Firouzja comes out swinging, making it very clear that he's going to play for a win in this game. The Dutch Defense is a risky opening but creates a dynamic pawn structure.
Firouzja will not allow Bluebaum to go for a quick draw, and it's game on!!
Bluebaum seems unfazed by Firouzja's aggressive choice, playing out the opening moves at blazing speed. Bluebaum's strategic response is to take immediate control over the queenside, looking to start an initiative on that side of the board.
Firouzja aims for the center
Firouzja will be looking for a pawn break in the center, allowing his strong dark-squared bishop to see the light of day.
While Firouzja's aggressive choice will give him chances to create an initiative, the big drawback is that he has already weakened his kingside as a result of his provocative opening choice.
Firouzja decides against breaking in the center immediately, instead getting his bishop into play first. The ideas of fighting for control over the middle of the board remain, however, as allowing Bluebaum to maintain a space advantage unopposed would be detrimental to his position.
As expected, Bluebaum has gained an objective advantage due to Firouzja's provocative opening, but the tension in the position remains, with great chances for Firouzja to generate counterplay.
Firouzja denies Bluebaum's advancement
Firouzja denies Bluebaum from breaking open the queenside, moving his pawn to stop Bluebaum's further advancement. Bluebaum has managed to maintain his space advantage on that side of the board, while Firouzja will look to start an initiative on the kingside.
The position remains strategically complex, and we're very likely to have a fight on opposite sides of the board. Firouzja's initiative may give him very real winning chances if Bluebaum isn't careful, and Firouzja has gotten what he wanted out of the opening moves.
Rather than keeping the queenside closed, Bluebaum decides to capture Firouzja's pawn! While this gives him an immediate structural disadvantage due to weakening his own pawn, this will also allow him to accelerate his piece play on that side of the board.
Firouzja spends quite some time in deciding on this move, very likely looking at possibilities to break open the center immediately. Firouzja keeps ramping up the pressure along the dark squares with the intention of blowing the position open if allowed.
Bluebaum's earlier decision to voluntarily weaken his pawn structure may come back to bite him down the line, as this gives Firouzja a clear target in his in a potential endgame. While we're still far away from such a situation, this long-term weakness makes piece trades much more desirable for Firouzja.
While Bluebaum has maintained a slight edge for now, Firouzja should be very happy about the trajectory of this game.
Instead of recapturing the piece with his bishop, Firouzja chooses to capture it in a seemingly unnatural way. His intention is to break some of Bluebaum's coordination, potentially starting an attack immediately!
This is the best move in the position, as Firouzja is now able to get in his desired pawn break while Bluebaum's pieces remain dislocated. This game is already heating up with sharp lines to follow!
Firouzja finally gets his desired pawn break in, using the pin against Bluebaum's rook to break open the position. This decision is double-edged, however, as Bluebaum now has gained a clear target on the queenside.
This is already to turn complex, as both players aim to break down the opponent's weak points in the position.
Firouzja immediately resolved the tension in the middle, creating a situation where both players will have pawns to target that cannot be easily defended. As the position opens up, Bluebaum's kingside is left weakened due to Firouzja's earlier decision to kick away Bluebaum's knight. Firouzja has left himself with his own weaknesses to accomplish this, however, and the position remains objectively balanced.
Firouzja ignores the threat against his pawn, allowing Bluebaum to win it straight away. Instead, Firouzja reroutes his knight to the kingside, preparing to get every single one of his pieces aimed towards that side of the board.
Bluebaum will still have to get with his pawns in the center being weakened, and Firouzja may as such be able to win back the pawn at a later stage. While Bluebaum will be able to maintain a material advantage for now, Firouzja's pieces are left well-coordinated and prepared to generate winning chances!
Instead of picking up Firouzja's pawn and allowing the ensuing activity, Bluebaum decides to sacrifice his own pawn instead!! This surprising move is intended to break Firouzja's coordination and force trades, making Firouzja's attack on the kingside less scary.
A strong choice by Bluebaum allows him to slow down the game, maintaining the position under control. Firouzja's weaknesses will likely allow him to win the pawn back at a later stage. A strong defensive maneuver by Bluebaum is now likely to kill Firouzja's initiative!
Bluebaum's clever maneuver has liquidated a huge number of pieces, and Firouzja's extra pawn will fall momentarily. As the dust starts settling, we're left in an endgame where Firouzja's chances to win this game have been severely reduced, leaving a position where a draw is by far the most likely result.
Bluebaum has successfully stabilized the position, now putting pressure on Firouzja's pawn on the queenside. While we're quite a distance away from a clear end to this game, Bluebaum now seems to have everything under control and should be able to force a draw in the long term.
In terms of the match situation, this may still not be a crisis for Firouzja, who still has the chance to finish within the top two if he draws this game. Firouzja will now likely follow the other games closely to decide how hard he wants to fight to force some dynamics in the position.
Bluebaum moves his queen away from danger while threatening Firouzja's pawn but has allowed Firouzja a tactical shot in the process! Firouzja may now break through on the kingside by capturing one of Bluebaum's pawns, removing one of the defenders of Bluebaum's defenders in the process.
If Firouzja goes for it, the position will be further simplified to an endgame with two rooks for both players. This simplification remains the material balance, however, and will make Bluebaum inch closer to his desired draw.
Firouzja has to decide what will give him the highest chances of creating difficulties for the opponent, but none of the options available look promising if the goal is to win the game.
Firouzja finds nothing better than to enter the rook endgame, and we're slowly getting closer to a drawn position.
With the positions heating up on other boards, chances to qualify for the Candidates tournament are looking very grim for the young Frenchman.
Firouzja keeps knights on the board, aiming to create as much complexity in the position as possible.
While Bluebaum's simplification has led to an objectively drawn position, this is still not completely over! Bluebaum has to continue finding precise moves to ensure that Firouzja doesn't get to start an attack with his knight and rooks that has suddenly managed to gain activity.
Bluebaum will look to find the cleanest way to force more pieces off the board, and he still has some leeway to make it happen. Despite this, he needs to ensure that Firouzja's final rook doesn't gain activity, as there are real threats against Bluebaum's king looming!
Bluebaum finds the cleanest way to keep the game under control. While his knight may now be harassed by Firouzja's rook, his intention is simply to march his pawn further down the board!
Firouzja will eventually be forced to trade more pieces if Bluebaum finds the few more precise moves needed.
Another set of pieces has been forced off the board, but Firouzja has taken complete control over the 2nd rank. Despite his strong activity, Bluebaum has enough counterplay with his passed pawn and rook to keep the game balanced.
Bluebaum has maintained control over the position, and Firouzja is no closer to finding a way to play for a victory.
Both players have reached the first time control without any mistakes. While Firouzja's pressure allows him to take a draw whenever he pleases, there is no clear way to make progress in the position. The main issue for Firouzja is the fact that not keeping his rooks in place would result in Bluebaum breaking through, either by promoting his pawn or delivering checkmate to Firouzja's trapped king.
We're essentially in a spot where neither player can make any progress with correct play. As Giri is winning his game against Niemann and Keymer is starting to gain winning chances, we may find ourselves in a situation where neither player on the top board will achieve one of the coveted top two spots!
Bluebaum places his rook right in the path of Firouzja's pieces! This is a tactic intended to force more pieces off the board, as Bluebaum threatens a promotion of his pawn if Firouzja decides to capture it with any of his rooks.
Bluebaum is finally able to dismantle Firouzja's coordination, getting another step closer to a draw.
While Firouzja ends up with an extra pawn in this endgame, Bluebaum's rook is immensely powerful in this position, putting pressure on all of Firouzja's weak points.
This is a theoretical draw, and Bluebaum should be able to hold on without much difficulty.
Firouzja gives up one of his pawns to grab another on the kingside, but this endgame should be trivially drawn at the top level. As long as Bluebaum manages to stay level-headed, there should be no way for Firouzja to break through despite the extra material.
Despite Firouzja's best efforts to play for a win, Bluebaum holds on strong and forces a draw! The result is agreed upon as the players end up in a position where Bluebaum can simply move his king back and forth in the corner with no way for Firouzja to break through with his final pawn.
Firouzja is thus out of the running for a spot in the Candidates, while Bluebaum ends in second place. Solid play throughout the tournament has allowed him the opportunity to play against the world's elite to win the challenger spot for the World Championship!
The tournament is heating up! 🌡️
Giri has a very promising position against Niemann, while the position between Keymer and Erigaisi is also immensely dynamic. It's starting to look like Firouzja desperately needs to win here if he wants to ensure a top two finish!
If this game ends in a draw, Firouzja needs the following to happen to secure a spot in the Candidates tournament 2026:
- Giri vs. Niemann must end in a draw
- Erigaisi vs. Keymer must end in a draw
- Mishra has to not win his game
- Woodward has to not win his game
It's clear why Firouzja tried to spice things up in this one, as all of these results happening simultaneously seem somewhat unlikely. All hope is not lost for Firouzja, however, as none of the aforementioned players have winning positions at the time of writing.
Make sure to check out the other games to get a full overview of the tournament situation!
These are the players with a theoretical shot of qualifiyng to the Candidates tournament:
- Matthias Bluebaum
- Alireza Firouzja
- Arjun Erigaisi
- Andy Woodward
- Abhimanyu Mishra
- Anish Giri
- Hans Niemann
- Vincent Keymer
With the round of the FIDE Grand Swiss 2025 soon underway, nothing is set in stone. Not only will we have a tournament champion today, but the top eight players are also still fighting for a spot in the Candidates Tournament 2026.
Bluebaum and Firouzja's chances to qualify for the Candidates with a win are pretty straightforward, as it would give them the point needed to ensure a spot. Due to the tiebreaker system, a draw would complicate things, however, as their spot at the final ranking table will be determined by other results among the top contenders. We will have to wait for all the games to have finished before we know who secures the number one spot, indicating an intensely tight race to the top of the podium.
Bluebaum has already had an immense performance so far. A win against one of the greatest players in the world would not only be an accomplishment of its own but would ensure his tournament victory, as none of the players within distance of catching up have better tiebreaks than him. The same applies for Firouzja, who we wouldn't be surprised to see take his chances in this encounter, though he's unlikely to take massive risks to do so.
The big question now is whether Bluebaum, who has the white pieces, will take the pragmatic route and decide to play for a draw. This would leave him with a very fair shot of taking one of the two spots for the Candidates, but it leaves destiny out of his own hands. This is a very tough decision for him, and we will just have to wait and see how he approaches the final game.
Make sure to follow the other commentated games this time around, as the excitement will exceed the board!