Radjabov And Erigaisi’s SHOWDOWN For Top 16 In Chess.com Global Championship!

Featuring the world’s greatest players, former world champions and online chess legends, the $1,000,000 Chess.com Global Championship is our biggest EVER tournament! After months of qualifiers, the top 32 players have advanced and are joined by 32 invited chess stars to compete for their share of the prize fund and the Chess.com Global Champion title.

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[Music] [Music] Foreign [Music] [Music] [Music] Foreign [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] Foreign [Music] [Music] Thank you [Music] [Music] Foreign [Music] To anyone All around the world are you kidding me The chess.com Global Championship offers The dream of playing against the best we Are in for a wild ride and hey have we Mentioned there’s also a million dollars At stake the total pot is a million Dollars no that it’s not a typo the Prizes are unbelievably generous we Began with thousands of players now only Dozens remain he knows exactly what’s About to happen oh my goodness yeah this Is over a heartbreaker for Mr svidler Jana probably she pulls through once Again

The cgc Knockout phase has arrived There are those who played their way in And some are here thanks to their Well-earned reputations [Music] No matter who you are things are about To get very very real oh gosh no time no Time oh A trip to the cgc finals and a clean Shot at the largest first place prize of The year My friends it’s the cgc round of 32. who Will take the next step to Toronto Foreign Ladies and gentlemen welcome to the Chess.com Global Championship today Marks the end of the round of 32 we have One more match left to play in the round Of 32 and what a match it is going to be With Timur a job of taking on Arjun Aragicei to determine which 16 players Will remain in the field I’m your host Grandmaster Daniel naritzki and Alongside me today once again former World champion Grandmaster Amman Hamilton Amman an honor to be Commentating with you indeed Dan yeah Yeah for a former world champion I just Hope no one digs into the archive and Wants to bring up the logs we’ll just Leave it they didn’t know they didn’t Know about the about the Canadian world Championship match uh in Toronto you Know that’s why the cgc finals are in

Toronto it’s actually in your honor Let’s start by reviewing the bracket of 64. we’ve come a very long way in the Cgc we’ve had upsets we have had matches Go to Armageddon we’ve had blowouts We’ve had a little bit of everything I’m On and after the rajaba of eriggaisi Match we will have 16 players eight of Which are going to head to the largest City in Canada Exactly yeah this is all about that Final ticket to Toronto and uh we have One more match Dania that needs to be Decided here so really excited to get Into that today as we can and see what This match actually means for your Racket as the winner we’ll move on to Face young Indeed there’s one more bracket to Complete it is the group E bracket it Featured some incredible players Yana Pamushi has made his way through muradli Defeating svidler in a unbelievably Close match that came all the way to Armageddon and as you’re saying who Between Arjun aragaisi and Timur rajabov Is going to face yon to round out group E it’s gonna be an incredibly close one And we’re not just saying it I mean Arjun and Timur rajaba if you take a Look at the match-up card Amman they’ve Both been writing incredible streaks of Late of course Eric icy Crossing 2700 Furiously making his way up the ladder

He’s something like 27 30 feet a right Now and Timur a job of doesn’t even Really need an introduction but a third Place finish at the candidates in Madrid Uh really solidifies his case as someone Who can go a very long way in the cgc is My assessment accurate I believe so and we’ve also seen how These two players have gotten here as Well right defeating huifon having no Small task and the same with Arjun Um a very convincing match victory for Both Arjun is uh you know he also had That match against Magnus that he just Played Um he lost in rather convincing fashion But he made it all the way to the finals Similar time control I think he’s going To be warmed up as well Dania Yeah I think he is and I think another Indicator that we are in for a barn Burner is the community prediction which Was essentially polarized 50 50 I think It was 52 uh in favor of Timur ajaba Maybe because he’s the more sort of Established old school name and 48 to Arjun aragaisi I mean it doesn’t get any Closer than that and I’m on there’s Really you know obviously even with Matches that should be close on paper We’ve seen blowouts right one player Could be in better form we’ve seen Arjun Aragaisy delivering you know total Blowouts to some of the strongest

Grandmasters in the world but I think This is a clear indicator that it is Impossible to predict the course that This match is going to take which is Even more reason to cancel whatever Plans you have in the next couple of Hours make yourself a nice cup of coffee And watch the action unfold that’s right No this will be a lot of fun Um I think that you pretty much called It is right down the middle Um obviously a lot of people correctly Predicted this bracket but then from There It’s 50 50. you don’t know what’s going To happen it’s the last match to Determine our final appearance for the Round of 16. so a lot is on the line Here that’s why we only have one match Today Dania because this this honestly Determines everything going forward Yeah we’ll be able to focus on each game Well If you don’t know the format of the cgc Then where have you been but for those Who might be late to the party a quick Recap of the logistics the cgc has a 15 Minute plus two second time control each Match consists of four games and if the Match ends in a 2-2 tie then it goes to An Armageddon we’ve had a lot of Armageddon in the cgc most recently Jana Pamushi pulling out a flag over Peter Swidler in the Armageddon and I just

Love the format I love the fact that we Go straight into the Armageddon no Blitz Playoff you know you don’t have five Minutes and then three minutes you’re Going straight into uh the decisive game That really caters to some of the most Exciting match chests Amman that we’ve Seen ever Yeah I think the cgc has done a great Job at just making things exciting right We have that four game match and then Like you said as soon as it’s tied There’s no you know beating around the Bush they get right into it and all of a Sudden somebody’s knocked out in the Very next game so guaranteed excitement I think there’s a good chance that this Match does indeed go to Armageddon but You’ve got two set I mean such Interesting Styles between rajabov and Eric I see that younger player he’s he’s Got that fire in him he plays really Exciting chess rajabov he sort of Cemented himself right at the top and I Always feel Dania that just doesn’t Quite get enough credit for how Rock Solid and talented he is to stay at the You know Elite level of chess And he’s a shape-shifter you’re exactly Right I mean tomorrow job grew up Playing the French he used the French to Beat Gary Kasparov I think aged 16 in 2003 he played the king’s Indian against One D4 exclusively and he has really

Changed his style uh to make it that Much more solid you know he started Playing the Queen’s gamma Decline and You know with the white pieces he Solidified his opening repertoire as Well and that is what you need to Succeed at the top level nowadays but at His core Timur rajabov is still the Rajaba who played the French against Kasparov who loves explosive positions And I think our generic icy is exactly The same way he’s capable of playing Very positionally he has a very measured Style but you know he loves Confrontation he loves displaying sharp Opening preparation and I’m really Hoping for a king’s Indian or a French Or one of those gritty openings in this Match Absolutely and you know if people need a Reminder it’s insanely difficult to Qualify for the candidates some people Spend their entire careers at 27.50 plus And never make it there and not only did Java make it there they came third Overall Dania so I mean we’re talking About someone who’s experienced a lot of Recent success at the absolute highest Level and now you know going uh right Back down to the bottom of the age Category there you’ve got our generic Icy 19 years old who’s looking to once Again I mean this would be a huge step In his journey as a young uh upcoming

Player to take over Jabba if you’re in The cgc Yeah and and Arjun you know maybe I’m You know inventing stuff that isn’t Valid but I feel like there is a new Style I don’t know what to call it yet a New Young player style that has been Permeating uh young players you know Aged under 20 I think all he has a Farugia belongs to this category our Generic I see his compatriot uh gukesh It’s a style that is incredibly Well-rounded more well-rounded than we Have seen young players play uh at any Other point in chess history young Players used to be associated with you Know super tactical style uh positional Heirs even young Grandmasters 10 15 Years ago would often commit serious Positional errors and the older players Would drag them into you know long Boring end games or boring positional Struggles I’m on you can’t do that Anymore because these young players are Just as good if not better at end games Than the older generation just look at All your as a farouza who you know wins Equal and games on the regular against Players twice as old as him yeah that You know that used to be the the Fallback plan it’s like okay yeah let me Steer away from the Tactical skirmishes And uh you know I’m gonna use my Experience and technique in the end game

But I mean as you pointed out that’s no Longer a guarantee so should be a really Exciting match because I’m wondering Where we’re going to find the Differences between those two players Sometimes Dania it is the closest Matchups on paper that are the biggest Blowouts when the match actually happens So really excited to get into this one We just saw the players on cam there so We have both of them with us and uh Looking forward to this match Yeah me too and and I’m looking forward To the openings uh I think a lot of the Match the nature of the match is going To be decided uh by the open We’re going to see I mean are we going To see a king’s Indian you know uh French or are we gonna see uh the Openings that Timur has been playing Recently one D4 with white Queen’s gamma Declined and one E5 with black were that Question is about to get answered Because the games are underway ladies And gentlemen seat belts fastened and Mandatory and in game one we do indeed Have a queen’s gamma declined and a Ragozan by Arjun aragaisi This is a really interesting opening Um first of all of course the players Are so closely seated but rajabov with That second seed is going to start with The white pieces Um as the the higher seeded player

Um the red goes in his is uh I guess Slightly more ambitious of a of an Opening to to start things off but it’s Just got such a solid reputation for Black and as I get that word solid out Of my mouth Dania I I see the move G4 on The board for what Tim Moore waiting for You to say that already a couple of Surprises not just G4 but if we rewind Just two moves this move A3 uh that came As a slight surprise to me I think Bishop D3 or Rook C1 all right here’s More standard fair but G4 part of a Recent Trend among where people seem to Be playing G4 and H4 and virtually every Position and I think tomorrow Jabba’s Intentions are completely clear I want To give Checkmate to the black king Exactly like there was a time in chess Daniel where people did this way before These Grand Masters but the difference Was I don’t think they did it with as Much actual foundation and you know Computer backing as we have now Um so it is an exciting new way that People are playing they’re getting it to Work they’re finding these G4S each Fours in every position A3 brought the B-pawn closer to the center don’t take Your eyes off the b-pawn it’s now Sitting on D4 Yeah it has come a very very long way Indeed and the sort of generally Approved prescription for fighting early

Flank play Amman is striking in the Center you want to open up the center Then you want to strike in the center uh Because the logic is that if you’re Playing you’re making flank moves you’re Pushing pawns on the sides of the board And we see team we’re on Java playing G5 Anyway your Center is going to be weak This is crazy so H takes G5 I think he Wants Rook G1 and he’s going to win the Pawn back this is still preparation Which is absolutely nuts yeah it must be Preparation Um and the way that he’s played it so Calm cool collected and the fact that The engine isn’t you know screaming in Either direction either direction I Think also means it’s probably pretty Dangerous prep Um each takes Rook G1 Knight takes G5 And remember that Queen on D1 is gonna Slide out to the H5 Square starts to Look really frightening Yeah Rook q1 is already on the board and At this point our generic icy has a Choice I mean the most tempting move I Think for most people if we can pull up An analysis board would bb7v5 to defend The C4 upon presumably Timur is going to Take on G5 with the Knight and as you Pointed out Queen H5 is already a Serious force to be reckoned with if Black plays a nonchalant move like Bishop B7 you can see the Evo bar

Creeping up Queen H5 and at first you Might say oh no problem I just go Queen H6 all of a sudden white trades Queens Knight takes C6 and the rook and f8 is Lost and if black plays Queen G6 then It’s still terrible I’m on take Stakes Knight takes C6 and Black’s position is Completely in shambles that’s right it’s So easy for it to go wrong oh that’s a Nasty one look at that line it takes B7 And boom Bishop G2 skewering the Rooks I Honestly don’t think I’ve seen the Rooks Get skewered like that ever like That’s a very weird one you can take on B7 trapping the other Rook on A8 oh man Yeah so I mean it’s very it’s very easy To understand prep I always find Dania Like you know there’s different styles Of preparation this one is the scariest To me because if you you know sort of in Your minds flip the board and observe This from Black’s point of view This doesn’t look like something where You’re like okay what’s the next engine Move that’s coming you’re just looking At it and you’re thinking okay Knight Takes pawn queen H5 and I made it and That’s tough to deal with when your Opponent’s position looks so darn easy To play No that’s the most tilting sensation you Know you watch your clock ticking down Your opponent is still at 15 minutes There’s Knight B8 to D7 by Arjun

And I’m very curious what he plans Against Knight takes G5 we should also Not forget that Timur after Knight takes G5 and Bishop takes C4 uh material will Be equal so that’s right is kind of Getting this sort of attack potentially For free which is sort of a Disconcerting thought he takes on C4 First I guess there’s no hurry to take on G5 That Pawn’s not going anywhere Yeah the thing is at any point I think Rajabov can just switch back and play Normal game meaning if the Queens get Traded I think White’s still fine right as long As he balances out the material this Could just be a regular game so that’s The interesting thing about prep like This is that you’re overreacting Thinking how you’re going to stop it as Black and then it’s like wait a minute Congrats you stopped it but we’re still Playing a chess game out here and white Doesn’t have to full commit to this Attack he hasn’t ruined everything in His position yeah nor does white have to Promise that I’m going to Checkmate you In the next five moves or I’m going to Resign right uh the attack you know I Think White’s actually going to switch To a sort of long-term attacking Strategy uh maybe Knight takes G5 drop The bishop back to D3 uh maybe bring the

Queen into F3 White’s King uh isn’t the Safest I mean white has pushed the Jeep On up to G5 but uh this Pawn chain I’m On F2 E3 D4 is still an incredibly solid One and white has certain positional Pluses such as a better Bishop for the Time being at least Yeah and the king is relatively safe Because I mean check out the biggest Threat to White’s King Black’s Queen is Sitting on H6 you know a defensive piece At best so the king can actually Probably just sit on E1 or maybe play King E2 at the right moment later and The Rooks will connect on the first rank So I completely agree I don’t think you Need to rush and the other thing is that Bishop on C8 might have a hard time Getting developed Um you know if you put something like Night to Knight takes G5 on the board And you know Pawn to B6 if we get an Analysis for it something like Queen F3 Exactly and Um you know we’re kind of hitting the Rook here and the bishop wants to go on B7 might want to go on A6 but it can’t Move anywhere so plaque’s a little bit Slow getting developed here Yeah well B7 is controlled uh White is Accumulating pieces on the king side And it’s already trouble you’re gonna Have to go Rook B8 and then as you were Pointing out yeah Queen F4 Bishop T3

This just looks ugly for black I mean Even if you do put your Bishop on B7 uh Congratulations at this point there are Already tactics with Knight takes Uh so so I I don’t like flash position I think this Is phenomenal prep by team over a job of It’s way too early to say Obviously Whether Uh this is successful and see more Taking really his first think of the Game after Queen H6 my guess Iman is That he is trying to evaluate Queen Takes H2 which has to be taken seriously Yeah it’s uh It’s really annoying when your queen is Still in D1 in these situations because The move that you would like to make is Long Castle sometimes just to connect The Rooks and that’s how you defend the Rook on G1 but having to defend with a Piece I mean for example Knight back to F3 is a not a move you want to make yeah It deals with the problem but okay the Queen can go back to H6 and what have You really done so you’d like to do it In a different way maybe Queen and G4 as As you’re highlighting discards The Rook Although here there’s Knight F6 exactly Black’s Pieces come into action really Quickly all of a sudden you know the Only way to defend your Rook might be Trading queens and remember Queen takes H2 Dania did pick up that pawn so if you

Trade queens now you’re going to be down Upon Yeah and that is the worst case scenario Going into an end game you’re down a Pawn and for this reason if we go back To the live position Rook takes G5 is on The board I think a big part of it was That Timur didn’t want to give up the H2 Pawn and this is uh this kind of Epitomizes the shift in your job off Style I think the rajaba of of uh 2005 Would have taken on G5 with a knight in A couple of seconds right you know the 35 year old team were a job of he plays A little bit more conservatively and uh You know that’s a style that not a lot Of people like to play against maybe Arjun was excited at the opportunity to Mix things up uh make a daring move and Timur says no no no that ain’t gonna Happen but Amman Rook takes u5 is a very Serious downside this Rook is very Awkwardly placed after black positions The bishop on B7 you’re gonna threaten Bishop takes F3 and white is potentially Gonna have to burn more Tempe uh to Retract The Rook from this illegal Parking spot yeah I I really don’t get a Good feeling Um from Rook takes G5 because uh one of The reasons I liked Knight takes G5 was That B6 could be restrained by the idea Of Queen F3 Our Queen now now can never Join the action because the knights in

The way and the Knight has to stay in The way because it’s guarding the Rook So you get this weird like geometry and Like piece configuration I don’t think It works out very well for for Jabba so I’m actually wondering now do we just Have to move the Rook again almost like Rook back to G3 And if that’s the case I don’t know if I Really like the position just imagine a Few moves happen on the board and black Achieves Bishop B7 Knight F6 Rook comes To C8 the E4 square is is loose The Bishop’s great on B7 suddenly I start to Love Black’s position so I think rajaba Is really Under Pressure now he’s Created a position where I think he Needs a couple really accurate moves Here with white Yeah I’m gonna go out and say that Rook Takes G5 I think is a pretty serious Inaccuracy Um I I think Timor underestimated the Speed with which black could not only Completes his development but creates Concrete threats against White’s pieces The bishop the Knight on F3 we mentioned That whites King is relatively safe I Stand by what I said but that doesn’t Mean that white has suffered no Consequences for pushing the Jeep on the Structural Integrity of White’s position Is definitely compromised the pieces are Loose the files are open and white can’t

Dilly-dally forever so I think Timor Underestimated uh the speed of Black’s Development and the extent to which it’s Going to be difficult for white uh to Handle his King side affairs with this Rook just kind of sitting on G5 and Taking the knights rightful spot So I have an issue with the queen on D1 I’m looking at the move Pawn to D5 Strangely enough Um I’d I’d like to try to place my queen Maybe on the D4 Square behind it and D5 Also plays against perhaps the idea of Bishop B7 in the sense that I don’t know What’s happening after you know part Takes pawn and you know the Knight might Be hanging on D7 and things get really Wild here so Yeah obviously uh this is well well Calculated you have seven King it so You’re calculating it uh ef7 King H7 Yeah I was looking yeah Obviously yeah Um just Madness there but the one thing About D5 is that it finds a way to enter The queen into action without having to Move that Knight so that was that’s the Really the only uh aggressive move that I would still find difficult to handle With the black pieces Yeah uh Bishop B7 is one move I suppose Knight C5 would be another way to to Secure the E6 spawn but I agree Queen D4 Uh there’s a pretty scary Prospect of

White Moving the king maybe up to E2 as You had indicated before and then Doubling on the G file the pressure on G7 uh could could grow unbearable very Very fast so I really like your proposal My guess is that if Timor is thinking About D5 what he has to calculate first And foremost is indeed Bishop B7 like This line that we kind of jokingly Showed is actually very likely to appear On the board true if uh D5 is played but See more if we uh go back to the current Position is down to seven minutes and 50 Seconds D5 is on the board and you Called it my friend Yeah I think it’s one of those positions Where if you don’t play D5 The other moves that seem like they’re Available to White are I don’t know Bishop D3 Rook G3 and these moves are Just not in the spirit of the position I Think rajaba felt his position was Getting a little bit worse like the tide Was turning and the only way it seems to Justify Rook takes G5 instead of Knight Takes appears to be D5 to me and the Reason I didn’t delve deeper into the Complications after Bishop B7 is that if Arjun doesn’t play Bishop B7 I don’t Want to do any bonus work in that Position yeah so let’s wait let’s wait And see if he plays Bishop B7 then we’re Gonna embrace the complications and you Know jump head first into the pool but

Bishop B7 is far from the only move Knight C5 uh seems to be the computer Stop choice to protect the E6 Pawn maybe Prepare to get into E4 And uh you know suddenly two more is Down to seven minutes and 50 seconds and This is after you know all of the Impressive preparation so now that’s Another factor which we’re gonna start Talking about in about two or three Minutes you know the we’re starting to Enter the time pressure phase slowly but Surely And I don’t think he uh got up to the Point of Queen H6 which is interesting Because Queen H6 made a lot of sense to Me Um to get ahead of White’s Queen ending Up on H5 Um so I thought Queen H6 by Arjun was a A very like natural human kind of Resource to to locate but perhaps had he Kept you know the had he kept the Preparation going a little bit further You might have seen ah okay Knight takes G5 is the move we can give up H2 and Those lines we were calculating earlier But suddenly it felt like he was on his Own at the board Rook takes G5 felt more Natural and now he’s in a position where He has invested that time and things Will get very wild here I’m looking at Arjun and if you’re thinking about Bishop B7 you’re spending a lot of time

To to calculate it otherwise it was like Knight C5 and even Knight F6 perhaps They just feel like Um less work uh as black to calculate Yeah that’s more like you know Soviet Schoolboy kind of style you know just Avoid avoid completions you know make Normal move uh even even e65 is uh not Totally out of the question Getting uh control of the D4 square and Arjun indeed putting on his Soviet Schoolboy hat throwing the Knight onto C5 And my biggest question is what he Intends in response to Queen D4 that I Think is what Tim Moore is probably Gonna play Taking on E6 serves no purpose for white Um you want to leave that pawn there so That when you recapture maybe with the Bishop you’re hitting the Rook on A8 but Right now I think the most important thing for White is Queen D4 and if you look at all The pieces the last piece that just Hasn’t done anything that Rook on A1 so I want to play Queen D4 I wanna well Maybe King E2 is the best place for the King but that Rook on A1 Danny I think If it swings over to G1 then White’s Position really starts to look dangerous And Arjun has to act fast Arjun has two moves and there’s so many Things the menu is best uh you could

Play Bishop B7 and go like Rook 88 but That doesn’t strictly prevent white from Achieving the ideal setup if you want to Take more drastic measures you can Contemplate the move F6 but that creates Major weaknesses along the A2 G8 Diagonal so I wouldn’t pay too much heed To the eval bar here I think that if Anything like if we take the span of the Next two moves Black’s position is more Difficult to play if Arjun can solve This problem successfully then you know I’ll be the first to say that you know The position is objectively good for Black but but can he figure out a way uh To take the sting out of King E2 and Rook ag1 which are two very obvious Follow-up moves yeah I think we’re back To them the what we were alluding to Earlier where we were saying you know This is maybe dangerous or good prep Because from Black’s perspective you’re Sitting there looking at a position Where you can find your opponent’s moves Easier than you can find your own and That’s not a good feeling when you’re Sitting at the chess board and you’re Like you almost want to turn the table Around wait a minute this position looks Kind of nice I wouldn’t mind Um so yeah this this does look like can You do Rook G1 if I’m looking at Black’s Position I mean first of all F6 Is the first it’s the first move that

Comes to my mind Um just to calculate Pawn to F6 which Means it must be correct wait of course My instincts are unrivaled and parallel Um because E6 is defended of course if You played Pawn to F6 maybe you want to Bring an analysis board because it might Get a little confusing here but Pawn Takes pawn and you know if you go and Grab that Rook then I just don’t know What’s happening on Pawn E7 right and it Might get a little weird here Total and absolute chaos this would be Necessary because Bishop E6 runs into Rook takes C5 that’s not a prospect the Black wants to allow but Arjun Refraining from F6 and you know staying A more conventional course with Bishop B7 and this just makes me more and more Curious what he has in mind against King E2 now Timur could also Castle Queen Side but I think that would have more Downsides than upsides black could stick At a rook on C8 yeah and then black Would already be threatening Knight B3 So I think E2 is relatively the safest Square on the chessboard For the white King right now Absolutely you need to Um and it has to be somewhere like King D1 King F1 we’re not considering because The Rook needs to get to G1 there’s no Way around that no um Yeah if Rich G1 is very hard to uh

That’s a sneaky little defense there so That’s very teamwork actually has to Burn a Tempo taking on D5 but then then There’s like Bishop A6 Jack right and Things get really messy And that was the downside of King E2 now Look there wasn’t a better place to put That King so I don’t think King E2 was a Mistake but Um if Bishop A6 happens all of a sudden Your king is running everywhere like King D2 you’re in the middle of the war Terrible That would be Unthinkable I think Rook Takes G7 and Rook G1 is forced I can see Why the evil bar is giving zeros I think This line Rook takes Rook G1 Some sort of it looks like black gets a Kingdom and a horde For the queen but there’s fortunately For what a Perpetual check when she Foreign H5 in the classic This looks very plausible at the moment I think this is very likely going to be The way that this game ends uh with with This Perpetual I think Timur sees that This is in his pocket uh he’s verifying That Bishop takes D5 out of the question And it is Yeah and there it is A drawn game one yeah this this can’t Really go any other way because if white Gets ambitious and says okay I’ve got The draw let me go for more first of all

You’ve got two Rooks and a bishop that Say otherwise in exchange for the queen Yeah and the Knight on G1 is not Necessarily you know entering with force From from the G1 squid it’s not exactly Making its presence making the black Pieces Shake in there You know in their houses no uh but it’s Actually it’s actually Arjun uh taking His time here maybe contemplating Flirting with a move like Rook F to d8 Which I think is not uh the dumbest Decision to make I mean black currently Has two Rooks for the queen which you Could consider to be a small material Advantage the reason I think Arjun is Going to go for the draw first of all This is game one he’s got the black Pieces it draws a solid result uh no Need for crazy risks but the second Thing is that Black’s King is just Permanently going to be weak and if this Knight actually rejoins Society I’m on The queen of night combo is a force to Be reckoned with and I don’t think the Situation in the match calls for this Level of a risk but I agree people make Me my words agreed totally Um I think that uh and we do see the Draw on the board the the worst thing That you can do is try to play this arm And get ambitious when you shouldn’t and I think it’s just a prudent match Strategy take the points that are

Available on the board it is a draw both Players know it and go on to game two Where Arjun will get the white pieces Yeah that was a really really Interesting game uh kind of what we Predicted the players are close in Strength it was a fighting draw uh and Timur did his best I mean great Preparation I think that critical moment The critical moment was not playing Knight takes G5 and we can now confirm With the engine the Knight takes u5 was Indeed the path to uh to an advantage Queen takes H2 and now simply King E2 uh To coordinate the queen and the Rook While simply in quotes Obviously dropped back to F3 and it’s Clear that it’s plus one of course You’ve dropped the pieces back and Removed them from the attack How Timur could not have noticed that is Is really Beyond me uh but after Rook Takes G5 a good reaction by Arjun to Secure the draw in game one he’ll have The white pieces in our second match Game And uh the time has come as we look at The scoreboard here only one match today To round off a round of 32 we’re gonna Go on a short break ladies and gentlemen Do not go anywhere because rajaba versus Eric icy in our final round of 32 Matchup here at the chess.com Global Championship resumes on the other side

Of this short Foreign Foreign Foreign Foreign Foreign There on your left swinging in his Swivel chair awaiting the start of game Two and of course where would we be Without the top of two more rajabobs Chair here at the chess.com Global Championship our final match in the Round of 32 alongside Grandmaster Iman Hamilton I’m on let’s take a quick look At Arjun aragaisy’s player card He’s only 19 years old and yet his Resume is absolutely packed and his Rating is only going up Indeed I mean one of the things that Certainly stands out on this card is the Chess.com Junior speed Chess Championship like being the champion of That event Daniel there are so many Talented players that first of all are Juniors nowadays but that were in this Event so to me that’s an incredible Achievement in its own right and you Almost don’t even get the full picture Of knowing who is in that event for him To win it but any any Junior Championship title Um whether it’s online which is more Common nowadays posted by chess.com or Even the world junior Championship uh in

Real life incredible incredibly uh Prestigious title there And that MPL senior Championship that You see is the official name for the Indian Championship so our generic IC Has been on such a rampage I think he Also won the Sharjah Masters a couple of Months ago uh a field that included Something like 40 or 50 Grand Masters And he seems to do it all with this kind Of effortless air he has such a such a Light style you know I don’t even know How to characterize it but I think you Know what I’m saying it just seems to be Just going with the flow making natural Moves and before you know it he’s just Uh torn you know six grand Masters to Bits in a row I I agree I think nonchalant comes to Mind Um the way that the way that he plays I Couldn’t agree more it’s it’s as if he’s Got it figured out and even if he Doesn’t he’s not concerned and I I think That he doesn’t tilt and that plays into It as well you just don’t ever see that Concern look of concern on his face when He loses a game if he gets out played That’s just the way it is he sort of Takes it on the chin learns from it and He comes straight back with a vengeance As we see the next game has just gotten Underway And we have a Berlin we have the new

Team or rajabov who uh played the Berlin Successfully in the candidates Tournament I don’t think that we had a Single Berlin end game in the candidates D takes C5 by Argin is he trying to Force a draw here in game two Yeah I mean if you’re a job of you’re Not saying no to this this is a really Well-known draw in chess Pawn takes on Passau on D6 Queen captures but he Doesn’t want to go for it and rajaba was Probably like huh I don’t I’ve never Seen this move in my life A lot of people forget that this is this Line has existed for many years it’s a Pretty old school line I used to play This with white Um and I used to play this with Queen to D3 in this position but you can also uh Play A5 and try to clamp down on the Queen side light squares so almost Nobody knows that uh there exists some Sidelines in this position that do not Involve taking on the sun and going for The Drone Arjun is going for one of them I’m taking my hat off I like this yeah This is what the world needs more of It it’s really really nice first of all You can know that this draw exists and Just pick a different line and avoid it All together and then you know you might Get a golf clap as people say oh that’s Nice he’s playing on he’s playing for Something but I think you get an extra

Loud Round of Applause when you walk all The way up to the potential draw and Then say no right at the last moment you Know he he basically is one move away From potentially having a repetition on The board and you know it’s a little bit Of a mind game he says nope I’m actually Gonna play this position right here he Goes for your move A5 and hey if we see Those dark Square Bishops Bishop on C1 And Bishop on E7 if we see those trade Off the board at all that White’s Position is going to look tremendous Yeah gee I wonder you know what kinds of Squares Arjun is trying to control with His last two moves I don’t know A5 and B4 maybe the dark scores on the queen Side uh this could be a very dangerous Strategy if you give white like three More moves he sticks tonight on A4 maybe He feels the bishop as you’re saying if The dark squared Bishops disappear from The board that is an ideal scenario for White because then white has a complete Monopoly over the queen side dark Squares Yep so I mean Black’s plan that he’s Gonna be going for is very simple wants To Castle if they can use safety I think He also is looking for in the future Maybe they move F6 castles and F6 for Black once the tread pry the position Open remember black is the one that has The bishop pair here so he would do well

To open things in the center you alluded To this in the previous game Daniel when It was a little more evident but here I Think it applies as well white is still Playing on the side of the board A4 A5 B4 and when that happens you generally Want to open things in the middle Yeah F6 looks very tempting to me even In this position Um if we bring up an analysis board it’s Not so easy for white uh to react Appropriately to that now obviously Arjun is still in his prep I’m sure he Has F6 analyze maybe he wants Bishop F4 But an example of how you could get in Trouble would be the natural looking Bishop B2 oh let’s prepare the battery Well the problem that after traffic 5 Queen E5 Bishop F6 you can simply resign Because the bishop on B2 is skewered Or the queen is skewered so that’s Invalid F4 Amman is similarly bad Because after Fe you have to take with a Pawn and allow this type of move and now Your Pawn’s weak yeah so my guess is That Arjun has Bishop F4 in his pocket In response to M6 but we might see this Yeah if we see F6 I think we’ll see Bishop F4 really quickly Um the move in 92 is is an interesting One but I think it’s also a little bit That you might want to solidify the the B4 Pawn maybe with upon a C3 Um and of course now that the knights on

E2 you can definitely think about moves Like Knight F4 and perhaps the Knight Goes back to D3 so yeah he does go C3 in Reaction to Bishop F5 Um on the queen side Daniel I think the Game revolves a little bit around you Know can black get the moves D6 and C5 Because if you can then you know White’s Position suddenly looks silly because You’ve wasted all this time moving all These pawns out here saying oh you can’t Do this you can’t do that and black just Goes and does it well then none of none Of your your gameplay thus far makes Sense it’s like those movie scenes where You put all these objects against the Doors the bad guy can’t get in you know Another bad guy just gets in through Another door uh yeah if Blacklist B65 I Agree completely and uh the reason B6 Isn’t valid here is that after a b a b The queen is overloaded so white trades Rooks and then wins The Pawn on B6 That’s a but that’s a pretty flimsy Mechanism with which to prevent B6 and Perhaps that’s why Arjun uh we want to Put a little bit more meat on the bone On the next move Bishop B3 comes to mind As a way to deter B6 further but of Course the downside of that uh is that The bishop could also potentially be Required on F4 all right so White’s Bishop has a pretty big weight on its Shoulders uh to support the center and

To prevent Black’s Queen side expansion At the same time Yeah and um one move that might come to Mind after let’s say white goes Bishop E3 it could be the move A6 but it’s Really important for for black not to Play the move A6 because that kills Everything that we’ve been talking about All these all these B6 C5 ideas No in Fact A6 is exactly what white would love To see because now there’s no Pawn Advance that can happen without being Captured which means that Black’s pawns All four of them are basically immobile And they’re immobilized by three pawns From White so that’s a real achievement To have your three pawns on the queen Side neutralize four from your opponent Yeah that’s a great point in fact both Sides want the other side to put upon Them to be the one to put upon an A6 uh From the opposite perspective white Certainly doesn’t want to play A6 Because that merely accelerates uh you Know the nightmare process of black Blank B6 and C5 so white wants to keep The status quo on the queen side You know black doesn’t mind the status Quo as long as he can get B6 and Eventually But I think what Tim Moore is really Thinking about here is this move F6 I Think he’s still trying to decide Whether he wants this additional source

Of tension or does he want to keep the Position closed and play a more kind of Non-descript improving move like Queen D7 Yeah and queen D7 also relinquishes the B6 Square so it it does kind of say okay I’m not gonna go for that plan right now Or maybe in the foreseeable future one Thing to keep in mind look maybe it’s The Yas or influence but if that Rook on A8 ever moves do you play Queen D7 Rookie eight how quickly am I now Snapping that pawn on A7 don’t think That just because it’s there uh you know On the side of the board I’m not gonna Grab it Daniel wow I remember when I Captured Robert Huebner spawned on A7 And you know that Robert adjusted his Glasses and you know and that thick German accent of his said I lost upon I Remember those days but uh yeah it’s a Tough position for Timur not only is White slightly better on the board he’s Uh building up a huge advantage on the Clock look at the clock situation 1446 For Arjun who’s just sitting back in his Chair just kind of another day in the Office I’m bored yeah totally two more Is laboring over the position what do I Do queen D7 F6 arjun’s just nonchalant That’s the word he used before the game And I think that word is sounding just About perfect right now Because even if this game ends in a draw

I mean it’s a draw that Arjun couldn’t Care less about and it’s a Traw that Rajabov has you know worked his tail off The whole game to achieve so just in Terms of the match I mean you talk about Energy and and just like uh expending Energy look at what is happening right Now I mean this is just sets up Arjun For the next couple games as well I Think it’s definitely the case that you Generally have like a limited amount and I think Arjun is is saving for uh later Games and he’s definitely going to be uh More fresh when it when it comes to uh Rounds three and four yeah we’ve seen Some great preparation from both players The difference is that this position is A lot less Dynamic uh than the previous One so if Arjun has accounted for all The ideas if he has a road map for where To put his dark squid Bishop he could Foreseeably be playing quickly the next Couple of moves as well Timur’s got to make a decision he’s down Seven and a half minutes on the clock We’re only on move 14 the position is Still completely closed her job of is Not going to survive a bullet game in This position no I mean it’s more than More than half the time I mean are you Really ever satisfied with a position When you have to think about it like This you know I mean this this Definitely definitely something wrong

With your position I’ve never seen these Thinking pose so this this immediately Tells me that there’s issues here and He’s gone with B6 which is really Interesting yes oh my lands that is a Very serious decision Iman I have to beg Your pardon I I have to disappear for 10 Seconds I have to get Request approved Um the reason that Danny and I were Unsure about this B6 move is ironically Because of exactly what’s appearing on The board and that’s actually an Interesting phenomenon that happens Sometimes in chess is you calculate a Line you’re like okay this can’t happen Or my opponent can’t do this because Of this and you calculate it out and You’re like okay yep I’ve calculated That well there’s no way my opponent can Do it and then that feeling sinks in Where they do it anyway They just play the exact thing that You’ve just spent your your time Calculating you’re feeling confident About it and then they just play it and That’s what’s happened here job Obviously B6 and if you look at the Position on the board The Rook down on A1 which is by the way now hanging can Take the rook in the top left corner on A8 the queen would then take back and Danny and I talked about how the pawn on B6 is hanging it’ll be a free pawn and

In fact we Loosely discussed how that Pawn would just be hanging and that’s Why he couldn’t go for this And now he’s gone for it so I I was uh Really surprised to see this but it Means that rajaba didn’t really love his Position and he wants a forcing way to Deal with what’s happened on the board He doesn’t want to sit there play a long Game with the time disadvantage he’s Like let’s solve everything right now um And he’s calculated something up and the Other thing I think one has to bear in Mind is the song cost effect right when You’ve invested Six and a half minutes even if you start Becoming pessimistic about the move You’ve just spent six minutes Calculating you’ve just spent six Minutes calculating it right so then to Play a slow move just doesn’t make any Logical sense because then you know why Didn’t you just make that move Immediately and then you’re more likely You’re a lot more likely to make the Forcing move the longer and the more Amount of time you invest on it So I think uh even speaking for myself a Really bad habit that chess players get Into is spending five minutes Calculating a move And then you know four minutes into that Three minutes into that you’re only Calculating one move if you’re only

Calculating one thing you should Probably play it and then calculate it Right unless you’re considering multiple Options you’re just wasting your time Exactly so so let’s blow up an analysis Board let’s let’s forecast how we think The game is going to go first question Does Arjun have any serious alternatives To Rook A8 we need maybe six and this Even need to find Alternatives like What’s the evaluation here Yeah I mean I think you start with the Most forcing Um and when your opponent kind of hands You upon so to speak you got to Investigate what they’re calculating so Queen takes Um yeah Bishop D3 one of the first Things that I look at Or queen E3 I guess Queen E3 is a more Tempo move Foreign Although I guess I plays rookie one and Asked yeah where exactly the Compensation is And uh I’m I hope someone has the answer but I Certainly don’t know where did it go I See it it’s on the left on the right But rookie one of course is also Possible here then maybe black can sneak A queen into A1 Something like that you know could be What Timur is aiming for I can believe

That a little bit more But I’m skeptical I think Arjun should Take on B6 and call Tim Moore’s Bluff Well here’s the thing how do you not Take the pawn if you go back to the Position before Rook A8 it’s like what Reasonable way do I have to not take the Pawn I mean if you go Bishop to E3 Pawn To C5 will happen it doesn’t matter if The queen for black is on d8 or on A8 It’s going to be guarding the D5 pawn And C5 can happen and I don’t know that I don’t really trust any position where Black achieves D5 or black achieved C5 Excuse me it’s the right triangle Um it’s this position is totally Colorless right if if Arjun goes for This that basically means he’s admitting That you know he doesn’t have too many Ambitions to win this game because black Will park you know even the bishop on E6 Queen D7 this is as solid as it gets and This would kind of signify that the Failure of White’s entire middle game Strategy not to sound too dramatic but That’s exactly what it would be So with every ticking second Amman I Think the same logic can be applied to Arjun’s decision it’s likelier and Likelier that he’s going to grab the Pawn on B6 Right and I mean I love your analogy From earlier with the white playing like Uh C3 B4 A5 it really is like you put

Every piece of furniture against the Door and then it just so happens that That door like opens outwards Yeah exactly now you just have B6 played And it’s like wait what I could do that Anyway I mean what else does white have To do to stop the move B6 Yeah A5 before and I think uh we hit the Nail on the head there there it is I Mean takes B6 on the board it’s C5 Knight F4 instantly follows Oh so that was timor’s idea was to play C5 and try to trap White’s Queen on B6 Yeah or at the very least maybe it Wouldn’t be trapped but it’d certainly Be a great position for black because Even if we have you know the A5 Square Available the resulting positions are Not going to be good for white as we see The pawn on C5 even at the cost of a Pawn for black so crucial to get that Because you start controlling all the Squares that white wants to use And Arjun instantly responding with Knight F4 I think he was tired of having To deal with Bishop D3 uh and he Believes that after rugby eight Queen C7 The queen doesn’t have a lot of Retreating squares but it is an Incredibly slippery piece people Underestimate how difficult the queen is To trap in any position Queen C7 Rook B7 would have happened the Queen would have had the C6 Square as

Well instead Timor he trades on B4 and Now he plays Rook B8 are we heading for Just like a mass liquidation of some Sort in a draw Well Um so Queen A5 is Is one of the moves I’m looking at Because I’m I’m trying to get rid of the Queen on A8 so that the D5 Pawn hangs Um so if you go Queen A5 and like trade Or if white gets to trade on A8 take on D5 I think we’re pretty happy there Um Trying to see if there are other Alternatives that I would really go for But it seems dangerous for white to try To play this position uh losing the B4 Pawn like if it turns into black keeping The d-pawn then perhaps I get even a bit Concerned Oh yeah totally with it with a bishop Pair and you know that pawn could appear On D3 in the blink of an eye I think Arjun needs to do everything in his Power to either keep the bee Pawn alive As you’re saying or trade the beep on For the d-pawn the good thing for Timor Though Amman is even in an end game Where there’s a four on three and black Is the bishop error I feel like Tim Moore should be able to hold a draw There Totally agree Um that that looks

That looks like enough uh apart from Queen A5 The only other move I’m looking at is Queen C7 and there might be some like Tactical justifications for how we can Take on D5 like Queen C7 Bishop takes on B4 and Knight takes D5 and you know There’s a 97 check that that I’ve got in My pocket I got six and The Rook is Still loose on the back rank there I Think we’re likely to get a kind of Position like this and this is basically Unusable given the control the black has Over the light squares the White’s never Gonna get a pawn past F4 uh with the Queen’s honor even though the Queen’s Off so this is one possibility I think Another possibility is Queen A5 and your Black can contemplate something like D4 And before you know it this could get Very double edged I mean agreed I think You called it him on you know black can Keep the Deep on the pawn count matters A lot less in these types of end games Uh you know then the quality of the Passers that you have Yeah that’s that’s a great way to say it Um if I’m Arjun here I don’t want to Deal with this we see the time situation Evening up completely so you talk about Your job off and how he looked like he Was struggling earlier well in fact he May have just been working all this out Because he didn’t want to sit there play

A long game as we said he wanted to Simplify things on the spot he did Exactly that now if I’m white I love the Move Queen to C7 because it’s more Forcing it hits the bishop on E7 we want Knight takes D5 and although the queen Is also protecting the D5 Square for Black it’s it has an alternative job Which is protecting a rook on V8 Unfortunately that’s far more important So you can can’t really take back there I don’t know I think depending the ponds Are more important debatable me Yeah I think Bishop before Knight D5 is Probably what’s going through rajabov’s Uh rajabov’s brain at this time Bishop Takes before is on the board And I’m gonna give this a 90 likelihood Of one way or another physically added To a draw yeah and we saw that in the Last game as well Dania like the the Willingness to just take that draw from Both sides Um and in this game Queen C7 not Queen A5 I feel like the players they both Know what’s on the line here right this Is the the final match of the round of 32 moving on to the round of 16 would be Huge for either player so they don’t Really want to take unnecessary risks They they can see the draws the most Likely result and they’re gonna they’re Gonna take the safe option here that Looks like in game two because such a

Close match Daniel that just one mistake Could swing the whole match Oh yeah it absolutely can I mean this is Game two the worst thing to do is lose With the white pieces against someone as Solid uh as either of these players one Question I’m having though is that after Knight takes D5 could black contemplate The move Bishop F5 to D3 Is this perhaps what worries Arjun the Idea is to attack the rook and if you Move the Rook to D1 I wanted to follow Up with Bishop E2 And that Rook is very constricted if you Have to play Rook D4 then you’ve exposed Your back rank I feel like the pieces Are loose this just doesn’t seem like The way to go Rook C8 uh skewer is the Queen of the bishop Wow yeah that gets uh really tricky all Of a sudden and Knight takes B4 I guess Doesn’t Do that much yeah you can take on D1 There’s this move This is the Saving Grace and then to Move the Rook And then to move the Rook well the queen Has nowhere to go you have to play Queen B7 well no I guess we can be someone Loses because now you can at the very Least take take a rook d8 bishop f8 and Whoop this is uh I mean this is like a Wild line do they want Bishop to A5 At which point like uh after Knight B6 I

Mean they they like all all computer Entities like all robotic people in the World I want this oh my God I’m on you Want to know how the line continues you Will not you will not believe this oh my God I have to show this E6 Bishop takes B6 no we’re not even Getting started Queen takes F7 King h8 Now you play E7 Of course Bishop takes D1 Bishop B2 Threatening Checkmate black throws and Bishop takes F2 check to distract White’s gang white says no no no Rook G8 and now the cherry on top Bishop Takes G7 and EA Queen this is the Top Line the top Engine line in that Position How do the players not see this honestly I mean honestly a huge mistake if I got It out Put that one in puzzle rush I tell you That’ll be the only one yeah this is Like a 3800 rated problem Good Lauren okay well anyways we’ll We’ll simplify things for you guys and Say hey guess what that didn’t happen That didn’t happen Bishop is on the Board a little more logical because the Whole Knight takes D5 move Daniel relies On stuff like this and if you don’t see 25 moves ahead sorry you can’t play Knight takes D5 with confidence that was Just an incredible line I definitely Something to revisit if you’re a student

Of the game Um and and chess is so unique in that You have these two parallel games them On you have what happens on the board Which is plenty entertaining but you Also have what remains behind the scenes And that has a certain Beauty and charm Of its own you could basically fill Entire volumes Um I know the late Yuri averback uh his His Memoir was titled something like Behind the scenes of Chess Beauty so It’s it’s just like a parallel universe That you can trace as well but Speaking of uh the current Universe After something like Bishop C3 is black Not at this point slightly better is Black not the one pushing for a win here I I think the tables have definitely Turned Um rajabov is still I mean he’s still Spending his time here Um and I think his position is actually Easier to play so I’d like to see him Speed up but Bishop C3 Honda D4 is Lurking E5 Pawn is hanging Two Bishops we talked about this Daniel If black can hang onto that d-pawn I Love your job off’s chances Because the red carpet is unrolled right You have both Bishops controlling Essentially every square up until the Promotion Square D4 d3d2 all three of These are controlled by one of Black’s

Bishops what does that mean that Basically means white has to preserve His control over the D4 square and that Control is very flimsy indeed because The queen is not a reliable Defender It’s incredibly vulnerable black has Several ways to chase it off of that Diagonal And if I’m Argent I’m I’m seriously Considering you know taking rather Drastic measures moves like E6 Uh at this point need to be And seriously calculated maybe Rook D1 As well if if you want to throw a move On the board like sure just just H3 or Something for white to illustrate your Point Um and it’s probably easier within I Guess with an analysis bar it’s going to Say D4 by black and actually what Happens after D4 might be Bishop takes And then I was thinking of Rook C6 and I’m trying to kick that Queen off the Way you’re talking about the only Square Available is 87 to offer a trade so You’re right you’ve got to maintain Control of this square but I find the Move that we see on the board right now Daniel to be crazy in this regard Because it does the opposite in fact it Invites D4 Queen B5 I totally don’t get That neither it is rajabov who has Indeed sped up I think what arjun’s Saying is his control over D4 was so

Unreliable that he actually prefers to Control the D3 square but at this point His fingers are starting to slip away From the ledge and I’m thinking about Moves like Queen E4 if the pawn appears On D3 that could be an immediate death Sentence or Arjun yeah part on D3 is too Much to handle and I mean so much though Ladies play Queen C6 I don’t like the Move Queen B5 by white I also don’t Really love to move Queen C6 although I Think rajabov has a little bit uh I Think he’s a wider birth for potentially Error here Queen C6 while it may not be The best move Look Black’s still going To get the same kind of game he wants to Push that pawn I don’t think there’s Anything stopping remember once those Queens trade Dania imagine a bishop on C2 you talked about escorting that pawn Well Bishop C2 Bishop C3 those are the The perfect bouncers to to have outside Your Club Oh a great way to put it and I’m Thinking of taking and going Knight to D5 here which is indeed what Arjun plays The threat is a fork on E7 and after Rookie six do you take on C3 because on The one hand it leads to an opposite Colored Bishop ending that’s encouraging On the other hand it allows the C Pawn To entrench itself on C2 where it will Basically survive the apocalypse yeah I Mean that that that’s a forever Pawn I I

Don’t get a good feeling Dania about Knight takes C3 even though it might be The engine’s recommendation I’m not sure It really doesn’t feel good The engine is okay with it the top move Is actually Rook to D1 which is not easy To play that threatens Knight takes C3 And Rook d8 mate It all seems so obvious when you know The move is played on the board but my Human instinct would be to play F4 I’m a mere human a blunder yeah Horrendous it’s unacceptable how dare You defend the Central Pawn on E5 with Another one basically is the move F4 Connected with Knight takes Bishop like If you play off four are you gonna have To play Knight takes on C3 I think black Might do well to maybe play the move H5 Here Um but let’s just say Bishop E4 is Played to attack the Knight I’m just Wondering is it Knight takes C3 because If it is then then I guess that plays Into why Um you know the engine doesn’t really Love move F4 yep and and also if you Combine these two moves the second rank Becomes a major weakness so you could Envision a reality a future reality Where black just like swings a rook to A2 And you know there’s a lot of enemies at White’s door uh there’s the pawn

Potentially on C2 there’s the weak weak Pawn on G2 Bishop E4 is indeed on the Board Knight takes C3 And this is basically 50 50. I think Between a draw and a black win Yeah I I think we’re gonna see you know Bishop to F5 Pont H5 Black king is gonna sort of weasel its Way to H7 uh G6 and maybe slowly try to Get into position and you called it The Rook looks like it wants to swing to A6 To A2 Um or even A1 as as you you pointed out There so uh love Black’s chances here And I think it’s really important for Everyone watching uh to appreciate the Engine eval but not uh you know listen To it entirely because I think rajabov’s Chances here are way higher than what’s Being represented by the eval bar I I Agree although I think I mean I I would Evaluate this from a human perspective As maybe plus two something maybe like a 60 40 situation um capablanca actually Advocated for that form of evaluation uh In the pre-computer era you just speak In terms of percentage like what is the Percentage black wins what is the Percentage that the game ends in a draw Uh and the the closer Arjun arjun’s Clock gets to zero the harder this Becomes to defend another thing a month That the engine won’t tell you is that

Black and torture White Add infinitive like you could make 50 Moves easily in this position it’s not Like those positions where you know There’s a three or four move stretch and If you survive it then you basically Make a draw here you have to survive uh You know 50 moves of torture with tons Of threats and the possibility of black Promoting And the engine has this ability where You know it’s almost like a coin flip Every coin flip you do is like Completely independent of the previous One so like every good move the engine Has to make is independent of the Previous moves it’ll always be able to Find the best move whereas you know for The human playing a position like this It’s like if you have to play 50 good Moves in a row every single one becomes Less and less likely that you’re gonna Mate That’s a that’s a fantastic point and Not not to mention that your time keeps Sticking Down The Rook has appeared on a A4 what is it doing there well Potentially consistency for you can’t Play King F3 right now because of the Pin that’s why Arjun plays H3 securing The G4 Square My guess is that Timur is gradually Going to start getting his King out of The shell Amman I don’t know which

Direction he’s gonna go to the king side To the center but I think black needs His King Yeah the King has to make an appearance One thing that I love about rajav’s Technique here is the Pawn on C3 is not On C2 I think a lot of players be really Eager to get that pawn to a square where It’s protect it but look at how it’s Dominating the bishop the Brooklyn A4 And the pawn on C3 mean I mean that Bishop doesn’t have anywhere to go Basically nope right so it’s totally Dominated you’ve got the pawn covering Dark squares the bishop covering light Squares the pawn on H4 is even taking Away a crucial dark Square I love how Her job has found a way to control both Uh color complexes with his pawns bishop And Rogue oh and Bishop D2 but white Hangs by a thread CD Rook A1 Bishop C2 The king drops back to E2 just in time Rajaba though he’s down to 23 seconds I Think he has to go back to A3 yep and we Have a repetition here obviously two More it’s not just gonna yield the draw No he’s got to try to get Arjun to you Know 15 20 seconds I think that’s a Critical step toward winning the game Right Um I mean yeah bringing the king looks Uh looks solid enough Okay this does look totally reasonable I Wouldn’t pay attention to the minor

Swings of the eval bar here unless it Swings to zero uh black has you know Four or five moves in each position that Are approximately equivalent Bishop Before King F5 is coming I think this is close to over the toilet Yeah yeah I I just don’t see first of All the time is gonna be a huge Factor You have Richie three and I think it’s Resignable Arjun needs to try to set Some sort of a trap ooh he doesn’t play Rook G3 but this is plenty sufficient I Think I think he might have a game plan in Mind like if he goes Rook B1 all of a Sudden it’s like a frozen position for White and if he plays Rook B1 And Trades The Rooks even Bishop takes G2 might win The game And he does take on G2 immediately Yeah that cost of his C Pawn still I I Think you know he’s just chosen a Winning path and he kind of feels good About it so Um I think it’s all right F5 last ditch Attempt by Arjun it’s not over yet Though That age one still has to promote and Now Arjun has created for himself a Passer of his own But what are such a strong against dg6 Yeah King G6 so so good because you see That Bishop just can’t handle the h-bond No but can The Rook handle it

Should be four Well the the thing is about this Position is uh the Rook is now stuck on The H file and I don’t see what you do About Black’s King just entering the Game maybe G5 happening as well Yeah King E4 also again black is in Absolutely no hurry because once the King moves the black Bishop is Controlling The destiny of my T-Bone oh that is a Nasty move and a rook G3 would have Ended it As does this this is resignable just Don’t go Rook G3 And don’t go H2 Rook B2 because it’ll be Checked Rook B2 first I think H2 is safe yeah Bishop D4 is not as tricky as it looks No you can basically go anywhere But I think King F4 Yeah working E6 King D7 is plenty it’s Efficient Yeah you struck anywhere in Bishop F3 He’s not going out uh just yet but man What a well-played end game from rajav Who took his small small Edge and you And I were calling it Danny I think it’s Just too much nasty oh we take these Things for granted you know we look at a Game like this where Java kind of sits Back and like yeah I’m pretty awesome uh We take these things for granted but but To win that position with black we

Thought that white held all the chances At some point I mean before Tim Moore Played B6 he was seven minutes down Seven minutes down with a slightly worse Position he turned all of that around And he did it in incredible fashion I Think in retrospect I’m on the decision To play B6 was flat out genius it was it Was a genius idea Um and he was coupled with an idea that Um yeah I won’t lump you in this Category just yet Daniel but I certainly Had no idea about the move C5 that was So impressive didn’t cross my mind so Strong wrong it was engine approved and From there I think he just hopped in the Saddle and he never got off He never did indeed before we go on Break to prepare for the third match Game we want to remind you that the cgc Finals the final eight will make their Way to Toronto at the start of November The second through the seventh will Feature the cgc finals contesting a 1 Million dollar prize fund in Toronto With a an All-Star cast and crew Especially that third guy from the left Uh we’re gonna have yeah I can’t quite Make out the name but uh we’ll leave you To do that during the break but mark Your calendars ladies and Gentlemen even If you can’t show up in person Everything is going to be broadcast live State of the art commentary and all the

Action you could ask for at the start of November but for now we are going to go On a very short break here at the Chess.com Global Championship the final Round of 32 magic resumes in just a Couple of moments Foreign Foreign Foreign Foreign [Music] To anyone All around the world are you kidding me The chess.com Global Championship offers The dream of playing against the best we Are in for a wild ride and hey have we Mentioned there’s also a million dollars At stake the total pot is a million Dollars know that it’s not a typo the Prizes are unbelievably generous we Began with thousands of players now only Dozens remains he knows exactly what’s About to happen oh my goodness this is Over a heartbreaker for Mr svidler Jana Probably she pulls through once again The cgc Knockout phase has arrived There are those who played their way in And some are here thanks to their Well-earned reputations [Music] No matter who you are things are about To get very very real oh gosh no time oh A trip to the cgc finals and a clean Shot at the largest first place prize of

The year My friends it’s the cgc round of 32. who Will take the next step to Toronto And we see here Arjuna aragaisi and Timur rajaba of today’s Gladiators in The cgc final match-up of 32 who will be The last player to make it into the Final 16. Well tomorrow is making a pretty Compelling case that it should be him as We review his match-up card alongside Grandmaster Amman Hamilton Amman that Was an incredibly impressive performance In the last game the more a job of is Just experiencing a years-long second Wind in his career Yeah that’s a great way to put it total Resurgence Um but the thing is I I don’t think that He’s necessarily reaching a level that We haven’t seen before whereas some People might feel that way this is more Of a Resurgence because rajabov has been At the elite for such a long period of Time he’s just getting back to where he Has been and you see that that match Against uh holy Fawn I mean such a Dominating uh performance against such a Strong player as well and I brought this Up earlier Dania it’s so understated and Maybe underappreciated how difficult it Is to get into the candidates tournament I mean the guy plays third in it so I Mean rajabov uh experiencing some really

Recent success and especially in Rapid Time control format he’s establishing Himself as one of the best he absolutely Is a couple of years ago he was down Below 2700 nobody was talking about him And then during the heat of covet he won A couple of online tournaments in Convincing fashion and you know he’s Shown that that has been anything but a Fluke winning a Berlin with the black Pieces despite arjun’s impressive Preparation and for our generic icy as We get underway here I think it’s very Important not to go crazy in this game And this is where I think arjun’s mental Level-headedness his toughness is going To shine through the last thing you want Is you know to make an irrational Decision in the opening because quote Unquote you need to win and then lose The entire match you actually don’t need To win a draw is not a disastrous result In this game is it No it’s not and um I think Arjun has the White pieces to look forward to in the Final game so actually a draw might even Be the best result here just to Neutralize uh a stream Okay oh yeah much better you actually Want to draw here preferable uh yeah Even if you have a winning position yeah We saw rajabov is like he had this prep That looked really dangerous now it Didn’t materialize

Um throughout the entire game but the Point is that Java is indicating he’s Got some spice to him with the white Pieces right now and a win right here For her job off it puts this match away Daniel so if you want to keep this going Give yourself a chance with the white Pieces I think as Arjun you take your Chances as they come but you don’t over Press Yeah no you’re exactly right the current Score is one and a half a win uh would Get some more into the round of 16 and It would mean the last game will not be Played Uh which uh puts obviously puts Origins Back against the wall so we have here a Semi-terrush a relatively popular Opening in recent years this has always Been uh considered very reputable and uh We now have a hanging on structure which Is another old school you know type of Structure that’s been around for many Decades Yeah this um I mean often you’ll get This kind of structure from an isolated Pawn position which is I believe what Happened here as well so the B Pawn from B2 joins C3 and then you get these Hanging pawns where black has really Easy and obvious places to put his Rooks You know Rook d8 Rook C8 I mean you just Aim right at those two pawns obviously But

Um you know white suddenly has anchor Squares for his pieces a little bit more Space the E5 square and of course look At those Bishops if you add the queen as Well Diagonals straight towards the castle King Yeah it’s actually one of those Situations where potentially both pairs Of Bishops uh could be staring at the Opposing side’s king or black bishops on B7 and D6 for white you know potential Greek gift sacrifice ideas although it Should be pointed out I’m on that in in Such positions with the Knight on D7 the The Greek gift sacrifice is virtually Impossible because anytime the queen Lands on H5 Blacken respond to the simple Knight F6 Protecting the H7 Square I think a lot Of people get so excited when they see a Possibility of a Greek gift sacrifice That they fail to account for any Defensive option they’re like oh my Queen’s on H5 it must be Checkmate Exactly Um I I think the checklist that I go Through in my head of course there are Always going to be positions where you Simply just need to calculate and there Are other resources which are harder to Spot but usually if number one there’s No night on F6 and number two you have a Pawn on E5 as white that that’s like

Enough of a checklist to seriously Calculate Bishop takes H7 right there Yep so those are the two things I look For here no Pawn on E5 generally does Mean that black will be safe castling Because the Knight can always reach F6 As you said That’s that’s totally fair and if black Castles I’ll show the line on the board But Arjun is hesitating a little bit uh My guess is that he’s you know Confirming that white doesn’t have any Shenanigans after he castles maybe he’s Also thinking about a somewhat more Flexible approach such as Rook C8 Bishop F4 is another move that is a frequent Guest in these types of positions Trading off a pair of Bishops and in the Long run among the more pieces disappear From the board the more concerning White’s Pawn structure becomes Especially in an end game I’ve seen a Lot of games go south or white uh just Because all of the pieces disappear from The board and white is left of these uh You know permanent stains exactly Yeah and important that black doesn’t Just think oh I can Castle lean side Here because then C4 C5 prize open the Entire Queen side so Um still he goes for the move C4 but Definitely this game is going to be About restricting those pawns the pawns On B6 and the pawns on E6 for black are

The ones that keep white Central uh Pawns at Bay here there’s no C5 there’s No D5 without at least answering the Bell Um you know to all these pieces and Pawns that can capture it so I think You’ll probably see the pawns stay on C4 And D4 for a long period of time be Supported by the white pieces and as you Said Black’s sort of looking for trades Bishop F4 if those Bishops are exchanged The queen ends up on F4 and suddenly the Knight on F3 is a target to the capture I did make a promise though I’m gonna Rewind really quickly just very very Quickly show why Bishop H7 fails right After Knight G5 King G8 Queen H5 you say Oh it’s Checkmate but no the Knight Drops into F6 at exactly the right Moment and H7 is fully protected so I know people in the chat are you know Great gift sacrifice obsessed gotta keep You accountable Yeah do it I like this move I I like arjun’s position I I actually Think that he he’s done exactly what he Needs to do he’s played a solid opening But an opening where he clearly Maintains winning chances this isn’t Just a draw there’s tons of pieces left On the board And it’s just you know sufficiently Double-edged you couldn’t ask for a

Better outcome of the opening Yeah I know this is like the least Drawish equal that it could possibly Have that’s a good way to put it Um but yeah once again Bishop C3 though By rajabov I want to point out that you Know while we can highlight how great Bishop F4 is I think Bishop C3 is also a Tremendous response and it’s difficult To sit there when an exchange is being Proposed and actually make the the right Choice and have that concrete Understanding that actually we don’t Want to trade those pieces right now Bishop C3 I’d rather defend the center With the Bishops and actually lacks Bishop on F4 is now on a square where The queen wants to be so it’s kind of Taking a square from maybe where where The the queen wants to join to put Pressure on F3 Yeah it’s like the boss is kind of Looking at it’s a a subordinate and Saying uh you need to get up from the Table I need to eat my dinner at this Seat yeah they’re right there that’s Where I sit right there I need the F4 Score so you could play something like Bishop to H6 but then I mean obviously You’re putting the bishop on an Incredibly awkward Square so you might As well roll with it if you’re black and Just keep the bishop here for the time Being uh if I’m margin I’m considering

Moves like Knight D7 to F6 uh it maybe I Don’t actually know it’s not that easy To find an improving move here for black And the move E6 E5 always has to be Considered it’s an incredibly committal Pawn breakthrough and it needs to be Calculated But my gut feeling is that it’s still Premature here Um there is also an idea to combine Bishop H6 perhaps with G6 not sure maybe First or afterwards but Um as you’re highlighting there to put The bishop back on G7 and then we we Have nice pressure on D4 and I always Like these ideas that once you have the Bishop on G7 black has ideas of playing Knight C5 and utilizing the the long Diagonal from h8 to A1 and the loose Bishop on C3 so I kind of like the idea Of a bishop on G7 Um so I would be thinking about G6 Bishop H6 for black the other thing is How dangerous is the move that’s just Been played A4 I mean white collude Wants to play A5 take that pawn maybe Utilize the open file for The Rook Rook To A7 all of a sudden you’re coming in With threats like Bishop to E4 No that’s a great point it’s so easy to Take a move to not take a move like A4 Seriously and ah you know it’s just Pawn Pressure I can deal with that but then a Rook appears on A7 and you know that’s

When the camera threats start wait maybe I should have played A5 Arjun decides on Queen to C8 is he considering Some sort of Bishop ba Queen C7 maneuver That’s pretty sick yeah that’s the case I think that is the planning you know it Also stops Rook A7 for whatever that’s Yeah Really interesting Cool idea by Arjun so he did I think Think on similar lines with that Bishop On it before he realized that it was Misplaced and rather than G7 its home is Going to be ba Okay now her job has to he has to deal With that that will create serious Threats You could also say the same thing while It’s easy to underappreciate or not take A4 seriously I think it’s also easy to Look at Queen C and be like ah whatever You know I’ll deal with that when it Happens and then it happens and you’re Like wait a minute Bishop B8 Queen C7 Suddenly Bishop takes F3 is a serious Move and if you go Pawn to G3 the bishop On B7 just becomes a total monster on That diagonal yeah hitting the Knight on F3 which would become very loose and in That case I think E5 uh would be far More dangerous of a force to be reckoned With for white so the fact that Timur is Spending a good chunk of time here I Think is a clear signal that he’s he is

Taking this should be a queen C7 Seriously And there’s different ways to fight it I Mean you could try to push D5 at some Point I can’t find a way to make it work Though that Queen on E2 is not only Misplaced but it’s got to protect the Knight you can’t exactly play Queen C2 And a loud Bishop takes F3 that seems Unthinkable to me so it’s a hard Position to play for both sides in in Conclusion and I mean I’m kind of Fixated on Bishop ba Queen C7 I wanted To ask you about the move A5 E5 Is this is this an idea that black has Because if you get B5 and and you force C5 that’s really what you want then Suddenly the light square has been Really challenging in the middle so Strangely enough I think Queen C8 was Multi-purpose Yeah no this was such a deep move and Bishop C3 to B2 Might actually be you know among the Ideas of this move could be to prepare A5 and take the sting out of B5 yep and Arjun he’s not rushing with Bishop E8 he Plays the move H6 Kind of a waiting approach kind of Waiting to see What concrete action Timur is going to Take and on which side of the board he’s Going to take it Right I think each like once he’s

Decided and I believe he has removed Queen C8 that that Bishop is retreating Maybe to B8 I don’t think he’s playing Bishop H6 I don’t think he’s playing G6 Bishop G7 so if he’s already decided That then H6 does make sense And there’s a five by two more which is Also totally sensible I think you hit The nail on the head I’m on Bishop B2 It’s now clear that this was prophylaxis Against B5 maybe among other things There’s Bishop B8 So we’ve got we’ve got most of the ideas Down here but now it comes down to okay Uh whites executed their plan of you Know keeping pieces on the board and Getting rid of that weakness right Taking that pawn that was isolated on A2 Suddenly we’re trading it on B6 and if Black takes back with the pawn it’s Actually black spawns that are just as Weak as whites oh totally now the pawn On B6 is isolated and if you’re a team Or maybe you take a totally positional Approach maybe you say okay I’m gonna Take I’m gonna go Rook ac1 Um and maybe we should wait for him to Make a move but just I’ll show this Really quickly Rook ac1 Queen C7 and Perhaps Bishop E4 is the way to take the Sting out of Black’s battery because Bishop takes F3 and queen H2 is the main Threat that black creates and with the Light squared Bishops gone yeah this is

Annoying but the Knight on F3 is a very Robust defender of the H2 Square in a Position like this you could make the Case that white has a tiny Edge because Of the Pawn on V6 and guess what Rook Ac1 is indeed on the board Yeah and after Queen C7 I do want to point out it’s possible That after Queen C7 even if black had Two moves in a row you’re not really Threatening to deliver mate with Bishop Takes Knight you know it’s it’s a check Um it’s not the end of the world however It still looks like something I don’t Want to allow most people though I’m on I think a lot of and Yoko signed this Point A lot of people are so afraid of That shotgun they just kind of oh my God It’s mate yeah it’s me King has an Escape Pathway to E2 so actually Checkmating the king in this way often Requires you to control the e-file and With a pawn sitting on E6 that’s not Very realistic mm-hmm Yep and uh I think the way that I think Rajabov has handled this game in a Really nice way uh he’s just he’s Handled everything that Arjun has thrown At him whether it’s been his Bishop F4 Move Queen C8 move Um Bishop B8 I feel like every idea that Arjun has had and he’s been relatively Creative thus far he’s had a cool answer To and queen C7 is going to be met with

This cold shower Bishop E4 and You just you’re not getting anything Going on the king side you’re not Significantly worse but you’re just not Getting anything going and it felt like Arjun was going to get something and be A little bit more tricky than than what He’s got right now yeah and and it’s so Tempting in such situations to just sink A ton of time uh trying to you know Sharpen the position up again but I Think Arjun just has to come to terms With the fact that this is going to be a A relatively quiet position uh at least In the near future as he puts his Bishop Back on F4 that’s a big move what do you Make of that is he trying to go E5 Um I think he’s trying to offer a draw After Rook A1 and Bishop B8 that’s right Calling it here in the analysis box Rook Back to A1 Bishop back to B8 and both Players are happy with a draw Um but honestly Rook A1 first move that I think of obviously there’s been a Repetition so you know that Rook A1 Can’t be a bad move but also Rook C2 and It does feel a little disconnected there With your root they can’t really double Easily and I I don’t even think you want The Rooks to be doubled you actually Want a rook on E1 you want a rook on C1 You want what you have No you won’t you have Rook C2 also I Think makes E5 a little bit more

Tempting if we bring up an analysis Board here right uh the problem is that White’s back rank is now a little bit More exposed so you could imagine for Example de5 Uh also move like Knight C5 and guess What that Rook on C2 is so awkward it’s Preventing the Bishop from escaping back Toward this diagonal I I think given the situation in the Match uh two more is just going to avoid All of this like the plague and he’s Gonna play Rook A1 or maybe Rook C to D1 Is is the other candidate move Right and Rook C to D1 Um I guess after that move it makes less Sense for black to go Bishop B8 right It’s like that then you’re kind of like Trying too hard it’s like Relax Not that easy well what is black gonna Do then after Rook cd1 I move like Queen C7 or Knight F6 Something like that I guess I think I Think there’s the this there’s Definitely something in this position Right now about these Knights that if Black plays Knight F6 I think white Plays Knight E5 and White’s kind of Waiting for the Knight to move for black In order to play that night move for White now if the Knight stays on D7 I Suspect the Knight will stay on F3 but As soon as it moves I think White’s

Looking to play 95. Yeah it’s one of those cat and mouse Positions where essentially neither side Has any independent ideas of their own They’re basically just waiting to react To their opponent’s moves And in the meantime they’re trying to Make incremental improvements to their Position so the question is who has more Of these incremental improving moves and I think right now the ball is in Black’s Court in that regard it’s very very hard For black to find one of those Um I’ve heard them refer to as small Little moves you know little improving Moves small moves exactly small moves Yep a little is the key one one uh I Guess not so small move is Bishop C6 With the idea of like Queen to B7 as a Follow-up so getting the queen behind The bishop in a way where it’s not Queen A8 because that can always be challenged Rook A1 but safe place for the Queen Bishop but then we’re threatening Bishop Takes the Knight on F3 Um but move Rook C1 I think there’s an Indication here that rajabov is fine With a repetition this is where if You’re playing an over the board game You accompany this move by looking up at Your opponent with the like leading eyes And you kind of are moving your head From side to side the universal kind of Symbol okay position balanced you know

Let’s call it a night you know get a Beer at the bar let’s let’s let’s call It a day please shall we yeah and it’s Also um you know sometimes you’re hoping Your opponent repeats like desperately But even here I think your job off is Fine to keep playing as well like if he Knows the position is good here it’s not It’s not a position where he’s like Begging for repetition either so I yeah I think he’d be happy with it but um if Arjun wants to play on that’s fine in Fact we saw that in the previous game Daniel uh a draw could have been on the Board if uh Arjun had taken on pass on Right in the opening he said he wanted To play okay rajaba is a professional That’s what he’s here he’s here to play If white wants to make an early draw so Be it but you know if uh your opponent’s Here to play I feel like he’s not He’s not very far removed from the game As soon as it’s time to play again he’s Just locked in oh totally totally and This is this is decision time for our Generic icy you can just sense the Wheels turning in his head and he’s Thinking okay I can take this draw then I have a must win with white but I’m Playing freaking Timur a job of one of The most solid super GMS I mean beating Him on demand is crazy hard so the Question for Arjun is does this position Offer you know significant winning

Chances and I think given the time Situation he’s now down a minute on the Clock the answer is probably no the Answer is probably you should go for the Draw get the white pieces you know take A couple minutes to rest and and do your Best to try to force arm again but we’ll See nope He goes for it I don’t like that call I’m gonna go out and say it on record I Don’t love that call I don’t like to call either but I I Think that it’s also a little bit to do With who he’s playing like I’ll be the First to admit that in my own games I Can get a little bit attached to a Repetition and then when my opponent Doesn’t take it I I take that as a sign Of confidence that they’re playing and Maybe I start to doubt my own position And I just don’t think that’s the case With rajaba he probably thinks the Opposite he sees night at six and he’s Like ah my opponent wants to play on but I think he’s made a concession in order To do so so he might view Knight F6 is Like okay you know all right uh Young Gun we’re gonna play are we well okay You know you asked for it and this will Be a really interesting game I love the You know the spirit from from origin to Play on oh for sure like the overall Decision but it does mean Daniel that we Are in for a much more exciting and

Thorough game I no I’m definitely not Complaining and you know this is a brave Call by Arjun no question about it I think the chess Gods will smile on him Uh in in a 50 50 situation and tumor is Now burning a lot of his own clock Trying to figure out how to continue Improving his position and there’s Bishop B1 a mirror image of arches Bishop ba move and a mirror image in the Sense that the idea Iman I think is Exactly the same Queen C2 and Knight G4 There will be hell to pay if White’s Queen lands on H7 And you know hilarious to think that we Were talking about the queen being on H2 Not a moment ago and now we’re nearly Getting that Queen on H7 so both sides Having to deal with the the brunt of These two Bishops B7 B8 B2 B1 they’re Aimed straight at the opponent’s king And also I know we mentioned it before Dania but how quickly did that Knight End up on E5 as soon as Knight F6 was Played it was snapped immediate it was Like a group of high school kids when When there’s free donuts you know or in College when they’d announce free donuts In the in the dorm Lobby You know that’d be gone before you even Finished reading the message that’s how Quickly the night appeared on E5 but Rook CA that’s a good move that’s a or I Thought it was a good move by Arjun

Trying to put pressure on essentially One of White’s only targets right the C4 Pawn which is tender it’s not a big Weakness but it is tender And yet the eval bar seems to hate this Move Yeah it’s like that’s a good move it Makes a lot of sense I really like it But it’s actually a bad move and yeah we Will find out why yeah it’s a mystery to Me it might be that Queen C2 uh isn’t Actually prevented maybe rajaba should Stay the course and it’s important to Point out him on that after Queen C2 Bishop takes E5 uh only accelerates uh The defeat because now the Knight has to Move and you’re getting the queen of H7 So Is on the board this is uh this is Really nice and you notice how White’s Refraining from playing the move G3 as Well it’s like tempting hit that Bishop It’s nearly trapped but the bishop will Capture on E5 and you know the I mean Queen C6 might be a follow-up getting on That long diagonal yeah you can have Queen C6 then perhaps so I can put a Pawn on F3 you can Envision things Getting tactical here with both both Sides building the Queen Bishop battery And then budding heads uh who’s gonna Infiltrate first right what man Arjun Has to tread so carefully because Knight G4 is also in play a similar idea to to

Smoke this night out of out of F6 that Is the dream scenario for white uh-huh Yep be on the lookout for moves like D5 As well Um sometimes you can even just sack These pawns because then your knight G4 Move hits like a truck with the bishop On B2 also joining Oh no that is like an ideal piece Configuration every piece doing its part And Arjun continues to slip on the clock Is time is dwindling he’s below four Minutes and Knight G4 is a force to be Reckoned with Man this is getting this is getting Very very tense for black these next Couple of moves are going to determine The course of the game I think Absolutely because you can’t all of a Sudden undo things you can’t first of All there’s no draw on the board anymore So it’s like it’s not it’s not like oh By the way Um and I’m actually surprised that the Move H5 hasn’t like just broken the eval Bar yeah it’s not just shot up Yeah it’s let’s say you know Oh H5 Force mate yeah Knight in Queen H7 Knight G6 But the idea is Crystal Clear he’s Stopping Knight G4 it makes so much Sense I mean really obvious but the Movie H5 feels so loose right all of a Sudden that H Pawn is there and you

Can’t really I mean sometimes you could Play the move G6 but oh boy that move Looks scary to connect all the pawns Like that that pawnshell does not look Like it would withstand a magnitude like 1.5 earthquake but the other benefit of H5 I’m on is that now after G3 okay Bishop takes C5 might be okay but black Black can also dropped the bishop to H6 So this has created a little bit of Luft For the bishop and it’s getting Timur a Job off to it’s been a long time that Knight on F6 is suddenly Public Enemy Number One for white and it’s very hard To smoke that Knight out of its shell With Knight G4 no longer possible Yeah that’s a really key resource that’s Also just not available Yeah and after he takes D5 the Knight on E5 simply hangs like you said Knight D7 Uh you know you could get away with the Move like that but that’s not see more Style and that does not look like a Recipe for success in a game where You’re perfectly satisfied with the draw So I think what Timur is looking for is A way to keep the status quo he waits For me to say this and then D5 appears On the board Gotcha Um I was thinking D5 if takes I actually Think we want to just take it back no Perhaps we unleash moves after that Whether it’s like Knight G6 or really

Night almost anywhere with the idea of Like getting rid of the the Knight on F6 With the bishop the D5 Bishop will be Loose and perhaps go from there so after Ed if we if we bring up an analysis Where do you want to take back That’s what that was my first instinct But do you do you have another move Oh I also thought this was the way to go I thought that white could play rookie Five rookie 5 and D6 and win The Rook Back but this fails on several fronts Such as Queen C6 Queen C6 is some is the Best one yeah that’s just the most Obvious to say hey nothing works for you Because meat on the board is happening So so now I’m back to puzzled so you Have to defend the Knight and preferably Attack the bishop at the same time is There a move that checks the boxes Queen F5 maybe like yeah I mean I that’s just A that’s a Great Cookie Cutter stencil Way to get me to find the move it’s like I need to attack the bishop and defend My knight well you don’t say Daniel yeah Perhaps and that is on the board Timur a Job of I mean he’s so multifaceted now Right he’s positional but what he’s Showing in these last couple moves that He’s not just gonna shy away from Complications just because oh it’s Tactical and I’m okay with the draw he’s Going to play the position Right now Alexa is like ready to chime

In because I I think uh maybe uh you Know any any computer uh program these Days it’s it’s got a few chess uh lines Programmed in as well probably spots the Wind Yeah I should ask Alexa what team were a Job off should play in this position Bishop H6 uh oh and now it’s the eval Bar shooting up Well I mean take your pick Daniel Because at this point we can see the Ingredients right Queen on H7 is going To be Checkmate Queen H7 Queen h8 mate As long as you can just get rid of that F6 Knight and a model six just doesn’t Do anything I love C takes D5 that just Shows such restraint he’s playing Knight D7 he’s not taking him F7 he’s just Saying my position is so Superior Because of the way my pieces are placed I don’t need to rush I can recapture the Pawn and if black plays Bishop takes D5 Then obviously Rook takes D5 and Quinn H7 and 97 is game over Red Rover oh that Is and look how quickly he played it Right yeah he’s just handing the ball Back to Arjun and saying I mean I don’t See a single move for you you could not Place any of white spaces better than They currently are oh No this is literally perfect peace Placement he needs a couple more moves To finish this off you can see The evaluation but it doesn’t tell the

Whole story this is the kind of plus Five that I could totally envision Turning you know I could see the tables Turning if white doesn’t For sure find a way to stick the queen On H7 in the next couple of moves I can See a few moves that I don’t really have Answers to for black Um one of them that came to mind Honestly was like Knight C4 like a move Like that just as a yeah Knight C6 Knight C4 the more direct one that I Really want to calculate is Knight F7 That’s that’s the move that um Looks really frustrating for me Knight C6 strikes me as the most natural uh Mostly because not only does the thread In Bishop F6 but it also contains the Idea of Knight E7 in certain positions Right and he plays it but the evil bar Shoots back down Why okay yeah exactly why you know the Thing about Knight C6 that I I agree With Um from what you were saying is that it Doesn’t give anything up right no you’re Not committing anything so if things Don’t really work out the way that You’ve been calculating you’re not in Trouble afterwards whereas if you play Something like Knight F7 it’s like hey If that doesn’t work you might lose this Game Yeah I mean I I have no idea what like

Saving resources Arjun has 40 seconds if He’s able to save this game I will be I will become an Arjun fan for life you Know like this is a Herculean task with An hour on the clock let alone 36 Seconds and King fade was not the way No I I mean there’s a an H7 yeah so After that Queen h8 is the threat G5 oh My God reminiscent of a resource Carolina Mist and another one we were Commentating that is a crazy because you Only think of G6 Yeah you only think of G6 that drops the Bishop because it severs the die between The queen and the bishop but also The the possibility of white putting the Bishop on that diagonal was dangerous so Arjun gives away the exchange In a last-ditch attempt To explain half of the attack yeah you Have to give that up but you know Remember this isn’t like a bullet game Where black has Chances with the two Bishops this is like no you’re just down Material You’re down in exchange the attack rage Is on you’ve got 20 seconds Foreign It’s never over till it’s over it’s Never over till the fat lady sings but [Music] Um Come on this is this is looking real Grim for Arjun

Yeah because I mean Think you could maybe just go Knight C4 Look at a kind of simple style move Um just to look to trade pieces mobilize That d-pawn and if things trade it looks Like it does so favorably for white so That’s my first move that I know I have Um if I can’t find anything better two More plays and I think it’s a very good Practical decision even though the Eagles yeah maybe not the best maybe not The clinical option but trade Queens Enjoy your life torture black for the Remainder of the game this is almost Reminiscent of the previous game where Hypothetically this blackout drawing Chances yes you have drawing Chances With 20 seconds and white with the Possibility of torturing you for the Next 50 moves and not really Right so this is uh let’s let’s not Forget this is Arjun playing for his uh You know his life in the tournament Right uh Glo in the global Championship Is a knockout so he he at this point Needs a draw to even put himself in a Position to need to win the next game Yeah it’s not like he draws on anything Happens like he’s still down a point Yeah your job of trying to trade a pair Of Bishops I think that is the next step For white get rid of Black’s Bishop pair Reduce the activity of Black’s pieces And some more just kind of bringing his

Pieces back to home base you know Unwinding the Machinery it was like the Scene at the candidate tournament after Commentary finished you know powering Down the computers the attacks so we can Now enjoy our life No I was gonna say takes on E3 Rook Takes D3 would be a cold shower there Does Arjun want to take now is that Reasonable I mean it’s such a tough Choice my feeling is yes it does Especially given the time I have six But could you do that right away You’re Gonna Lose the Jeep on or maybe oh yeah Rook B8 Rook B7 I agree that’s bad There are drawing chances here that Night on E5 is a pretty darn good piece Can you set up some sort of a fortress And can you do it with six seconds G5 Okay F6 yeah F I think whoa This is getting I I don’t like G5 H4 for Black I I feel like that really helped White’s chances well that pawn is a Sitting Duck isn’t it yeah I think Bishop D5 and Bishop F3 is the Simplest menu or this Just trade the Bishops Nah this is this is losing I think you can trade I don’t know I Wouldn’t risk it if I’m too more I think He will Look at the concentration on both of These players faces says it all If you’re a job of I’m on the last thing

You want us to miss a fork Rook takes C5 I think that wins Oh that’s such a six seconds calculating It no he doesn’t quite have it worked Out you know he wants to repeat once get Back to it Okay he’s gone King G5 this is Completely winning you just have a pass Deep on you’re pushing it yeah that has To be enough unless he misses a fork the Game is over Agreed It’s always possible to miss a fork Always it’s truly always like like Doesn’t matter what position you have or How good you are Getting F4 he’s calculating can you take It and G3 I think E5 is good enough yeah E5 God That’s such a gutsy that’s so gutsy with Four seconds left G3 G3 he needed G3 oh my God what a save Oh the match continues H3 on the next move On to H3 is a key move Holy smokes About the exchange turns out to be the Downfall unreal He could have ended the match right There and you see rajabov the head shake As he is now rewinding the clock in his Head and he just saw it that’s the look Daniel when it’s like oh my goodness I Just needed to play Pawn to G3

That is unbelievable we need to bring up I mean E6 is such a natural movie Thinking so I thought it was over after E6 but H4 is a brilliant resource by Arjun deflecting the king it turns out I’m on when you push pawns and pawn end Games they become weaker and King F6 Locks out whites King wins the pawn back The move as you expertly called was Indeed G3 to prevent H4 Force black to Make a move and now come around H6 Shouldering black skin out of the way And reaching a winning Pawn end game Ladies and gentlemen what have we not Seen in the cgc now Timur a job up has To gather himself mentally amazing and Arjun aragaisi with the white pieces as A new lease on life will he be able to Make it count will he Mount one of the Most shocking cgc comebacks of all time Or we’ll team over a job off stay solid And hold his own in the final game we Will see You’ll let the players take a breather And we will take one ourselves you’re Watching the chess.com Global Championship and we will be back with The fourth and final match game of the Final matchup of 32 on the other side of This short break [Music] Thank you [Music] Foreign

[Music] [Music] Foreign [Music] [Music] [Music] Foreign [Music] Open to anyone All around the world are you kidding me The chess.com Global Championship offers The dream of playing against the best we Are in for a wild ride and hey have we Mentioned there’s also a million dollars At stake the total pot is a million Dollars no that it’s not a typo the Prizes are unbelievably generous we Began with thousands of players now only Dozens remain he knows exactly what’s About to happen oh my goodness this is Over a heartbreaker for Mr svidler y’all Know probably if she pulls through once Again The cgc Knockout phase has arrived There are those who played their way in And some are here thanks to their Well-earned reputations [Music] No matter who you are things are about To get very very real oh gosh no time oh A trip to the cgc finals and a clean Shot at the largest first place prize of The year My friends it’s the cgc round of 32. who

Will take the next step to Toronto Thank you As we look at the group E bracket the Only one remaining to be filled here at The chess.com Global Championship we’ve Seen some crazy stuff in every bracket But especially in this one an Unforgettable match between nepo and Spindler and now I’m on and another epic Match to round off the bracket it seemed All but decided for Jabba wins game two He’s winning game three a beautiful Positional game to outplay our generic Ice and then just when the death Metals Seem to be ringing the unthinkable Happened and Arjun saves That’s a perfect summary and another Reminder that I mean Daniel this is the Global Chess Championship right uh I Mean the point of this entire event is Unpredictability we can’t get out of the Round at 32 without another match that We have no idea what’s gonna happen in And it looked all too easy it was too Routine and I say the word routine Because that might be exactly the Trap That rajabov fell into being too routine In that end game conversion that’s a Reminder that in chess you always have To calculate to the very end of the line Nothing is as easy as it seems what a Resource by Eric icy who hangs on and Stays in the match by the skin of his Teeth but needs to win on demand here to

Continue the Cinderella run Yeah I mean a lot of people would have Probably considered resigning in that Position it was demoralizing Debilitating he was getting crushed for The last 25 moves and just to stay in The game to have the alertness uh to Figure out that resource with his last Seconds is nothing short of amazing and It is the reason why Arjun part of the Reason why he’s had such impressive Growth his resilience is second to none But you’re right I’m on I mean the What’s the reward that you get for that Impossible save well now yeah you’ve got The white pieces but you have to beat Timur a job of on-demand one of the most Solid players of all time somebody who Did not lose wait did he lose a single Game with the candidates I don’t remember him losing no no I Think he He might have but the fact remains he’s Unbelievably solid and he’s obviously Going to play Uh you know one of the more solid Openings in his repertoire we have a Carlsbad variation of the Queen’s gamma Declined on the board This is interesting because I I um I Mean a lot of recent work I think has Been put into this opening Um at the top level so it’s interesting To see the developments but I actually

Like the uh the opening overall by Arjun As a try for a win Um I think it’s a very double-edged Opening a lot of pieces remain on the Board it’s not very easy to just trade Everything off unless you really try to Force this one concept of Knight to E4 For black so Knight to E4 and then You’re looking to treat dark Square Bishops you’re looking to maybe trade The knight in the center but uh White’s Plans usually revolve around the Unorthodox development night G to E2 This allows for the pawn to creep up to F3 and potentially a central expansion With E4 yeah this F3 E4 plan has has Really existed for many decades since The time of Nick uh in in the 50s I think he was one Of the the pioneers of this system for White previously White had been Automatically putting the Knight on F3 Uh black for his part has a bunch of Possible ideas uh first of all E4 is not The end of the world even if this move Is played it comes with a pretty hefty Price tag it weakens a lot of squares on The king side in the center and scratch Everything because white has castled Queen side and you certainly do not see That every day in this line No I you also don’t see the you know the Requisite result of a win uh necessary By the white players every day in this

Line and I think that is the biggest Contributing factor to the move long Castle where the ideas remain the same But we also have an additional plan of G4 H4 and a king side attack I think that might have even overtaken Uh E4 in terms of likelihood now for Timore he’s got no time to waste you Have to Counter Strike on the queen side And typically in such positions you have Two ways of doing you can take the Standard approach with a pawn storm or You can try to open files with a timely C65 although that’s an incredibly risky Move because it weakens the D5 Pawn Severely Right and although there’s been a Commitment to the queen side here white Can pivot and just play a positional Game as well if you play C5 hang on the Rook’s already on D1 it’s like perfect To attack that D5 Pawn so white hasn’t Done anything too crazy yet that Indicates black can just you know Sacrifice all positional understanding Um that he has and just go all out here I think white can just play King to B1 And still play this game in reasonable Fashion I don’t think that’s what he’s Gonna do but it was available this is an Old school opposite side castling like B5 G4 kind of game uh where neither side Is trying to be creative both sides are Just trying to go for their opponent’s

Throat though logistical difficulty Though I’m on in terms of Black’s attack Is that if you play B4 prematurely the Knight’s gonna stick itself on A4 you Could even play B3 and it’s gonna take You know a thousand pounds of weight to You know to to to break through the Defenses so if you’re a job you have to Be very strategic about exactly how you Storm the queen side with your pawns Maybe you start with A5 and A4 instead Of rushing with B4 Yeah and also uh the move Knight E6 well It looks so natural it actually does Drop a pawn bishop takes the Knight on F6 and Bishop takes on H7 96 looks so Easy to play you want to get that Knight In the game gain time attacking the Bishop maybe support C5 but you can’t Really do that also the move 94 that I Mentioned earlier isn’t available to Maybe get some trades in so black is Left with a situation where there’s no Easy moves to make there’s no like you Know vacuuming all the pieces off the Board I don’t think you want to play the Move Pawn to H6 that just looks like a Target so he’s gonna have to be creative And play some other moves Queen A5 on The board are we looking at B4 Bishop A6 Kind of stuff Yeah possibly maybe B4 and C5 he’s Trying to sneak in Uh but but the fact remains uh B4 can be

Met with Knight A4 and and that is a Pretty major worry uh to me in in Regards to Black’s uh the prospects of Of a successful attack on the queen side How is black going to solve the problem Of the White Knight appearing on A4 in Response to B4 Yeah and you know with the queen on A5 As well any thoughts upon A5 pontev or First out of the window that’s no longer Possible Um I’m also really looking at the move King B1 I I’m attached to this move I Really like it white can also continue Knight B1 uh sorry Knight C1 to B3 after That Um if you need an extra Defender there Or as I’ve been saying you can kind of Pivot and play a little bit more Positional as well against the C5 square And the C6 weakness Yeah it should be pointed out just like In the first game that you’re not Signing a contract that demands that you Have to play H4 with white and you you Must make only attacking moves you Haven’t sacrificed anything Your King on C1 is not as far from safe But it’s also far from being imminently Checkmated so moves like King B1 are Hard to play for a lot of players who Start to get anxious in these situations And feel like every Temple’s golden I Have to push my pawns that’s not how you

Attack at a high level at a high level You combine positional moves and Tactical moves and attacking moves and Defending moves and the player who finds The right combination of all those types Of moves ultimately prevails That was uh that was really well said I Liked it was almost like you dropped a Riddle for us there I I am far from safe But I’m far from danger where am I Actually you’re a king on C1 yeah this Is exactly what you are yeah I moved to B1 to become safer And H4 speak I mean obviously I wasn’t Trying to suggest that you know we’re Not gonna see H4 I just You know it was a matter of time and It’s not forced but a pawn does appear On H4 and there’s another question to be Asked where is White going with his Attack because like even if you play H5 And H6 well I can respond with G6 so I’m On the black king surrounded as it is by A defensive cocoon is also not easy to Approach It’s not I Um I love the way that white has done Things so far I think that the move Before for me has a really natural Reaction of Knight A4 Um so I I’m really comfortable here with White pieces because again g4h4 you Haven’t done anything too crazy just yet Over there and I I still see just

Positional glaring weaknesses over jabov And I’m not sure how he’s going to Continue with that pawn there like you Want to sacrifice it maybe get a rook to See it I’m not even sure you’re gonna Get that far nope and I think B4 might Have been a bit of a panicky panicky Kind of move by two more he also has to Avoid falling into the cycle of thinking Hey why am I in this situation to begin With like all I had to do was make one Move and I’d be enjoying you know a Glass of champagne right now getting Interviewed and I’d be in the round of 16. once you start getting into those Negative thought cycles that interferes With your thinking and even the top Players are not immune from it but C5 is Indeed on the board Okay well I that’s that’s an amazing uh Amazing move there because first of all I mean now that I see this I’m looking In hindsight and saying um okay it’d be Nice to have my king on B1 burning the A2 Pawn you know Knight takes C5 right Now I believe that’s the intention Queen Takes A2 question is I mean is that Really anything to be too scared of No I I don’t think black should hang his Hat on the fact that he’s taken A2 Because White’s King as in the previous Game right we were talking about Queen H7 or queen H2 not being as lethal as it Appears I think we’ve got a similar

Situation here white can escape to D2 on Demand maybe he should do it now Or maybe you should start with a more Solidifying move like I don’t know Queen B3 maybe Knight F4 there’s a lot of Candidate moves here I was looking at I Don’t think it’s quite there yet but I Was looking at some funny ways to try to Trap the queen like Bishop B5 and Knight B3 and it’s like oh yeah you know you’re Kind of uh somehow managing to trap the Queen there but King D2 obviously with The same intent and the hilarious thing About this position is of course the Queen being trapped you’re probably Going back Queen A5 and then if white Plays uh some of the moves you’re Suggesting Rook A1 the queen goes back Even more and White’s King has now got Back to the middle of the board the Rook’s gone back to the square on A1 Where it started yeah and it’s almost Like you’re undoing everything but Somehow your position has improved yeah If you play King E1 then you have fully Uncastled And that pawn on F3 is really I think Incredibly important because it’s Restricting the Knight it’s also Restricting the bishop by protecting G4 And by protecting the E4 Square it’s Ensuring the long-term safety of white Skin no question that Black’s attack has Backfired uh can Timur find a way to

First of all evacuate his Queen that’s The first order of business but then Find some way to whip up play against Whites King in the center So if you want to bring up an analysis Board we can put a sample line of you Know how things might proceed uh I think After King D2 Queen A5 and then Rook A1 And then if Queen C7 Uh you know Knight A6 just as an example Okay and if the Queens trade in this Position because it looks like they’re Kind of forced to this is back to what I Was saying before is that all of a Sudden you realize white has never had This prerequisite to like attack or Checkmate in this position white is Dominating positionally and you’ll be Totally fine to play this position as He’s got full domination your B4 is Hanging C7 is loose I mean every piece For white is so well placed and this is Just a disaster forward Java yeah and Just showing how you could end up losing The b-pawn and then probably also losing The d-pawn I think your point is Incredibly well taken it’s so important To realize that white hasn’t actually Made any commitments and by the way Rook A1 was played and precisely because of Knight A6 Timur drops the queen not on C7 but on B6 and I think his top Priority is probably to try to get rid Of this Knight maybe throw in 96 even at

The cost of a pawn I think you’re that Desperate I think it’s uh it’s in that territory Here Um as we see the move Rook H to C1 Everybody’s swinging to the other side Now Yeah it’s all about the queen side and Little little would you know five moves Ago that it’d be it would be white Putting pressure on the queen side and Maybe black will start playing on the King side before you know it attacking These pawns yeah exactly a queen V8 Queen H2 Exactly H6 there it is See black is no longer afraid of making A this move would be Unthinkable just Five moves ago white would take on F6 And go G5 and check me out now the Rook’s no longer an H1 What a weird weird game as yeah he’s not Interested in giving up the bishop for No reason as the bishop to take back on F6 I see a hilarious line of mine What do you got Knight takes C6 if you Play Bishop takes e66 Bishop C7 Queen B7 Bishop P6 the queen is trapped that’s Just that’s ludicrous yeah What a pretty trap I could I could see Somebody blundering that because you Could be so fixated on the night on E6 You think your Queen’s out of the woods But yeah you know just when because

That’s probably why you played the move H6 to get the pawn off H7 so it wasn’t Wouldn’t be hanging so he could finally Play this move 96 and free so it’s been Played it’s on the board do not tell me He’s gonna take back with a bishop but The thing is the other move first of all It’s got to be the queen then right Because it has to be the queen but That’s the pawn takes it’s the same Thing the podics it is the same thing oh But if Queen takes here’s the thing White could even play the worst case Queen C6 And I think it’s just an overwhelming End game uh for what Oh it’s a terrible end game weak Pawn on D5 Total Domination on the queen side You know those Queen side pawns have Bitten off more than they can chew I think Arjun Will take on E6 and he will pray For a quick end to this game I’ve never First of all I mean the match overall is Quite something but this specific Opening I don’t think I’ve ever seen it Go in this direction where you lose the A2 Pawn vacate the king to the middle of The board I’ve seen a lot of games in The Carlsbad structure I’ve never seen This well you know like five it’s like Those statistics like five percent of X Gets into Y and then you know two Percent of that and one percent of that

Uh you know like maybe five to ten Percent of Carlsbad games even feature Queen side castling White Castle’s King Side in the vast majority of games and Of the games were White Castle’s Queen Side as you’re saying the situation Where white ends up being the one who Attacks on the queen side himself is Exceedingly rare but that’s why I love Chess like this is how rich the game is Like we’ve seen so many Carlsbad games And even within this well-studied Structure you could basically have a Completely new game structure why is he Not taking on E6 yet I really don’t know so the other because I don’t like losing the darks were Bishop Knight takes F4 like in general If that happens I’m not feeling great About it Um the only other moves to consider are Night Moves it seems like in the other Direction I’d a four and at A6 but hmm I Just don’t like giving away that that F4 Bishop so I’m really only considering Stuff like Knight A4 here Yeah Knight A4 I guess you’re forcing The queen to move back maybe to d8 Right but then somehow it feels like White needs to cash in this night and Knight takes E6 is a great way to cash It in because you’re forcing black to Recapture awkwardly and you’re opening Up the C file which is ultimately

You know the main artery which white is Going to access Black’s position Yeah the thing about Knight takes Knight Is that if I look at all blacks pieces The most annoying one is the Knight on E6 by a landslide so I’m actually Getting rid of one of my opponent’s best Pieces in doing oh you missed it oh my God he plundered it but it’s on the Board Unbelievable Bishop C7 wins the game now After Bishop C7 I’m on black does have The move B3 but that leads to a Completely hopeless end game Bishop C7 B3 you take on B6 you take on A7 and Blacken resign because he’s Dropping two pawns it’s on the board I Can’t believe that that’s I mean I think Great job off is so rattled from this Mistake in the in the previous game the Match should be over I feel like Everyone at the table right now knows That but Arjun is in you know he he has that Knowledge and he’s using it to his Advantage he’s using it to fuel him in This game rajaba I think it’s he’s Thinking about it and it’s hurting his Calculation his decision making yeah and This has been a sloppy game from from His perspective he he just won’t be Happy with how this position has gone It’s been you start to finish a great Chance for Arjun with the white pieces

To get a win on demand and the way he’s Executed it is has a brilliant so far no Taking nothing away from Arjun the guy Is a beast the way he resisted last game The way he’s played this game is he’s Played it like a professional he’s Played like Magnus Carlsen it’s just Like winning on demand in 23 moves but At the same time I think you’re Absolutely right this was an unrejab of Like game with like he just doesn’t lose Games like this in 20 moves he doesn’t Make blunders like Bishop C7 the way he Was attacking on the queen side I’m on It seemed that he played B4 and then he Started thinking after Knight A4 rattled I think is the best way to describe the Way that we see teamwork Jabba playing In this game and this is a totally Residable position It is Um I I certainly don’t believe that it Will be no design Especially after what we just saw last Game you you definitely play out your Moments here Um and yeah you can you can take this Pawn and Knight C3 is also available but I believe King takes C2 and you know King D1 or King B3 even are just fine Could a case be made that after King Takes C2 black ones Bishop D7 the only Chance might be to You know attack the tender Pawn on E3

Yeah I like that I like that No I think Knight C3 is even more Clinical to keep the king In contact with the E3 pawn and then you Can pick up the C2 but I’m pretty sure This Pawn’s a Sitting Duck I don’t know I’m on maybe it’s a strength but Something tells me where Jabba won’t be Able to hold on to it Yeah the thing is I I I’m willing to bet That King takes C2 Bishop D7 something Like Bishop C5 might just be like a very Like expedited way to trade things and Even at the cost of the E3 Pawn white is Just gonna then play King D2 and have The B2 Pawn the C5 Pawn they’re gonna Join with the move B4 and two connected Pass pawns rolling down the boards just Like so tough to deal with no it’s it’s Also completely winning I agree Or a job of instead trying to hunt for This bishop on A7 the problem is that After King G1 Rook takes C1 Knight takes C1 black is No way of actually attacking this bishop And on the next move White’s going to Ensure that The Rook is defended so that The bishop could move back to C5 and Once all of that happens then we could Start talking about resignation And you know the pawns are just arranged So perfectly on the king side as well What why is that necessary I mean

Honest I gotta be honest I I understand It in a way that like Rook takes Rook Takes everybody takes on C5 white plays King like D2 let’s say a knight jumps to D4 and you’ve got this d-pawn that just Rolls and and none of Black’s pieces Have any play after that so in that Sense I understand it but the problem is That the alternative was so solid so This is something I would land on if the Other lines were a little bit murky and Like maybe not so sure Um and I think Arjun might have missed This move I I agree that this move might Have come as a surprise to him as he Would be expecting Bishop takes bishop And I think White’s Advantage is very Very real there And I I’m influenced by the eval bar I Admit it you know guilty is charged but It’s just the question of like why are You giving up pawns unnecessarily there Was really no need to do that you still Had a past b-pawn in the other line yeah Maybe he was worried about the pin along The a file He’s definitely missed the move Knight D7 and the idea of this move is to keep The bishop to keep the dark short Bishop Alive Black wants to take twice on C5 And suddenly the E3 Pawn is going to be A major Target in the absence of White’s Dark squared Bishop black has You know legitimate chances

For the you know which is totally Unthinkable reality given what we saw Three moves ago yeah this should never Should never have been the case uh Bishop F5 might even be a further step In the wrong direction when it rains it Pours Um again I understand a little bit why You did this but I have no justification For this move when the alternatives are So solid so sound right that there there Were other moves King D1 where you Couldn’t even find you couldn’t even Find a single reason why why that that Shouldn’t be played there was nothing Wrong with it at all very strange and And you know what else uh is disturbing Is that from a psychological perspective Rajaba was kind of dead in the water he Was tilted you know he’d blundered he Was broken mentally and all of a sudden You give the guy a bone right now I can Guarantee you Timur is thinking oh my Goodness like what did my opponent just Do I’ve got a serious chance to draw This game and end the match and he’s Feeling hopeful he’s excited perhaps Perhaps about his prospects for the First time this game even though Objectively he’s still getting tortured And he’s still going to be miserable Evaluationally speaking but Psychologically speaking he’s very much Back into it no it’s uh I mean there’s a

Whole psychology to chess there’s a game On the board and there’s a game off the Board and I think right now uh rajabov Is probably feeling as empowered as Arjun was feeling at the beginning of This game fresh off the blunder from Rajaba in that previous game you know Breathing new life into uh into this Match was Arjun and now reading new life Into this game is rajaba who finally Probably likes his position for the First time all game and I I don’t see an Adequate response to the move Rook B8 Off the top of my head the issue is that Both of these pawns I’ve highlighted are Now yeah the B2 Pawn is White’s main Asset but it’s also one of White’s main Weaknesses it is an isolated Pawn Uh and the king is currently occupied Defending E3 so what is white going to Defend the B2 Pawn with in the event of Rook B8 is my question Yeah I think I want to go Rook B1 and Rook B3 Knight C3 that’s the best that I’ve got right now Um so you know if you bring that Rook Down try to clamp the B2 Pawn Then I want to sit there with Knight C3 And and protect it so you want to go Here and in the event of a check you Block it this G4 is so important Defending the bishop but I should point Out him on but this trade is not Necessarily in Black’s favor even though

It optically ruins white structure the D5 Pawn is now not sitting pretty so Keeping the bishop on E6 Is integral I think to Black’s defensive Effort Rook B8 is indeed on the board Yeah I wonder here because uh I guess There Is there a way to so first of all if the Rook takes on B2 and white goes Rook A8 I was wondering how trustworthy that Position is for black having to play Bishop f8 but it it looks like it’s okay Looks like black is surviving there Although with the Knight coming to like D4 or F4 and putting pressure on the Other Bishop it could potentially be Very disturbing Okay Rook C1 C3 And Bishop E7 I mean it does make a Threat of the H4 Pawn but I’m not not Necessarily sure that’s a pawn that White’s gonna be like betting over Backwards to defend Probably not especially if you can find A way to solve permanently solve the Problem of the b-pawn I think Bishop B7 is Black’s best chance Though I think you have to try to you Know breathe some uncertainty uh in into Arjun’s mind you got to make him start Believing that he’s screwing this up Which of course he is Um a very difficult task to make someone

Believe that they’re doing what they’re Doing Um but the thing in chess is like even Though he’s messed it up from a much Bigger Advantage he’s still got an Advantage and objectively if he had Gotten to this position if Arjun had Arrived here with a slow you know Methodical advancing and improving of The initiative he’d be feeling great Like wow this is a masterpiece I’m Really crushing my opponent and the Momentum the psychological game would be In a totally different state but because He got here from what should have been Probably game over flat out it probably Feels like he’s messed this up and his Position is almost not as good as it Really is I I remember when I finished My last John game at the under 14 World Youth Chess Championship I was really Really proud of it it was one of those Like long positional efforts I thought I Just played a brilliant game I come out And my coach says you know Daniel if I Were to show two diagrams after move 20 And after move 50 one would think this Was the most brilliant game you know the Improvements that you made but if you Actually look at those 30 moves there’s Basically nothing but mistakes uh you Know even though the end product looked Impressive so right it kind of reminds Me and of course I was upset H5 in the

Meantime by Arjun I think a lot of People are you know making a WTF phase Rook takes B2 what is this idea is it to Play check and back to C7 Yeah I think Jack might even yield like Bishop f8 because of potentially how Annoying Rook C7 looks but you know Bishop FH is one of these permanent Positions wait black can’t do anything Yeah you can’t defend D5 and if you just Go hunting for the H Pawn then this is Going to kill you at the end of the day And if black doesn’t play Bishop f8 if Black plays King H7 then the F7 Pawn is A serious weakness but you could also Get checkmated from C7 Bishops before And Rook to two is mate so it’s not the End of the game here it’s actually a lot More double-edged than it appears No that’s a really good point Um This is so so uh compelling that black Didn’t even take the pun he said Bishop F6 first let me put more pressure so I Have an option I can take it with the Bishop or the Rogue the painting well I Can take it now blacken also played the Move d4 To you know damage white structure and Then take on B2 You have to weigh the pros and cons of That or job of Instead I think he is trying to set up D4

I think he’s that’s exactly what he’s Trying to do with the Rook d8 he’s not Just trying to defend passively right Right It’s clear he’s got an active idea but Could white play something like Knight A4 To meet D4 with E4 Yeah I think the worst part about White’s position right now is that D4 is A threat because of the Knight and if The Knight wasn’t there we wouldn’t be Concerned about the move d4 probably at All so I like the idea of movie tonight And then if you do the the B2 Pawn would Be hanging so wow what a decision to go For this he’s decided to say look I’m Keeping my b-pawn you had your Opportunity twice with two different Pieces maybe to take it you haven’t done So now you know I’m going to show you What what it’s really worth I also wouldn’t be too dismissive of White’s Pawn structure yes it’s you know Visually terrible and I’m not you know Exactly a staunch defender of the F5 Pawn but it is clamping down on Black’s Own pawns right these F5 and H5 pawns Are preventing black from creating more Breathing room for his King you know the F7 Pawn could be a long-term weakness of Flax King tries to hide away on H7 so The situation on the king side is a Little bit more double-edged than it

Seems but the bigger question is can Black You know permanently restrain the Progress of the beep on And again now our job of is on the Defending side of the kind of end game Uh that that Arjun had in game two where You’ve got a minute 30 and white white Can torture and squeeze this forever Yeah all the pawns on light squares R Square Bishop on D4 yes you know no Authority on that side of the board I Would have put the Rook on B1 almost Immediately but I was wondering was he bothered At All By Rook B5 and like kind of take a whole Bunch of Pawns because there’s one idea For black which is I can get my hand on The majority of the king side pawns hey I’ll sack my Bishop Even if you just get one of the pawns You should already consider a bishop Sack is those types of positions can be Fortresses especially with weakness Weakness on H5 Rook B5 I think is on tap and it’s on Deck if white allows it Yeah Bishop G1 is a nice move like the Diagonal that the bishop wants to be on Is so long A7 and G1 you can’t really Controls It’s like geez this is like you know New York City to San Francisco like you got To control vast territory and I think

Rook B5 Arjun Yeah or maybe 58 and Rook D5 That would be uh that would be a thing That’s a mess honestly because I might Have Rook B5 he wants Knight C5 I think Our general has forgotten that their Rook can circumvent the knights Defensive power and he doesn’t see it I Was gonna ask you what you thought about Rook B5 Knight C5 Rook takes B4 Fortress Wise oh is that is that anything to to Ask about like Bishop versus Rook but The pawns are all cemented like this my Gut is that that’s losing because there I actually would like the placement of The pawns the fact that they’re on light Squares and holding black spawns back I Think would be an asset F6 liquidating One of his weak Pawns It’s Also uh liberating for black in a way as Well well with every Pawn that Disappears black gets inches closer to The drug don’t miss a fork on D7 Yep Yep that’s key here Rook G4 no that Doesn’t work oh Knight D7 on Rook G4 97 and Rook G4 that is exactly exactly What our dear silicon friend is looking For To point out is that that doesn’t win a Bishop the problem is that you Transition to a rook end game where Black’s King is going to be on the H

File Yep and tomorrow Jabba fails To hold the position I think Rook G4 is Still winning although it’s a little That’s a much better move that’s a way Better move than Rook d8 I think oh Totally totally really like that We could get I’m getting vibes from the Previous game where you can get like a Knight versus Bishop position or droppa Finds some way to trade the last Pawn Yeah one Pawn at the end because here’s The thing look at the Knight on D7 and Look at the pawn advancing imagine the Rooks are off the board not that hard to Do because they’re about to be traded uh The pawn from B4 only has two squares so The bishop can sack B6 and V8 and both Those screws are covered by White’s Knight so you might think the game is Just over and you’d be correct if he Finds exactly how to do it so really What we what we’ve got is very similar As you said to the last game it could Come down to a single move oh and what An amazing move by Arjun he’s so patient I think what he’s saying is hey this Pawn I can move it in five years from Now right now the top priority is to Save the age Pawn to eliminate the risk Of a fluke and then later when you get The king to G4 you’ll bring the Knight Back and guide the pawn to promotion G4 By rajabov a last ditch attempt to trade

As many pawns as possible Right what a move And I think you can just take and play Night well almost anywhere I was gonna Say anywhere now you have the H Pawn and You have the b-pawn keep in mind Sometimes if all these pawns are off the Board you don’t even need anything on The king side sometimes you just win With the beep on and the Knight blocks That Bishop from sacrificing That’s a great way to put it you could Do that from C5 Last breaths here taken by Timur but now He can no longer stop the age one it is Over and Arjun Eric icy is gonna win on Demand unbelievable this was not the Smoothest conversion but all credit to Arjun I mean to do what he just did Against a player of rajaba’s caliber And he takes a deep breath I think Arjun Can’t even believe what has just Happened he has set himself up for an Armageddon game which he has a realistic Chance among of pulling off I’m not Exaggerating perhaps the greatest Comeback in the cgc inaugural season Thus far yeah there’s no way that this Isn’t the biggest because Sure the score might not look that bad It’s like oh it was only two to one you Came back a game you won Armageddon Great this isn’t like a 2-0 comeback you Have to think about how the match could

Have been over in one single move a move That is probably replaying you know at Two times speed in the chat Bob’s head Right now uh and G3 exactly G3 G3 our Generic icy stayed in that game he never Quite gave up on it even when some of His fans might have been thinking oh This is it he’s out of the tournament He’s very much still in this event and Is now tied and we have Armageddon Coming up Daniel we do indeed we’re Gonna set the players up we will get Their bids and we will talk and remind You of the Armageddon format on the Other side of the break but ladies and Gentlemen go absolutely nowhere we have One of the most exciting armageddon’s in A long time coming up for you here at The chess.com Global championship and we Will set the players up and have the Armageddon for you in just a couple of Minutes stay tuned Foreign Foreign Foreign Foreign Foreign Foreign We are back at the chess.com Global Championship as we have a look at the Bracket of the round of 16 we have one More match that is ongoing to determine The final 16. it is an epic match indeed It is the match we are currently

Watching between tomorrow Jabba and Arjun aragaisi in that match It’s currently tied two two it will Round off the group E bracket Oh my goodness grab Mastermind Hamilton I mean what haven’t we seen in the cgc That’s why I mean we’ve seen literally Everything And I was gonna say we haven’t seen one Of the greatest comebacks but I forgot That of course the router 32 is not over Yet it wouldn’t repeat that and and Naturally they saved the best for last In terms of entertainment now of course It would be you know a huge huge uh Story if our generic guys see were to Come back and win this Armageddon thus Winning the match and the regret that Would sink in over job of having missed The opportunity to close this out would Be immense but having said that Dania I Mean rajaba I feel like now he’s had Time to cool down a little bit and this Is truly a different match and we’ve Always known rajaba to be a professional I think this is where he can show that This is absolutely where he can show That we remind you of the Armageddon Format both players bid uh up to 15 Minutes the side with the higher bid Gets white with 15 minutes the side with The lower bid gets the black pieces with The amount of time that they bid of Course black has draw odds which means

If the game ends in a draw and black Wins the match the bids are timora Jawbox 14 minutes clearly I wonder which Side he wanted to play and Arjun bidding 12 minutes and 30 seconds so Jabba will Have 15 minutes Arjun will have the Black pieces with 12 and a half minutes That’s a pretty generous amount of time We saw Vichy beating bidding seven Minutes we’ve seen players bidding 11. 12 and a half is a boatload of time I Think this is a good start already for Arjun Yeah indeed but you know from rajabov’s Perspective he’s also saying He’s basically saying I don’t even want To play with the black pieces or at all Yeah like he he’s just like okay I’m in A bid 14 minutes because if you for some Reason don’t even want uh you know that That much time then okay fine I’ll take It but he really wanted to uh to play With the white pieces here and uh Perhaps that’s because he feels good About whether it’s preparation he feels Good about the games have gone thus far There have been some very combative Games and although we’ve had some draws I feel like playing with the white Pieces makes a lot of sense and hey he’s Up against 12 and a half minutes from From Arjun so a bit of a Time Edge to Play into things and he’s got another Rogozin repeating the opening from the

First game I think it’s reasonable to assume that Arjun looked up the G4 shenanigans And timurajaba varying his choice Putting the bishop on F4 this is a line Which just a couple of moves a couple of Years ago was very rare but has become a Lot more popular as people have shifted Away from the main lines in a lot of Openings and have tried to get fresher You know more unexplored positions Rook Is on C1 already You know just a sort of normal Positional line I don’t think it’s hard To make any Qualitative observations here just a Line Yeah you know just developing pieces Yeah I mean I don’t think white needs to Do anything spectacular here in order to Exactly like you don’t need to go crazy With moves like that A3 in fact he’s He’s well because the rook’s on C1 he’s Absolutely gonna take back Rook takes C3 And you can kind of forecast White Smooth you might need to retreat that Rook C7 is currently attacked E3 Bishop E2 H3 castles you know easy I wonder I Wonder where you’ve played those moves Before E3 Bishop E2 and H3 hmm what kind Of system features those moves later I Just I thought of them right now for the First time ever came up with them at the Board

Um very unfamiliar territory to me I mean I actually like this Choice by our job Of I think one thing that Factors into his decision making is the Fact that this is likely Iman to lead to A long positional game right the Structure is pretty closed you know You’re gonna get a long maneuvering Middle game and that is exactly what you Want to go to more uh given your time Advantage and given the fact that you Want this game to extend you want a 60 70 move Affair your reminder there is no Increment in the armageddonus good of a Bullet player as Arjun is if you’re down Five minutes in a middle game with no Increment you know the clock basically Becomes another piece and Rook on B3 Quite a piece that is you don’t see that Every day in the opening What the heck is that move I mean I Don’t think you play Rook B3 unless You’ve seen Rook B3 you know and unless You’ve seen you know some analysis You’ve done some games where it’s like Okay yeah sometimes it goes there uh Otherwise I mean the Mover B3 just looks Strange at first glance one thing that I Did want to point out is that if you Brought the Rook back to C1 there there Is this idea of you know and I mean it Still exists Queen A5 yep um and you Know you can Mass trade everything I’m

Not sure if that’s what you want to do But Knight D2 you could trade everything On D2 go to an end game two Bishops for White will speak volumes there but still I know there is an idea that more pieces You trade and solid structure like this The closer you get to that draw which is All origin needs to win this match Indeed and interestingly Timur didn’t Even seriously contemplate taking the Pawn on B7 I think the evil bar did Seriously contemplate it uh but Understandable her job of doesn’t want Unnecessary tactical complications Especially given the way the last two Games have gone C5 by Arjun I think Arjun’s really the one uh trying to uh Instill trying to install tension on the Board but C5 from a positional Standpoint is an incredibly risky move Because if white consolidates black Could very well be left with a weak uh Isolated Queen Pawn add on to that White’s Bishop pair and you could be Talking about a serious positional Advantage so black really has to try to Go after White’s on castled King maybe Go after the awkward Rook to compensate For the positional disadvantages do you Agree with that assessment No all wrong No that was uh that was really well said Um the other thing that you can point Out is that C5 the Knight jumps in and

The Rook it’s feeling a little weird you Might see this Rook go on a real journey This game Daniel like Rook B3 Rook Before yeah exactly no it could it could Get like a almost like a game of snake Or something So what does timora Jabba’s deciding Between well castles is obviously a Canada move Do you take C5 and Rook takes B7 I think Are the three big candidate moves and The benefit of a move like C5 from Arjun Is that see more has to spend time on This decision he can’t just move Instantly this is a big moment and and He’s got to try to prosecute this Position uh carefully and accurately Because this is a chance for him to get An advantage he chooses the calmest of The three moves castles And could The Rook get trapped here I Don’t know Rook takes B7 Okay so Rook be set first of all Rook B7 Is it forced What is arjun’s idea because I think a Lot of people might be saying oh Queen C8 traps The Rook it doesn’t even come Close to trapping the Rick because the Rook has A perfectly good parking spot on C7 Black wax the dark squared Bishop so Getting C7 under control is gonna be Hard Okay that’s good I mean it traps The

Rook but it’s so long term right like H3 Keep that bishop and then you’ve always Got C7 It’s like those Norwegian or Finnish Prisons or you know you’ve got high Speed internet connection and you know You’ve got your own personal library and A nice desk it’s like yes Accommodations on B7 exactly But of course serious very Nerve-wracking It is nerve-wracking I think the one Thing about the if you if you think About what result is required for white You are more interested in complications In general so if you’re offered a pawn But you might get trapped you’re gonna Take it because yeah you know if you Don’t see it immediately and at least You might have some compensation even if It does get trapped I think you’re going For it versus you know shying away and And playing uh something that just Doesn’t have as much in it Now that’s that’s very well put I think The move 95 appealed to me initially When I looked at the position of course That does close off the bishop and it Makes Queen C8 a more realistic Possibility but I was trying to figure Out How to evaluate 95 Queen C8 Rook E7 and If you try to keep pursuing the rook and Say oh three time repetition no no no

White has Knight C6 with a crushing Initiative Rook C7 and Knight E7 and Talk about the Rook uh taking a joyride Like that’s exactly what you have here And talking about my job off agreeing With you Knight E5 very very fun looking Move and it’s like how can white use the Squares in Black’s Camp better than Black right how how is white using E7 And C7 and B7 and C6 I thought this was Black’s position The the positive thing for Arjun is that He’s actually up on time you would never Guess that this is an Armageddon game Uh but the negative is I think that he’s Just worse he’s down a pawn I don’t see A way To continue pursuing the E7 Rook Effectively I mean maybe F6 to chase the Knight away I don’t know F6 and Knight upstairs Actually actually Yeah it would be pretty serious idea I Think Bishop D6 there oh no Bishop D6 There’s a 994. yeah so wait up how does What does white do What do you mean what is white dude Daniel this is your brilliant line of You all right you got us into this mess To begin with and now you’re asking what To do so if we pull up an announcement Just to show where what the danger is F6 If you just play normally Knight F3 G5

Bishop G3 black enforcer repetition Takes takes and forget about Bishop C8 I Just like you can’t see it exactly Yep draw your way to Victory Arjun has Decided to operate on the other flank C3 Is on the board Because now the bishop on E2 I mean it In general it joins the fight with uh You know B5 and A6 available so I’m not As concerned about the Rook on E7 at all Now now it’s like my solve C3 as a move I’m feeling good about White’s chances I agree no White’s still up a pawn still Has all the positional pluses I think arjun’s overall strategy here is Totally understandable he keeps trying To spin as much complication as possible But eventually it’s going to fizzle out He doesn’t have an endless supply of Pawns and pieces that he could just Shove forward Right and queen d8 we’ve talked about Your move Knight C6 still available Yeah and with the C file opening up White is in Prime position to put a rook There eventually uh oh And not now let’s not forget about Rook C1 now no no no no we’re highly Inadvisable Okay F6 the eval bar didn’t like Where does the Knight go do you even Move the Knight yeah that’s not a given The other position Exactly

Because if it’s taken the bishop takes And well you’re actually making serious Threats there you know what could be an Interesting resource is Bishop F3 in This position The whole point is that after black Takes and white takes Later on down the line Rook C1 becomes a Massive threat So that’s definitely on the table Something like Bishop F3 or even Yeah I like that Bishop D3 I was even looking at something as Ridiculous as Bishop A6 Um but I think it’s a little a little Too much apart from ridiculous though Queen C3 Queen C7 I can tell is your Idea yeah yeah but I can probably Achieve this without the need to give Out the bishop because as you said Rook C1 is such a strong move like Bishop H5 Maybe or something Yeah but moving the bishop is is Critical because Rook C1 fails the Knight takes E2 check the queen is Overloaded We think chess bra for the raid There we go I assume I’m on Hamilton was Not streaming on chess bro yeah no just On the other monitor here right I was Just over there in Arena Kings you know Two simultaneous streams Okay F6 is on the board a job of Contemplating his next course of action

The plus three eval amount is totally Meaningless here this is anybody’s game Yeah four results are possible as you Once said Exactly that’s a that’s a an important Thing to remember because I think this Armageddon is going differently than Ones that we’ve seen in the past this Armageddon is less about the time I know White is less time it’s a crazy concept Right started with two and a half Minutes uh extra but I think he’s given Up some of his time Advantage because He’s focused on the board He’s saying look I’m gonna like I don’t Care about being up on time it’s less About that I’m seeing a position that I Think I can convert just looking at the The way the game is playing out on the Board and I think he’s just decided to Focus on that so I think the the time is Going to be critical that job off Doesn’t get too low that he’s not able To play things out properly but uh I I Don’t think he’s focused on keeping that Time Edge and always staying up no I Think he’s looking at the position and Trying to find the kill I think you fit The nail on the head I think we saw a Lot of players treat the Armageddon game Like it’s a hyper bullet game which it’s Not it’s still a rapid game white still Has 15 minutes yeah there’s no increment You got to be a little bit faster as

You’re saying but 724 is an eternity on The clock for these players who are used To online Blitz maybe we’re a job up a Little bit less so but he’s still a Great Blitz player he’s not feeling uh The time crunch just yet so just to Illuminate the idea of Bishop F3 if Black takes on E5 just so we’re all on The same page white plays Bishop takes C5 let’s bring him an analysis board Rook F7 Trade Rook C1 and black is in huge Trouble not because you can’t defend the Knight you can defend it but then you’re Gonna end up dropping the pawn on T5 and Black’s position collapses Right like takes tags And if you take on D5 here Because this is you know it’s enough Material when you think about it but White is probably just gonna sit here And literally play like H3 and it’s like Such a defeating move that next uh Queen A5 I mean everything is falling black Ironically does not have enough pawns You need a pawn to Anchor something your King you know if you had a Pawn on E6 or Pawn on B6 that would change the Complexion here but no this is gonna be Too much and we might see it Dania on The board We have been calling a lot of these Moves this is on the board I think if Her drop off takes in place Rook C1 he

Will be knocking on the door Of a huge Armageddon Victory unless Arjun has some sort of hidden resource Here maybe Knight no Knight B1 doesn’t Work either Knight A4 is on the board we’re gonna See that position And is such a classy move to play at the End of the line it’s easy so easy to Miss you might be thinking about this Whole line Bishop D5 Knight D5 imagine You’re calculating From arjun’s Perspective you see all this you see Rook takes Queen and then at the end You’re like wait a minute I have a rook In two pieces for the queen maybe I have Back rank tricks and white just plays H3 And you’re like oh okay this is really Annoying now there’s no threat to White’s King the queen runs rampant into Position and don’t forget white has the F Pawn the E Pawn the d-pawn three pawns Connected as well yeah it’s just winning The material plays a role but ultimates It’s the lack total lack of King safety It’s the discombobulated nature of Black’s minor pieces that are totally Scattered they can’t coordinate and the Fact that white Scott not just three Pawns but three Pawns in the center you Have this idea of playing F3 E4 and D5 Timor needs to cut cut some time here And just grab that pawn on D5 he needs To trust his intuition here the one way

That you fail to win this with white is You get inside your own head you take Too long on the obvious decisions and we Saw what that leads to in game three Yeah couldn’t agree more Um he’s giving a one last double check Because I I think he feels after Bishop D5 that Knight takes D5 is so winning For him so he might even be looking at Like King G6 just making sure he’s got All the bases covered but of course White just takes in the corner and can Even look to sacrifice And I think one line you had to double Check after Bishop takes eight is the Move 92 check looks very scary But white can just recapture on E2 I Won’t make these moves because I think You know let’s focus on the game Continuation but at the end of the lion White covers the back rank check with Queen F1 and he’s just on three pawns Exactly two more just making sure of That making sure that he’s not Blundering any tactics but Bishop F3 Probably even better because D5 is Totally Unstoppable what a classy move Yeah that’s that’s just you know he’s Sitting back with his you know five and A half minutes which is an eternity in a Position like this and saying you know You don’t have a single move check that Rook on A8 trapped can’t move actually Cannot move uh Rook B8 only offers

Further material and you know the most Decapitating thing is maybe after Rook B8 you don’t even take it No it’s it’s totally debilitating and Bishop G4 by Arjun an attempt to stir Things up I think the time is right to take on A8 Yeah yeah now he’s baited the bishop to G4 it’ll fall victim to the move H3 pure Genius on the board by rajaba but in all Seriousness I think that’s the idea Timur just has to realize that after Bishop takes eight I’ll make the moves Really quickly just to make sure again We’re on the same page 92 Queen takes E2 It does look scary oh Queen C1 there’s Like Knight c392 but all of that is is Ghosts right because the Knight is not On C3 it’s on A4 and that one tempo Gives white the time to go on the Offensive and forget that White’s up two Puns he’s just gonna Checkmate the black King after something like Bishop e65 all The bases are covered yeah and I mean it For me even before Queen C4 check in This line it’s just the move H3 a season Of H3 in every line and I’m like that’s Enough that’s enough for me to be like Okay we’re totally fine no this is this Is if Arjun pulls this off I will have literally nothing to say for The rest of the cgc yeah I mean if he Pulls us off I mean what can we say he Certainly deserves to be there because

Your job off will have had everything in Front of him all the chances Um one position that could get I mean Even this isn’t enough but could get a Little bit weird is you know H3 Bishop E2 followed by Knight C3 and blacks just Trying to make this strange claim that I’ve trapped your own Queen I can’t Attack it I can’t move any of my pieces But I’ve trapped your own Queen inside Your position Timor is obviously nervous Here and when you get anxious and There’s as much on the line as there is This game it’s the same effect as you Watch a horror movie and then every Sound in your house makes you jump it’s The same thing here where you’re blowing Up the enemy to like you know insane Proportions every move looks scary every Fork uh seems like the end so a job of Has to stay calm most important thing Keep time on your clock don’t let Arjun Flag you don’t forget that there’s no Increment because Arjun is going to pull Out all the stops you just know it Mm-hmm what a move Mighty Moore That’s great knight to E2 check and the King takes the journey to F2 right You’ve got so many extra pawns I would Give like two pawns here just to maybe Like trade the Queens because you know That your winning chances are still so High but black can’t even get two Pawns Nope and black can’t even get the

Position into some opposite colored Bishop end game He’s simply getting mated Yeah Yeah if you don’t trade Queens here Um I mean that’s Checkmate on the board Let’s not forget that white is Threatening probably something like a Checkmate in I don’t know four or five If uh if it was his turn for example 92 Check King F2 and strangely enough every Single piece that black has is hanging The queen everyone on G7 is hanging yeah The bishop It’s over if 92 King F2 and you trade Queens You know that’s where the two minor Pieces hanging is what actually causes The position to be resignable Knight D1 Last Chance by Arjun that’s right take The queen and take on E3 I think he Wants Gotta try that White has does what have King E2 here I Know I was about to say does white just Have like you know a real calculated Move King E2 how cruel And then you go to D3 Bishop F5 Block it with one no there’s no way How do you do that because King G3 is Probably enough Oh totally how many of us would just Play King G3 you know rest on your

Laurels get the king out of the danger Zone or drop off takes a dip into the Mariana Trench again And he’s gonna lift to tell the tale It’s unbelievable because in the line With King G3 G7 is hanging so like just Everything is so good in that line but That is just a cruel move thingy too he Is going to win this game that’s it I Mean Bishop just take G7 D5 literally Even an opposite Clark Bishop end game Is completely winning here Yeah the only way you screw this up is Again by blundering a fork or yeah Occurrence D5 for example hitting the Knight Bishop B5 check King F2 you know Knight D3 I’m closing my eyes Well because King D2 Knight C4 and it’s Winning but it’s obvious yeah it’s Opposite actually I if I’m a hard job You have to watch for Bishop F1 though Yeah Okay That’s three connected pass bonds and Yeah you have to feel it’s sufficient it Must be you just push the pawns that the Kryptonite for opposite card Bishops is Connected passers because you can use Your king and Bishop to push them Through a defensive barrier And rajaba who’s gonna convert this he’s Got plenty of time yeah he’s he’s got Too much time honestly way too much time And after he’s I think arjun’s gonna

Resign One or two more moves Yep this won’t Last long because the king or gets to E5 And Um I know we’re kind of in the closing Segments here but I will just point out That although this is absolutely routine For these guys The way that he’s advancing the pawns is So crucial you advance the pawns on Light squares and then you put them side By side and when you advance them again They go on light squares so you don’t Play Pawn in E7 and play Pawn to D7 and That is enough to take victory in this Armageddon game Dania and what a Comeback I call it a comeback because Mentally I feel like rajaba came back in This match to win what should have been His in the first place chess is a cruel Game there’s always going to be someone Who’s euphoric and someone who’s Devastated but we gotta make a clear Chess is an effort between two games Right it’s an artwork that’s produced by Two people and Arch and aragaisy played An integral role in this match being as Exciting as it was the way that he Fought in the second game uh the way That he fought in the third game and Pulled off a miracle and of course an On-demand victory in game four it was Only because as you said timuru rajaba Was able to gather himself and survive

Some unbelievable tension in the armaged End game that the match doesn’t go his Way what a match we just saw this was an Absolute treat Yeah this this was tremendous what a Victory from rajabov who also you know Credit to Amy he made 14 minutes he was Like honestly give me the white pieces That’s what that bid says he wanted the White pieces he liked how things were Going in this match uh really really Bold decision to go for that and it paid Off he he honestly has had some really Exciting games with the the white pieces Against Arjun in this match he didn’t Necessarily get the full point out of All of them but Rook B3 Daniel I go back To that and I’m thinking you know Interesting move interesting prep and That Rook actually shaped the entire Game Rook B3 Rook B7 you know the Rope Went to E7 I don’t know how it stayed Alive but that shaped how this entire Game went it really did I think this was Actually the Turning Point like Arjun Had the opportunity to defend the B7 Pawn he could have played B6 you could Have played B5 and Knight B6 Knight C4 I Think this would have been the most Prudent option instead he decides to Sacrifice p7 it’s a Fearless skull it’s A gutsy call we can’t criticize him for That Arjun did everything in his power To make sure this game went his way but

The Precision with which team will Rajabov handled the stage of the game Bishop F3 a month is nothing short of Amazing and then a little bit later how Many of us would just take on A8 no Bishop F3 the patience he had in this Stretch is incredible and the conversion Was clean and impeccable Yeah there’s that’s just a perfect Summary for jabov a totally deserved Winner but our generic I see almost made That full comeback you know making her Job of regret uh his his previous game Immensely as we see that final score it Went all the way to Armageddon uh Eric I See you know down one and a half came Back to draw a dead lost position and Then win on demand in game four to make For one of the most exciting games Exciting matches in the round of 32 and It does mean that the more of a job of Winston Armageddon Daniel moves on to The round of 16. Yeah he is the last one the lucky one he Rounds off the final group of 16 and he Rounds off the final unfinished bracket The Groovy bracket is now complete that Means all of the brackets are now Complete Well 16 players will not be going to Toronto eight players will be going to Toronto at the start of November and uh There are going to be some incredibly Fascinating matches that are coming up

But we will tell you about them after The break first we have an interview With Mr rajapov the hero of today’s Match so don’t go anywhere we are going To ask Timor for his thoughts on his Fascinating match his mental toughness And first we’re gonna set him up so Ladies and gentlemen we hope you enjoyed The match stay tuned for an interview With the job up here at the cgc the Chess.com Global Championship we will be Back in just a couple of short minutes Foreign Foreign Foreign Foreign Foreign Foreign We are back at the chess.com Global Championship reviewing the results of The final unfinished bracket that is now Finished and it is Seymour rajabov who Survives an incredible comeback content By Arjun aragaisi demonstrating nerves Of Steel and playing a brilliant Armageddon game to make his way to the Round of 16 where he will challenge none Other than Jan Napoli to determine who Books a ticket to Toronto and the best News is that we have Timur in the studio For an interview tomorrow thank you for Joining us after such a long and arduous Match let’s start with the Armageddon What did you tell yourself to calm

Yourself down going to the Armageddon How were you able to stay so focused and So centered after uh what happened in Games three and four Well honestly I don’t think that I’ve Played a good game the the one that was Their magadon and my beat was like Something like 14 minutes And I think that was Um pretty close to 15 so I’m an old guy I need more time and he decided 12 and 12 minutes and 30 seconds is enough Probably to fold as black but then I Think we’ve got some crazy position out Of the opening and um yeah it was Actually hard after that you know white Game that I didn’t win and just to Secure the match yeah it was hard to Come you know like uh emotionally back To the normal State and Um yeah I couldn’t even play properly The force game I think that I’ve played The bad game there it’s just really bad Game I mean just uh like all the moves Were bad I think and um yeah in our Market on I don’t know I just saw they Have to fight and I have to find some Moves not to allow any uh direct draws So that’s why I decided for the sharp Line with the city xd5 and Bishop F4 and Was a bit surprised that he didn’t go For the long lines with this 94 G5 stuff Knight C6 and so on and was quite happy About it because the position is

Playable and then I don’t know what was Happening it was completely crazy and I Was super happy when I found out that Bishop A8 92 stuff works I mean 22 Queen F1 and so then of course I’m having like Three bones up and uh you know two Bishops and all that stuff and still I Was quite afraid to know not to win the Game because Um you know I’ve missed such a chance in A third game that yeah But okay that’s that’s life Yeah I mean it’s a it’s a really good Summary I also wanted to ask you about The Armageddon this move Rook B3 was This like something you had prepared I Mean we don’t always see a rook end up On B3 you were critical maybe about how You played the game but it honestly Looked like Rook B3 gave you very Dynamic chances and it’s an Armageddon Game you need to win this Rook B3 part Of that uh prep a little bit or Something you looked at No no no no I just saw that um I can Play Rook C1 Queen A5 Knight D2 and then Go F3 and uh probably I’m having a Slightly better end game I mean in case he takes some D2 Um like he takes only two I take with The King you know I’m having two Bishops And the golden game but actually after Rook C1 I was afraid of Queen B6 so I Tried to find some moves not to allow

Any direct uh you know any direct draw For him so uh yeah Rook B3 just no it’s Not the preparation to be honest I don’t Even know what the series says there but Uh just uh seemed natural to me to go Rook between not to allow Queen B6 in This position and um yeah still after Queen A5 I’m going Knight D2 I don’t Know what what this what this line is uh In fact but um you know I was quite Surprised that he really sacrificed Everything so fast I mean he could play Probably some more positional way in This in this position after Rook B3 Because the Rook is kind of awkward There so probably he can even go some B697 and C5 or something like this but Uh okay I didn’t really care because I Just wanted to seek any chances and uh Have any kind of playable position and Anyway I mean the loss and the draw is The same thing there so I didn’t care Much Uh two more Arjun our guys your opponent Today is part of a group of very Impressive players from The Young Generation of course kukesh I’m just a Tour of do you feel like those players This new generation has clearly defined Weaknesses and was there a particular Direction that you were trying to take These games in in order to exploit what You perceive to be uh arjun’s biggest Weaknesses

Well I didn’t really uh study too many Of their games to be honest all these Youngsters I’m uh more used to studying You know all this uh candidate guys and Um certainly I mean the like 10 Indian Teams can can win the Olympic or Something like this and you know the Second team was what’s like uh bronze Medalists were they were bronze Medalists or silver in the last Olympia And uh runs Yeah bronze yeah but still I mean they Were leading throughout the tournament And you know they have so many strong Youngsters you can mention the Prague Who cash all these guys and of course Erica easy I think they’re just uh Playing great chess nowadays and um they Work very hard with the youngsters I Think the Indian Um I don’t know Chess Federation is it Or anyone who is responsible for Indian Chess so uh they have a lot of training Sessions and so on I didn’t really Um specifically do something for Erica Is in terms of preparation but I saw That during the match he was kind of Slightly uncomfortable with the way I Was playing I think he didn’t expect me To go this uh G4 line and probably I Could have could take some chances in The first game as well I think I’ve just Uh played this Rook G5 stupidly with D5 Idea and then I mean he probably did

Some mistakes and I settled for a draw And settled for a draw but um I think in The second game I just felt that he’s Kind of uncomfortable in playing some Kind of simple position And he really played bad this thing in The second game and he was white I think I mean he could just draw it uh I mean After Queen B65 I think there are many Ways for white to to be fine but then he Found himself into trouble and then I Managed to win the game yeah I didn’t do Any special preparation to be honest so I don’t really have any secrets to tell You how to beat their egasi or any other Indian youngster but probably to retain Some energy is good so I didn’t do much At all before the match and so try to Relax as much as I can because I thought It will be anyway uh kind of tense and It was Yeah indeed a really tense match which You ended up emerging Victorious we’re Gonna bring up uh for everybody here the Bracket which is now the round of 16. uh You’ve Advanced uh Timor and your Opponent we mentioned earlier is going To be Jan de palmishi I mean any Thoughts on Jan as a as a as an opponent Obviously and did you see some of his Matches he’s had some pretty exciting Ones like especially against the spitler Last round Um no didn’t really follow but I know

Jan for a long time and uh I’ve seen him For uh like um around three or four Weeks in June so that was quite enough And I didn’t study more of his games in The candidates I mean of course So uh yeah I know the guy I mean he’s a Very strong rapid and Blitz player and Of course the classical chess as well But rapperton bliss I think he’s uh Famous for that and uh yeah just very Happy to qualify through this match Today and it took a lot of nerves uh Even though I’m always you know Convincing myself that Um online she should not really care too Much but then once it starts it’s Sometimes more tense than the classical Games that you were playing but Certainly of course I know uh Jan quite Well and we had different results in Online games with him so yeah let’s see What happens I’ll be happy to play an Interesting match against him of course We will be watching that match very Closely Timor thank you so much for Joining us for the interview we will let You take your well-deserved rest good Luck against Yan Thank you so much thank you for having Me thanks Okay hey Iman and then there were 16. Yeah and there was 16. where did the 120th players go where did the 64 go Where did the 32 go

Yeah we whittled it down We finally know the entire bracket That’s the most exciting part as we you Know I have every match up here every Pairing as you can see them there on Your screen rejabov and the top right Hand corner filling out the the last Name in this bracket and we’re getting So close to knowing who the participants Are going to be in Toronto for the Finals and you heard Timur basically Saying that uh you’re supposed to not Care about online chess as much but when You’re sitting there and you know There’s 15 000 people watching on all The platforms and you know that a ticket To Toronto Canada and a check for two Hundred thousand dollars is on the line Yeah you’re feeling a little bit nervous Maybe even more nervous than the final Game at the candidates tournament and That is a testament to how awesome the Cgc is these players you know no matter How calm they are on the outside and Their job off is pretty damn calm I mean They are eating themselves out on the Inside especially uh after a near choke This was an epic match and you will want To acquaint yourself ladies and Gentlemen with everybody on that bracket Some incredibly fascinating matches Coming your way starting with this Sunday October the 2nd we will have two Matches for us lease so against Jeffrey

Zhang and another All-American matchup Of honoronian against Samuel saving them On you cannot ask for two matches that Are it’s not possible to produce two Pairs of more entertaining than that no These are the these are the four players And these are the pairings but uh Seriously I I actually have Wesley in in My mind Wesley from the very start one Of the favorites one of my favorites to Go all the way in this tournament so I Think I’ll definitely have my eyes on That match Jeffrey Zhang is such a Competitor so resilient I mean you’re Not you’re never gonna see a match with Jeffrey finish 3040 he always gets Points on the board and Wesley has been So consistent in the match format talk About a single game sure but Wesley in a Match format I feel that he always has The some way that that he comes out on Top so I’ll be looking at that match Wesley is one of my favorites to go the Distance and of course aronian and Sam Sevian you have this uh you know All-American day for uh the two Match-ups so uh we’re whittling down the The Americans left in the competition We’ll see how many of them make it to The top eight And speaking of Americans and speaking Of more epic matches the following day On Monday the Sunday matches are coming Your way at noon Pacific 3 P.M Eastern

On Monday three hours earlier at 9 A.M Pacific noon Eastern we will have two Other matches in the round of 16. Hikaru Nakamura against lanyard Dominguez a Classic matchup throughout the years They have played so many times across The board and Blitzen and rapid and they Will face off once again to determine Who heads to Toronto and Fabiano caruana Who has really resurged in the cgc he Has proven that yeah he’s had some tough Performances but he is still freaking Fabiano caruana but Dimitri on Drake and Iman that match stands out to me because Then draken has been a totally Unstoppable force in the cgc everywhere Everything he has touched has turned Into gold on the chessboard and his Opponents have turned into dust are you As excited about that match as I am I Absolutely am if we pay attention to the Last couple slides as well I think uh You know chess fans will notice that the United States Olympia team has just Appeared right in the last slide and in This slide that there’s your Olympiad Team some of the best four or five Players in the entire country are still In this competition and looking to Advance I look at caruana on draken as The sort of the the match-up that draws My attention between the two of them Because on draken has had so much Success so much underrated success I

Mean he’s a 2700 player you know hasn’t Broken into that 2780 Echelon of like Top top players in the world but he’s Right there and I feel like in this Shorter time control he is in that top 10 player in the world conversation so Fabiano caruana he’s had some shaky Moments uh qualifying thus far in the Competition I look at this match as a Total toss-up but on Drake and Dark Horse really really dangerous uh in this Format the match format wrap it as well So I think on draken right here is as a Guy to keep an eye on and on the other Side Daniel we have NACA and Dominguez You know sort of uh a much different Matchup actually I think NACA comes in As a certified favorite for sure but he Also has had kind of ups and downs when It comes to qualifying he’s crushed some Matches as we expect Nakamura too but He’s also had some shaky moments and Dominguez has this style where you know If you give him an opportunity he will Take it and pounce immediately he’s so Good at converting jumping on mistakes And I feel like Nakamura if he plays one Of one of his you know vintage Nakamura Style matches I think he’s got this but If he slips up anywhere Dominguez will Be right there to surgically take Advantage of whatever he’s given there’s Eight players so we’ll contest matches On Sunday and Monday and all eight of

Them you could make a case for them Winning the cgc you could certainly make A case for them uh booking their ticket To Toronto the top eight players will Head to Toronto at the start of November It’s going to be an epic finale we’ve Got 16 players remaining and by Monday Uh four of them or uh four of them will Be eliminated Oh my lands them on and another matches In the books we have concluded the round Of 32 and what a way to conclude it was Let me pass the mic to you one last time Before I wrap up uh for your final Thoughts this seemed to be all about Psychology today and that is why these Matches are so exciting there’s so many Different dimensions to them aren’t There Completely agree uh there’s a couple Matches happening when we said we had One match today we meant officially Because you know there was on the board Off the board the psychology the Mentality and of course the momentum the Momentum I feel was dictating this match It started off with some really Interesting prep from rajabov uh and Then in the second game it was actually Arjun who said no I’m not taking early Draw let’s play this game out I’ve got Some ideas here and flipped on its head As rajav completely outplayed him and Honestly that momentum carried into the

Third game it looked like he was gonna Walk away with this match so well Calculated so well executed but a final Trick and a reminder not to count anyone Out in this competition literally until You see the result on the board as Arjun Came back gave us a game for I think the Fans were just you know clamoring with Excitement that we got to see more of This match and ultimately it came down To narmageddon dania where I think Rajabov recomposed himself after Arjun One On Demand in game four and I think He played a tremendous game I don’t Think he gave himself enough credit for How well he played in the Armageddon he Most certainly did not that was an Excellent summary and a great note for Us to unfortunately wrap up but once Again you do not have to wait long the Next set of matches are coming your way Sunday at noon Eastern 9 A.M Pacific and 6 p.m central European Standard time but For now ladies and Gentlemen We wish you A great rest of your Wednesday we’d like To thank everybody in the chat chat with Happened tonight uh tonight uh this Afternoon on uh in Central European Time Essentially of course that’s what I Meant on YouTube and on Twitch so we’d Like to thank you for supporting your Favorite player and making the cgc a Magical event that it has been thank you Also to our producer Matt for another

Excellent broadcast our entire amazing Team at chess.com and thanks to you Oman Is always a pleasure to commentate with You but now ladies and gentlemen from Thechess.com Global Championship from The round of 32 which has now concluded Grandmaster I’m on Hamilton and Grandmaster Daniel narrative Great rest of your Wednesday we’ll see You soon [Music] [Music] [Music] Foreign [Music] [Music] Foreign Foreign Foreign Foreign Foreign [Music] [Music] [Music] Foreign [Music] Foreign [Music] [Music] Foreign [Music] [Music] Foreign

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