Maghsoodloo has opted for a very solid approach, looking to maintain control over the light squares with his pawns. This opening has the potential to turn into tactical chaos or positional warfare, all depending on how Nihal decides to meet his approach.
Nihal takes the positional route!
Nihal has opted for the positional approach, exchanging pawns in the center and playing against Maghsoodloo's queenside.
This opening is well known, and there's no doubt that Maghsoodloo has seen this approach before. There are several ways to respond to Nihal's play, however, and Maghsoodloo spends some time choosing which choice will be the most testing for his opponent.
Play is already close to equalizing as Maghsoodloo decides to mimic Nihal's setup. Maghsoodloo's light-squared bishop, normally known to be the most difficult piece to get into action, has managed to maneuver itself to the center without any significant downside.
Nihal has some practical attempts, however, mostly revolving around the pawn on the queenside that is now left without a defender. Nihal's tempo advantage from having the white pieces gives him a slight initiative, but Maghsoodloo shouldn't be in any particular danger for now.
Nihal puts pressure on Maghsoodloo's sole defender for his bishop, forcing him to react. We're still in well-known opening theory, and the main approach to Nihal's threat is to allow Nihal to temporarily win a pawn on the queenside.
This pawn will be regained in short order with best play, and the position remains objectively equal. The question now is how familiar Maghsoodloo is with this opening variation, as finding the precise moves needed to maintain objective equality isn't immediately obvious.
Maghsoodloo doesn't find the critical move to maintain equality! With this decision, Nihal is now able to create a dangerous initiative on the queenside.
The problem with Maghsoodloo's choice is that he will be left with a weak pawn if Nihal captures his knight, making a permanent target that will force Maghsoodloo on the defensive.
Nihal plays his pawn up quite quickly, a move that fails to punish Maghsoodloo's inaccuracy. While his approach is not a bad one by any means, Nihal missed out on the opportunity to gain a lasting positional advantage.
Nihal has eventually managed to create his permanent weakness on the queenside, but does so in a surprising way. Rather than castling, he has decided to move his king up the board!
His king is surprisingly safe in its aggressive posture, and Nihal's rook remaining at the edge of the board may be able to support an expansion on the kingside. Despite the position being objectively equal, Nihal has managed to find some active plans and maintains a slight initiative.
Maghsoodloo's main goal is now to gain control over the dark square in front of his pawn to eventually get rid of his weakness, in which case he should be able to keep the position under control.
While Maghsoodloo would love to get rid of this pawn immediately by pushing it forward, it's simply not possible at this moment due to Nihal's threat of a fork with his knight, winning the pawn outright. If Nihal manages to maintain this grip, he will remain positionally superior.
While Nihal has managed to prevent Maghsoodloo from breaking on the queenside, trading dark-squared bishops has weakened his control over the dark squares in the center. Maghsoodloo now has the opportunity to switch plans, going for a pawn break in the center instead.
If Maghsoodloo finds the correct plan, he may find himself with a space advantage in the middle of the board! While the position remains unclear, Maghsoodloo has the opportunity to grab the initiative.
Maghsoodloo prepares to break open the center, posing some very difficult questions for Nihal to answer. The king that previously was quite safe on its aggressive outpost may suddenly become a liability, potentially becoming a target for Maghsoodloo's rooks.
Maghsoodloo has managed to stabilize the situation on the queenside and may soon gain the initiative!
Rather than simply recapturing the pawn that was just taken, Maghsoodloo decides to add additional pressure to it by moving his other rook into action. This is essentially a pawn sacrifice, as Nihal is now allowed to avoid its direct capture by defending it.
Doing so would create weaknesses along the light squares, however, and it's unclear whether the pawn will survive in the long run. The position is getting complicated, but Maghsoodloo maintains his newly created initiative.
Nihal has managed to defend against Maghsoodloo's initiative for now and has at the same time managed to create a strong grip along the dark squares in the center. The position remains dynamic, and both players are now running dangerously low on time.
While Nihal's setup has allowed him to stabilize without allowing Maghsoodloo's rooks into the game, Maghsoodloo has kept his position stable. Finding a breakthrough will be difficult for both players.
Nihal uses a tricky maneuver to reroute his knight to the kingside. The knight may be captured by the pawn, but Nihal would then be able to grab Maghsoodloo's knight, which is now undefended.
While the position remains complex, Nihal is currently the one with superior piece activity after having stopped Maghsoodloo's counterplay dead in its tracks. As both players have less than 5 minutes left to make the remaining 10 moves until the time control, the position may change quickly!
Maghsoodloo blunders in the time scramble! Allowing the trade of pawns gives Nihal the opportunity to enter a very favorable endgame if he plays precisely!
Nihal blunders right back, allowing Maghsoodloo's queen into the game! With Maghsoodloo's pieces all around Nihal's king, he will be able to at least force a perpetual check.
Rather than taking the knight that was undefended, Maghsoodloo goes for checkmate, but it doesn't work! Nihal will be able to defend with best play, leading to a hopeless position for Maghsoodloo.
Nihal reaches the time control in a completely winning position! He has managed to defend against all of Maghsoodloo's threats and has ended up with a massive material edge. With plenty of time to spare after reaching move 40, it's overwhelmingly likely that we'll see Maghsoodloo lose his first game of the tournament!
A strategic middlegame quickly caught fire after both Nihal and Maghsoodloo ended up in massive time trouble ahead of the time control. In the chaos that ensued, Maghsoodloo made a severe miscalculation, which allowed Nihal to stabilize his once-weakened king while having a significant material advantage. The game ended quickly when the time control was reached, as Nihal managed to force a significant exchange of pieces, leading to an easily winnable endgame.
Maghsoodloo thus loses his first game of the tournament, giving Nihal Sarin the tournament lead!
Another aggressive encounter 🔥
The matchups in the FIDE Grand Swiss 2025 just keep on giving! Maghsoodloo returns after the rest day as the sole leader of the tournament, and the matchup couldn't be more exciting. His opponent, Nihal Sarin, is well known among online chess enthusiasts as one of the top speed chess players in the world, showcasing tactical prowess and impressive intuition on a daily basis.
Nihal has had a strong tournament so far but will face quite the challenge when facing Maghsoodloo, who's had the tournament of his life up to this point. Once again, two players who tend to go for the throat face off, making it more than likely that we will get a decisive result.
Can Maghsoodloo continue his unbeaten streak, or will Nihal manage to trick the Iranian tactician? Let's find out!