces were more active, but Nakamura continued to pose problems with solid defensive play. The turning point came on move 35, when Nakamura, instead of opting for the straightforward 35...Rxh2, played the ill-fated 35...Ba2.
Top trainers strongly recommend regular study of well-explained classical games to improve your understanding of chess in the long term. 33 modern classics are explained in details on this video course.
Carlsen played 36.Bf8+, and Naka resigned. Although Carlsen later admitted that he had not handled the conversion perfectly, his advantage was sufficient to carry him over the line.
The two highest-rated players in the world (in classical chess) | Photo: Stev Bonhage
In the third-place match, Fabiano Caruana also scored a key victory, defeating Vincent Keymer with the black pieces. The German grandmaster had the initiative early on, sacrificing a pawn in exchange for long-term structural and positional pressure. However, once the pawn was recovered, Caruana's activity, particularly his bishop pair, began to tell.
Keymer v. Caruana
Black's minor pieces are currently more active, given the somewhat clumsy knight on a5 - furthermore, the two bishops might prove stronger if the positions further opens up
Time pressure became a major factor late in the game, and a missed defensive opportunity by Keymer left him struggling in an inferior endgame.
Caruana's 32...Rc3 was an imprecision, but Keymer failed to find the best defensive try with 33.Qa1. Instead, the German star went for 33.Bd5 e6 (33...Rc8 is better), and he found nothing better than 34.Nxe6, giving up a piece.
From Mating with a queen; a rook; two bishops; a knight and a bishop; to the basics of pawn endgames – here you will gain the necessary know-how to turn your endgame advantages into victories!
Although he resisted for many moves, the position eventually collapsed, and Keymer was forced to resign on move 66.
Fabiano Caruana scored a win with the black pieces | Photo: Stev Bonhage
There were also wins in the placement matches further down the table. Arjun Erigaisi overcame Maxime Vachier-Lagrave to take the lead in the 5th-place match, while Ian Nepomniachtchi defeated Praggnanandhaa Rameshbabu in their 7th-place fixture. Both players will be looking to secure those spots outright in the second games, avoiding the need for tiebreaks.
The Grand Slam tournament concludes on Monday with the final round of classical games. A draw will be enough for Carlsen and Caruana to claim first and third places respectively, while Nakamura and Keymer must win to take their respective matches to tiebreaks.
This video course features the ins-and-outs of the possible setups Black can choose. You’ll learn the key concepts and strategies needed to add this fantastic opening to your repertoire. An easy-to-learn and yet venomous weapon.
Arjun Erigaisi got the better of Maxime Vachier-Lagrave | Photo: Stev Bonhage
Carlos Alberto ColodroCarlos Colodro is a Hispanic Philologist from Bolivia. He works as a freelance translator and writer since 2012. A lot of his work is done in chess-related texts, as the game is one of his biggest interests, along with literature and music.
The Trompowsky is especially suited for faster time controls as you don‘t have to memorise endless lines of theory, and you push your opponent out of their comfort zone after your second move.
Trompowsky Powerbook 2025 is based on 53,000 computer games from the engine room of playchess.com as well as 49,000 games from Mega and correspondence chess.
Trompowsky Powerbase 2025 is a database and contains a total of 8727 games from Mega 2025 and the Correspondence Database 2024, of which 316 are annotated.
2025 European Championship with a German double victory and analyses by Bluebaum, Svane, Rodshtein, Yuffa, Navara and many more. Opening videos by Engel, King and Marin. Training sections “The Fortress”, “The Trap” and “Fundamental Endgame Knowledge" etc.
2nd Move Anti-Sicilian Powerbase 2025 is a database and contains a total of 12090 games from Mega 2025 or the Correspondence Database 2024, of which 874 are annotated.
€9.90
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