Carlsen beats Erdogmus
It was a familiar story: Magnus Carlsen finished on the top step of the podium. After starting with 2 out of 4 and losing to Jorden van Foreest in round four, the Norwegian's return to classical chess seemed to be going badly. But events unfolded differently - as they so often do. This was despite the fact that Arjun Erigaisi went into the final round as the clear favourite to win the tournament. The Indian GM was unbeaten, had won his previous two games, and appeared to have the easier final-round opponent in Andy Woodward. Like Carlsen against the once again impressive Yagiz Kaan Erdogmus, Erigaisi had the white pieces and seemingly held all the cards. However, it turned out that Erigaisi's overly active approach would lead him into an inferior position, which he somehow managed to defend, getting a draw.
In this course, you will learn the foundations and key ideas of the Vienna Game and discover a variety of systems that make you extremely difficult to prepare for.
The Vienna Game is one of the most underrated openings in modern chess. While the Ruy Lopez and Italian dominate elite practice, the Vienna offers rich, creative play with far less theoretical burden and enormous practical value.
Free video sample: Introduction
Free video sample: 1: 1.e4 e5 2.Nc3 Nc6 3.f4 exf4 - Martin vs Adams
Erigaisi quickly made it clear that he wanted to secure tournament victory with a win - but Andy Woodward had other ideas... | Photo: Peter Doggers
While Erigaisi seemed to be heading for defeat, little was happening in the game between Carlsen and Erdogmus. After opening moves that apparently came as a surprise to Carlsen (1.d4 d5 2.c4 c5), the queens were quickly exchanged, and the young Turkish player found the far from simple path to keeping the position permanently balanced. But Carlsen is known precisely for pressing such positions until his opponent makes a mistake - and that is exactly what happened once again.
Their first encounter in a classical chess: a battle of generations. | Photo: Peter Doggers
Here is the exciting game between Erigaisi and Woodward:
For a long time, then, it looked as if Erigaisi, Carlsen and Erdogmus would finish tied for first place. With a loss for the Indian GM and a draw for the chasers, all three would have ended on 4½ points. However, due to the twists in both games, only Erigaisi and Carlsen ultimately finished at the top, each on 5 points.
Other placings
In this video course, Grandmaster Ivan Sokolov explores the fascinating world of Dutch and Grünfelkd structures with colours reversed.
In this video course, Grandmaster Ivan Sokolov explores one of the most intriguing and under-examined areas of modern chess: reversed opening systems, focusing on the Reversed Grünfeld and the Reversed Dutch. At first glance, these two systems seem unrelated. However, they share a common strategic challenge: the value of tempi, structure, and psychology when familiar openings are played with colours reversed. Drawing on his long professional experience, Sokolov explains why these positions are far more subtle than they appear and why traditional engine evaluations often fail to capture their true complexity.
Free sample video: Introduction
Free sample video: Larsen’s b4 Plan vs Reversed Stonewall Setups: Larsen - Spassky
In the fight to avoid last place, a draw was enough for Zhu Jiner - Nils Grandelius remained at the bottom of the standings | Photo: Peter Doggers
Following his defeat against the former world champion, Erdogmus slipped to fourth place behind Nodirbek Abdusattorov, who drew against Jorden van Foreest in the final round. The Dutchman thus finished fifth. Andy Woodward, after missing his chance to beat Erigaisi, ended half a point behind Van Foreest, but one point ahead of Zhu Jiner, who drew against tail-ender Nils Grandelius in the final round.
Final standings
Carlsen beats Erigaisi in three-game tiebreaker
Magnus Carlsen and Arjun Erigaisi both had just played long, hard-fought classical encounters, and then received about thirty minutes to adjust to a different rhythm. The regulations in Malmö stipulated that a tie for first place would be settled by a two-game blitz match at a 3+2 time control. If the score remained level, there would be no Armageddon game - instead, the players would continue with blitz games in which White had 2½ minutes and Black had 3 minutes, with the first win ending the contest.
Erigaisi had the white pieces in the first blitz game, which began with a Nimzo-Indian Defence. The players reached an endgame with bishop and knight against the bishop pair, with four pawns each. The position was objectively close to balanced, though Carlsen had a very slight edge with Black. The game turned on a single mistake.
Erigaisi played 41.Na6?, allowing 41...Bd6, which trapped the knight by taking away its escape squares. The correct continuation was 41.Bc4+ Kf6 42.Nd5, bringing the knight back into play. After the error, Carlsen needed only five more moves to force resignation and take the lead in the match.
That left Erigaisi in a must-win situation in the second blitz game, and he understandably chose the Pirc Defence. Carlsen kept the position under control for a while, but then went wrong with the over-ambitious 21.f4?!
Instead, 21.Ra3 was preferable, not only objectively but also from a practical standpoint given the match situation. Erigaisi soon took over and converted cleanly, levelling the score and forcing the match into the next phase of the tiebreaks.
The third game was played under the sudden-death blitz rules, with Carlsen taking black and receiving 30 extra seconds on the clock. Erigaisi moved more quickly in the opening, and Carlsen's initial time advantage soon disappeared. In the decisive phase, however, Carlsen handled the tension better. The final mistake came with 34.Ra1??
The rook retreat that allowed 34...Qe3+ 35.Kh2 Nxd4, attacking the knight on e5 and setting up a potential discovered attack against the queen on b6.
In this video course experts examine the games of Bent Larsen. Let them show you which openings Larsen chose, where his strength in middlegames were, how he outplayed his opponents in the endgame & you’ll get a glimpse of his tactical abilities!
Bent Larsen (1935–2010) was the greatest chess player in Danish history, and for a time, the second-strongest player in the Western world behind Bobby Fischer. Between 1954 and 1971, he won the Danish Championship six times, and achieved numerous international tournament victories throughout his career.
Free video sample: Introduction to Bent Larsen by Peter Heine Nielsen
Free video sample: Introduction to the Opening Section
After 36.Ng4 Nxf3+, Erigaisi resigned, since the queen on b6 was left hanging. Carlsen thus won the blitz playoff after three games, taking the TePe Sigeman title.
Arjun Erigaisi facing Magnus Carlsen | Photo: Peter Doggers
A final group photo in Malmö | Photo: Peter Doggers
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