GM Magnus Carlsen earned his spot within the 2025 Chess.com Traditional Grand Last after knocking GMs Nodirbek Abdusattorov and Hikaru Nakamura out of the Winners Bracket. In a hard-to-believe finale, Nakamura appeared on the verge of a comeback in sport 4 when he out of the blue resigned in a successful place, not seeing the successful transfer 33.Rfg3!.
Within the Losers Bracket, we noticed GMs Fabiano Caruana, Ding Liren, Wei Yi, Arjun Erigaisi, Vladislav Artemiev, and Levon Aronian get eradicated. The final ones left are Abdusattorov and Nakamura (as they only dropped down) in addition to GMs Vladimir Fedoseev, Ian Nepomniachtchi, and Maxime Vachier-Lagrave.
We’ll see the Losers Bracket resolved with one winner on Thursday, Might 22, beginning at 11:15 a.m. ET / 17:15 CEST / 9:45 p.m. IST. Then, on Friday, is the Grand Last.
Playoffs Bracket
At this level, we all know that the next gamers are going to the 2025 Esports World Cup in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia by the tour factors they accrued throughout the 2 CCT occasions. Gamers may have one final alternative on the WSC Final Likelihood Qualifier held in Riyadh afterward, and qualification to that occasion is feasible by way of the DreamHack Dallas pageant this weekend. The remainder of the match goes to be concerning the prize cash, with $25,000 for first place.
It ought to go with out saying, however Carlsen is favored to win the occasion. Whoever wins the Losers Bracket should defeat him twice within the Grand Last.
Winners Bracket: Carlsen Wins In ‘Absurd’ Style
Winners Semifinals: No Issues For Carlsen, Shut Match For Nakamura
Carlsen 3-1 Abdusattorov
Carlsen was by no means as soon as worse in opposition to Abdusattorov of their 4 video games. He gained sport one, drew sport two, and eventually gained with Black in sport 4 when a draw would have been sufficient.
The primary was the nicest, the place on the white facet of a QGD Semi-Tarrasch, Carlsen performed the non permanent pawn sacrifice beginning with 22.d5!? to saddle his opponent with an remoted d-pawn, one he’d spherical up a lot later within the sport. Additionally value trying out was a superb tactic Carlsen missed, 26.e6!!, a line-opener that will have gained a minimum of a bit within the subsequent three strikes.
Nakamura 3-2 Nepomniachtchi
After buying and selling wins and two attracts within the common video games, the match between Nakamura and Nepomniachtchi was solely determined in armageddon. Nakamura gained on demand with the white items after his opponent blundered a fork.
As commentator GM Aman Hambleton identified, the mutual king shuffles of 30…Kh7 31.Kh1 Kg8 (it was higher to depart the king on h7) lulled Nepomniachtchi right into a false sense of safety, whereas Nakamura covertly arrange the successful tactic with 32.Qf3.
You may as well take a look at Nakamura’s video recap under.
Winners Last: A Finale For The Books
Carlsen 3-1 Nakamura
The match began with two attracts, and many of the drama occurred within the final two video games, which Carlsen gained. Nakamura had a fleeting alternative to win with the black items in sport one after Carlsen allowed 22.Nd2? Bg5!, however the world number-one managed to carry an opposite-color bishop endgame down a pawn.
After 22.Nd2? Bg5! it is Magnus who should battle for a draw with the white items!https://t.co/uncJppJTOl#ChessChamps pic.twitter.com/HSt1rmMB2s
— chess24 (@chess24com) Might 21, 2025
After a draw, sport three was an absolute gem performed by Carlsen, the place his trade sacrifice with 16.Rxd7! appeared to shock not solely the commentators but in addition Nakamura. Hambleton mentioned of this transfer simply after it was performed:
At this degree, to shock Hikaru Nakamura with a transfer, interval, is hard to do… not as soon as did I think about Rxd7, it simply did not happen to me, however one of the best gamers on the earth have a look at each potential transfer. And I am not even saying that that is an absolute win for Magnus, however it’s actually a shock. That could be a huge ingredient in a transfer’s success.
From there, Carlsen did what he is one of the best on the earth at doing: profiting from a slight, nagging benefit. GM Rafael Leitao analyzes the excellent Sport of the Day under.
What occurred subsequent is simply one thing we nearly by no means see in skilled chess, even at quicker time controls: a grandmaster resigning in a successful place. Readers might keep in mind GM Sam Shankland resigning a drawn place in opposition to GM Anish Giri in Tata Metal Chess 2019 spherical 11, however that wasn’t a successful place.
Nakamura resigned within the following place, seeing that he was going to lose his queen or his rook. After all, underneath totally different circumstances, he would have discovered the successful transfer 33.Rfg3! within the blink of an eye fixed.
You possibly can see the clip of the day’s most dramatic second under. Carlsen later defined that he’d seen the successful transfer for White proper after he sacrificed his rook and that “when he resigned, it was a bit absurd as a result of at that time I used to be simply desperately on the lookout for ways in which I might lengthen the sport.” Regardless of the “absurd” finish, he mentioned “I am going to take it, after all!”
🤯 Hikaru, not seeing 33.Rfg3!, resigns in a successful place and loses the match when the comeback was across the nook!https://t.co/uvuzoPNsFi#ChessChamps pic.twitter.com/mubRLqtkdq
— chess24 (@chess24com) Might 21, 2025
Nakamura is not out but, as he’ll have a second life within the Losers Last on Thursday.
Losers Bracket: 5 Gamers Nonetheless Kicking
5 extra gamers have been eradicated in two rounds of the Losers Bracket.
Within the first set of matches, Fedoseev shockingly defeated Caruana with a 2-0 sweep. Within the second sport, he was higher, however his opponent resigned instantly after making a mouse slip.
Caruana makes a shedding mouse slip, although the place was dire anyway! Fedoseev eliminates him with a 2-0 rating!https://t.co/CtCCNjao23#ChessChamps pic.twitter.com/MvQhfdZESs
— chess24 (@chess24com) Might 21, 2025
Artemiev, then again, outplayed Ding in a picture-perfect bishop endgame the place one facet had all of his pawns on the proper shade—and the opposite facet had all of them on the incorrect shade.
While you dream of same-color bishop endgames, as many common folks do, that is the place it’s best to envision.
Vachier-Lagrave beat Arjun 2-1 in a chaotic match that ended with him successful with White in armageddon (that featured him giving his queen for rook, bishop, and pawn). Sport one was so sophisticated that neither participant might precisely assess the techniques, although the French GM gained in the long run.
MVL gained with the pure Qa1 transfer, threatening to win the queen. Shockingly, Black had the successful transfer 20…Rd6!. If 21.Ra8, buying and selling queen for rook and bishop (21…Qxb6) wins, and if 21.Bc5 Qxa7! with the thought of …Ra6 subsequent wins too.https://t.co/iA9XRavyaw#ChessChamps pic.twitter.com/l7lc6yYedU
— chess24 (@chess24com) Might 21, 2025
It is a bit of a disgrace that Wei bought eradicated, after discovering a surprising positional thought in opposition to Aronian of their armageddon sport. The trade sacrifice 26.Rxe4! left each Black’s queen and rook paralyzed. Many strikes later, nevertheless, in time bother, Wei let the win slip. This could have in any other case been a robust contender for Sport of the Day.
Within the subsequent spherical of matches, Fedoseev bought the higher of Artemiev in sport two. He transformed a bishop vs. knight endgame (with rooks on the board) in what appeared to be convincing trend—that’s, till you have a look at the engine analysis. That being mentioned, it was solely a query of whether or not he was higher or successful at each flip.
Vachier-Lagrave eradicated Aronian 2-0 of their match. First, he gained a rook endgame; then he gained sport two with an environment friendly checkmating assault.
Carlsen will get a relaxation day whereas Thursday will decide one winner within the Losers Bracket. Who do you suppose will problem Carlsen within the Grand Last, and the way do you assess their probabilities of successful? Tell us within the feedback under!
How To Watch
The Chess.com Traditional is the second of two legs within the 2025 Champions Chess Tour. On Might 19, the world’s greatest gamers competed within the Play-in, a nine-round Swiss with a 10-minute time management (no increment). The highest eight qualify, with eight invited gamers, for the Playoffs, a four-day occasion on Might 20-23 with a prize fund of $150,000. The highest-12 on the CCT leaderboard make it to the Esports World Cup in the summertime of 2025.
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