Weissenhaus Play-In: Fedoseev beats Nepomniachtchi and Sindarov, gets spot in Grand Slam

Nepo, Fedoseev, Sindarov and Yu reach semis

Freestyle Chess, also known as Chess960 or Fischer Random, continues to captivate enthusiasts worldwide, bolstered by the support of Magnus Carlsen and Jan-Henric Buettner. Buettner, an entrepreneur with a keen interest in chess, has invested significantly in promoting the innovative variant, which features shuffled initial piece positions.

This year, the Freestyle Chess Grand Slam makes its debut with five tournaments, the first of which will be held in the picturesque locale of Weissenhaus, Germany, from 7-14 February. The star-studded 10-player field includes Magnus Carlsen, world champion Gukesh Dommaraju and legend Vishy Anand. Additionally, one participant earned their spot through an online play-in stage.

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The play-in stage, conducted on the chess.com platform from 4-8 January, featured a knockout format with a rapid time control. Sixteen players competed, with twelve directly seeded into the bracket and four earning their spots through a Swiss tournament that attracted over 200 participants. In a striking turn of events, the two finalists of the play-in, 19-year-old Uzbek grandmaster Javokhir Sindarov and 29-year-old Slovenian grandmaster Vladimir Fedoseev, both emerged from the Swiss event.

Sindarov's path to the final was nothing short of remarkable, as he defeated Wei Yi, Praggnanandhaa Rameshbabu and Yu Yangyi in succession. On the other side of the bracket, Fedoseev showcased his resilience, ousting top players Leinier Dominguez, Jan-Krzysztof Duda and Ian Nepomniachtchi. The strength of the play-in field was further highlighted by the elimination of elite grandmasters such as Wesley So, Vidit Gujrathi and Hans Niemann.

Both finalists entered the title match undefeated, having avoided losses in both the Swiss and knockout stages. Sindarov struck first with a remarkable 26-move victory in the opening game, placing Fedoseev in a must-win situation for game two. The Slovenian grandmaster, renowned for his fighting spirit and past successes in knockouts, including a semifinal run in the 2021 World Cup, delivered under pressure to level the match.

The contest proceeded to blitz tiebreakers, which ended in two draws. In the Armageddon decider, Fedoseev, playing black, first got a better position, then found himself in trouble but emerge victorious in the end, securing his place in the prestigious Weissenhaus tournament.

Sindarov's victory in game 1 of the final was nothing short of spectacular. His 16.g5, pushing the pawn standing on the same file as his queen and king was a killer shot.

What justifies the whole line is the white dark-squared bishop on a1, ready to give all sorts of discovered checks. There followed 16...Bxg5 17.Nce4+ Bf6 18.Nxf6, a move which importantly covers the g8-square.

Here 18...Rxf6 fails to yet another good-looking knight jump - i.e. 19.Ng4 fxg4 20.Bxc6 Bxc6 21.Rxf6, and White is completely winning.

Thus, Fedoseev went for 18...e5, which was followed by 19.Nxd7 Rg8 20.Ng4. Again the temporary knight sacrifice which wins for White!

Black is busted. The game continued 20...Rxg4 21.Bxg4 Nd4 22.Qg3 Rg8 23.Qxe5+. Simply all tactics favour Fedoseev.

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Resignation came three moves later.

All games - Knockout

Links

• Official website
• Freestyle Chess Grand Slam Tour 2025 kicks off - with Gukesh, Carlsen and Anand
• Freestyle Summit: Carlsen holds draw with black, beats Caruana 1½-½