We have an interesting position from the Catalan / Chigorin mix, and Carlsen has temporarily sacrificed a pawn, as of now. We are going to witness a complex strategic struggle now, looking at how unconventional Nihal's pieces have been developed.
Making sure he gets the pawn back but moving out his queen early. Carlsen doesn't mind a bit of his queen being chased around.
Nihal moves his knight around, correcting his openig misposition, and getting ready for a pawn break in the center.
Both the players have come to the board with an intention to fight to the fullest. Magnus doesn't mind his queen being chased around, and Nihal doesn't mind going along with the flow. The point is, if it's worth all the mild weaknesses Black is creating in his position as fo now.
The game is poised to become sharper, as White has definite compensation due to his active pieces and the Catalan Bishop. Nihal will especially find it difficult to bring his bishop into play and find a good place to park.
Magnus continues calmly, confident that his pieces being well placed makes up for the pawn deficiency. Black's position is somewhat cramped, and it is also difficult to find a good coordinated plan here.
A strange move, when White is poised to come up with many threats, including a knight jump to the potential deep outpost on a dark square. Magnus has complete compensation for the sacrificed pawn now
Carlsen is living his Catalan bishop dream. White has little more than compensation for the pawn: the psychological pressure!
Nihal is known for his defensive technique, the ability to find little moves to keep the position going. But it might be difficult against Carlsen, who simply loves playing such endgames with initiative.
White can capture his pawn if he wants now, but the position might get simplified into a drawish endgame.
Carlsen decides to simplify into a rook and bishop versus rook and knight endgame. The question is, if he has enough ammunition to fight for a win in a simplified position?
Pressure mounts on Nihal, as he has to find counterplay on the kingside, while keeping an eye on White's passed pawn. He is much lower on time too, trailing Carlsen by two minutes.
The black rook and knight are quite strong in attacking the white king, and Nihal seems to have found a good way to keep the position tense but level.
Nihal makes a tactical mistake, allowing the rooks to be exchanged thus transposing into a won endgame of minor pieces for Carlsen
Carlsen misses it, thus allowing Nihal to escape to an equal endgame.
With a mild bit of drama, the game ends in a draw in a rook endgame. Poetic Justice?
We have one of the greatest wizards of all time, Magnus Carlsen, take on the Wizard with the Mouse, Nihal Sarin! This will be one of the most awaited clashes of the ESports World Cup 2025 here, where the sheer strength of Carlsen will be tested by the cheeky practical online skills of Nihal will be tested, not to mention his chess strength.
Their path to the quarterfinals has been contrasting. Carlsen made it comfortably, topping his group by outplaying Abdusattorov and Duda. Nihal did typical Nihal things after losing his initial match to Arjun Erigaisi. He played unbelievably quick to defeat Anish Giri in the second game of the Elimination match, while escaping from a losing position against MVL in the first game of the Decider.
So, will it be Carlsen’s chess strength or Nihal’s Gen Z skills? Difficult to pick, but Carlsen should be the favourite here!