 Good evening ladies and gentlemen, welcome to our very first masterclass of the trade wise Gibraltar Chess Festival 2018. Now over the years this masterclass, this tradition of masterclasses has become a very integral one. We get one of our top players, it's a great opportunity for all of you, our online audience, our players here to interact with one of our stars. And today I am very happy to have with me, with us here, world number five, number one from France, Maxime Vachier-Lagrave. Yeah, hi. Hi, welcome Maxime. Now Maxime, you've done this before? I've done this a couple of times, yeah. It's always nice. I mean, it's sort of a tradition also here. Of course, people also should hear from other people than me, but I'm glad to do it when I'm asked to. Yeah, well, we're always happy to have you and you've got your game ready that you're going to show us. Yeah, this was a tough mission, I have to say, because I've looked over my games of 2017 and I wasn't able to come up with another choice, simply. So tell us a little bit about, before you go straight into all the variations, give us a bit of background and what this game was about, what were your thoughts before the round? It was a very important game. It was part of the World Cup. So this was already the fourth round match, which was against Sasha Gwishuk. And I felt it was one of the favorites to win the whole thing. So it felt like it was a very important match. And I think we should really intensify it all over the match. And this, I mean, it was the very first game we played, I think, but it was definitely a full-blooded fight. And I mean, like in a tournament like World Cup, which is so important, it's also the road to the candidates, what sort of preparation is involved from you guys? What is it that you work on before such a massive big event in your career? Well, before, of course, we work on, you know, getting ready, not getting surprised, even though it does happen. But of course, once it starts, there's already not much to be done, because we leave that to our seconds. And the format of the World Cup is so exhausting that, you know, we actually, before a match, I think Sasha played nine days in a row. And I also played like nine or 12 days in a row, so we just get some rest and leave over seconds to the dirty job. So during the tournament, you guys are just sleeping while the other players are working for you? Something like that. Something like that. All right, let's go straight into your game now. All right, so this was a very topical Italian. And well, I won't bore you with the subtorties, because I'm also not very aware of them. But you can add that here, Sasha plays a6. And then a few moves later, he goes a5. Yeah, I have to stop you here and ask you this a4 idea in these lines is becoming extremely popular now. Everybody is doing it at all levels. What's your feeling about it? Yeah, I mean, it's a mental decision, because especially when blacks gets a5, it's also upon an a4 lacks flexibility. But the idea is of course to get like one of white's points is if bishop a6, you take. Now you need b4, which is actually the idea behind a5 to put power for bishop a6. So black plays, for instance, bishop a7. And now you expanded on the queen side. So there are some times, I mean, no, it's not the time, but there are times where b5, a takes b5, a takes b5, 97, and then you go g4. And you get an expansion on the center, and this would be good for whites. Of course, right now b5 runs into take, take, bishop f2, and he takes a1. And b1 knight is hanging in the end. Yeah, okay, let's just show it. I mean, it doesn't need to hang, I think, even if after bishop a6, or black had to take on c6, probably it would be fine. But of course, as a knight on b1, it's a never-weighting factor. But the point is now white goes rook a2, and you cover the pawn on f2, then white knight comes to either 12 or c4. And again, you get this b5, d4 idea, especially once black starts playing on your king side, the pawn getting to d4 helps with the bishop, and that's a very important factor. So anyway, now a5, I mean, seemingly loses the tempo. But of course, if black doesn't play a6, white is not going to play a4. So that's the reasoning behind all of that. How surprised were you with this a6, a5, or? Actually, it was probably the first time it was played. So I was a bit surprised and I didn't react in the best ways. Actually, I got to play this line also against Sasha in the tiebacks and also against Peter in the tiebacks in the match, actually. So I played it my first share of times. And did they go a5 as well? Yeah, that's the point. And then suddenly they stopped. I mean, people against me found other ways to play. So anyway, bishop a6, bishop b5. Yeah, knight a7 was played three times against me. And knight a7 was played in the tieback game with Peter. And I think game went something like this. Well, it was an interesting fight. It was probably slightly better, but anyway, that's not really the point. Knight a7 is, of course, more critical because you are in for the bishop. So now, also maybe because of the surprise effect, I took on c5 in later games. I took on b5 against Peter. And actually, I was probably slightly better. So anyway, I took on c5 and I felt it's not a bad idea because my point was this little move b3. So after this game in your next encounter, so you took on b5 instead of taking on c5? Actually, against Sasha, if I remember well, he didn't go knight a7, but knight e7. OK. But I'm not exactly sure. But I mean, differently, there was no knight a7. Knight a7 came back later in the classical game against Peter. OK. I mean, really my first share of games, probably the only ones into the database, I'm not sure. But I'm probably the only white player on the side of the line. So anyway, b3 is the point. He is now, I want to take on d6. And after Qxd6, I want bishop a3. So ideally, I would be able to take on d6 to force Black to take back with the pawn and then go c4, especially against knight c6. But knight c6, of course, is not a great move. But Sasha played rook e8. So he wants to take it with the queen? Yeah, because now if he takes with the pawn, again, c4. And now my knight will join the party via b1 to c3. And you're not afraid of giving these b4, d4 squares to Black? Well, I have a bind. And c5 as well? I have dark-squared bishops. So I actually get some use of the d6 pawn that is weak, because now my knight gets to b5, the bishop gets to a3. And the pawn is just very weak. Right. And also, the squares are covered. The only square that is not covered is c5, but that's not that much of a big deal. Yeah, that's an interesting point that you're not so worried about giving these squares because you've got the dark-squared bishop. Yeah, exactly. And of course, if I don't have the dark-squared bishop, say I have the light-squared bishop and Black has a dark-squared bishop, then suddenly the situation is completely turned around. Simply like the bishop on c5 would be a monster. Yeah, Black is probably already much better. I don't know about much, but yeah, it's very better. So anyway, Sasha played Qxd6. I went bishop a3. And now, as a move I was most afraid of. And actually the best move was c5. And the point is, I mean, I can't start with Qe2, but it's something like, yeah, I don't know exactly, but... Yeah, I don't know exactly, but... Ah, something like b6 and Black can't solidate. I mean, you can take on c4 now, and the bishop is anyway restricted. So I felt like after c5, I probably have to do this and exchange queens, but now you take on c4, you play b6. And well, it feels like I should be slightly better because of this pawn on b6. And I have some ideas to make use of it, but also my bishop is not very stupid, suddenly. So I don't know exactly how I should play now. Maybe knight h4, knight f5, but after knight h4, there's another rook d8, so Black is in time. Anyway, c5 was... Yeah, but that's interesting because a lot of times when you're playing against a color of bishop, you try and not put your pawns on that square because you feel they'll get attacked. But here, you're restricting your opponent's bishop. Yeah, exactly. When you manage to restrict the bishop, actually the opponent's bishop's color is actually a pretty good setup. So it depends on the specifics. I mean, theoretically, let's say you have a bishop and a game here. That's quite bishop against a knight. If the bishop is restricted, it's very bad for White. If the bishop is already going on c7, then it's very good. So if the bishop cannot attack the pawn, of course it's not ideal, but if he cannot, then it's another story. So anyway, so I played Qa6, which in a way is more natural, but I didn't really expect it to be honest. The main point is I cannot really take on e5 because you can take on h3. And, well, Nf7 is not a move. Well, basically there's... I was actually considering something like this. Nf3, Qg8, Qc2, Bp6. The queen is a little bit awkward, of course, here, but it's only temporary. I thought because it's exactly because the queen is awkward and it's temporary, I have to try to make use of this move and play b4. So, now basically, Sasha played the only logical way because you can do something like this, but first of all after c6 has bishop b2. And anyway, if you play c6, right away to prevent b5, and b5 you should prevent because otherwise the knight on a7 is completely dead in the game. No. I mean, it doesn't really look very alive at the moment either, but... Yeah, exactly. c6 doesn't help, but that's why basically Sasha took and played b5. And here I have to admit I got very, very excited at this idea because I can just take on e5. No, I mean, this was probably the main line. Take on a4, bishop b2, knight b5, and this knight going to b5 is what I wanted to prevent. Now I have many options. I can play rook e3, I can play knight d3. Both of them... I mean, in practice, probably slightly better for white, but it's not a big deal. You can play rook e8, knight c5, queen d6. I'm sure black can hold this, and somehow I got very much attracted to this idea. And once I convinced myself to play it, I played it very quickly. So it starts with bishop b2, the point is now if you take, this would take a4. So black has no choice. It goes knight c6. So you didn't want to go for the knight e5 idea because you didn't want the knight to come out to b5. Yeah, because then the pawn on a4 is... In this position, of course, black wants a3 at some point, and the knight on b5 is looking very good. And somehow I thought bishop b2 would disrupt his pieces a little bit. So he goes knight c6, I go knight xc5. Now he goes knight xb4. And well, of course I could take on b5, and I mean, I don't think it's anything at all to be honest, something like this is still playable, sort of. But black probably has c5, not to prevent any like d4. And the knight is also... doesn't have any squares, so my bishop has no activity left. So anyway, I thought I have this bishop, which is ready to strike, and this was my main hope of going for this line. So I thought I'll just bring some more pieces to the attack. The rook left. Yeah, the rook left. And well, of course I was a bit concerned about leaving this pawn, which is a past pawn, but I felt I have enough pieces to control the a3 square for now. I mean, later on it could be a problem. Anyway, to be honest, I mean, it's not really justified in what I did, because I'm probably just slightly worse here. It's interesting. Yeah, it's interesting. I felt like it looks very scary for black, but... Yeah, this pawn on g7, and this diagonal looks really strong, but I have to ask you here, Maxime, when you're giving up a pawn like this at such a crucial stage, and of course there's no direct line leading to anything that's very strong for you or winning for you, it goes on in your mind how you take that call, whether it's enough or you want to do it, you want to play safe. Well, in a way I want to play it safe, but I also want to pose my opponent's problems. So I felt like this is the only way to set him any problems, and while I know that Sasha is a great defender, I felt like it would take him out of his comfort zone to have to play this position to find some tricks. Also, you know, even if he defends well, there's always hope for him to play, and I'm not going to lose by force basically, so that was one thing. Another thing is, like, even if I get lost, or much worse for that matter, then the fact that he will start playing for a win could also lead to some blunders, so of course that was not my main point, but my main point is, you know, we're here to play chess. Of course, there's a lot at stake, but if I start to make it pretty hard to draw immediately, then I already don't put pressure on him, so next game will be much easier for him psychologically. So this is your game with White, and you want to take any chance that you get on the board. Yeah. And also Sasha is known as a player who comes under a lot of time trouble. Of course, he still plays phenomenally well there. I want to ask, do you remember what was the time situation about this time? Yeah, I think he's thought for, like, 20 or 30 extra minutes around that time, so I was like 40 minutes left when I played on G3, and he had a bit less than 20. Okay. So of course, there's the extra 30 seconds, but the position is difficult to navigate. But here anyway, he played the right move. Of course, he actually doesn't have a choice, because, I mean, this rook is, of course, cannot go to V8, because no, I think RxA4 is the option, and RxD2 would turn into Qf3, if I'm correct. Might not be correct, but this was the point. And Qa4, Qf6. When you have that many pieces looking for Black's king and Black has none protecting it, it's pretty much hopeless. So anyway, he goes Rc8. And, well, of course, I have to go Qf3. This is the point of the rook lift before going Qf3. Here you had two options. So first one is Qh7, which was the game. Well, Qh8 might. But Qh7 was more natural, because in a lot of lines after Qh8, after I take on f6, take, take, it's check. And there's Nx8, which is actually... Yeah, I had calculated a pretty nice line. I think it was sort of fraud. But anyway, here goes Nxf7. So you have to go Bxf7, if I remember correctly, with d2 was running into something very bad, for sure. I mean, you can see that the position looks very suspicious. I think I wanted Qh5. And I'm not sure maybe it's a draw, but yeah, this was one of the lines I was counting on. I g6, Nxg8 would run into Qh8 and Qf8 mate, so he has to go Qf7. And all right. To be honest, I don't remember all the things I had in mind in that position. But you had a feeling that there would be some checkmate here? Yeah. Definitely. Anyway, in the rook d2, there's also a move like Bxg7, of course. It's a serious option. Yeah, this looks very strong. Yeah, this actually looks very strong. And just Qc3 or Qf6? Qf6, Bxg4, and it's possible that actually during the game I might have considered that and missed Qc3. Yeah, this looks very strong. It's very likely, actually. But anyway, Bf7 was my main concern, and now Qc3 is a point. Black has to go Ng3. Now he attacks the bishop. And he doesn't have to go Ng3, but to go Nf6, Qxb4 seems like already I got what I wanted. I mean, I'm not a pawn down and I still have an attack. Anyway, Ng3 was my main concern, Qxg7. Of course, he has to go Qf8, Qh8 would run into Qg8. Yeah, that's beautiful. So Qf8, Bxg3. Qc5. And I think here this was what I was counting on my Qg3. I am strangely enough what I was counting on doesn't win at all, and I knew it, but I felt like, you know, it's already asking enough questions. So Nd6, you have to go like this. Nc4, Nc4, and... Not like this. Did it go? So Nd4 here? No, exactly. Yeah, okay, f4. f4 is important because then I get g6. End of g6? Yeah. And this is the draw. But yeah, anyway, I didn't really count on Ng8 because it looks... So you analyze that entire variation up till the end of the release. There is this line. Yeah, yeah. No, I mean, in a way, it's sort of the secure move because as soon as you get f6, you're fine with black. I mean, the bishop is restricted, but you don't get f6. So suddenly it looks very scary. And also after Qh7, I mean, of course, you have to run into all sorts of scenarios. I mean, this is the main one. But here... And I was kind of pinning my hopes on this sort of shots to work, to be honest. But the point is it doesn't. It takes on c6 because now... It's Kf8. Yeah, Kf8. And I don't have... Enough pieces anymore. Yeah. No, I mean, the King runs... Yeah, e8, d7, c8. And there's just nothing I can do. So I was, of course, looking at all these sort of moves after Qh7, I mean, all these sort of ideas, including UG7. But, you know, after Nf7, Bf7, the Qa6 protects the knight and a move like Ngc4 is, well... I think... I don't... Well, I mean, of course, you can take on c4 and... Just, you know, even some move like Qe6 already secures black's position. Maybe it was objectively what I needed to do. But I went knight dc4. I have to ask you, Maxime, that very often when you're analyzing these lines, you see these long variations that you say you're counting on, but then does it happen? Does it occur often that you come back and you check and you're like, what was I thinking? This is not even working because a lot of times I saw that when you were going through a long variation. No, of course. I mean, you... When you play a game, you try to calculate the long lines, but as soon as you make it long, you increase the chances for mistakes. And I mean, it never happens that I don't make a mistake. Basically, this is how it proceeds. So, I'm looking at lines and sometimes the whole line is correct, but I missed a stronger opportunity for him at move one, maybe. So it's not just us doing those silly things, it's you guys as well? Yeah, us guys. Good to know. We're trying to be accurate, but it's not that easy. If chess was an easy game, we would have stopped it a long time ago. So, anyway, after knight dc4, I know that I was considering, for instance, moves like Qg8. I mean, this sort of moves is a possibility as I did with this move in h7. And here I wanted knight h3 and some sort of knight f5, but I still have control over the a pawn, so my position is not that bad, but it's still very suspicious, I mean, objectively to be a pawn down. So, you know, I was counting on some sort of counter play, but maybe I shouldn't have objectively, but... But now you say that in retrospect, on the board, or were you... On the board, I was, I mean, on the one hand, I was, you know, feeling like I was trying to make the most of my chances. I knew the risk in advance also, so I mean, I couldn't, you know, blame a lack of knowledge that I was taking away. I knew it, but I felt it was exciting. You know, at some point you also want the game to liven up, and yeah, I mean, maybe it did more than I needed to, but that's okay. No such thing as too lively for the French. Sometimes there is, but on rare occasions. So anyway, knight dc4. Yeah, I should mention, of course, that black cannot really take on c4 because now queen f5 check. It's a problem. You have to go on g8, and I think there is a problem here. Yes, good reason for that to be a problem. Anyway, it's not very important because it's clear that black is not going for this. But of course, most of my time was before going knight dc4 was to decide what to do on knight c2, and this is where the knight on c4 was coming here, because now I can take on g7, I go knight c6. And the point is, if it takes on c6, now I take, I check. And the difference is that you have this very strong knight on c4 now. Yeah. And knight e5. Knight d5, king d6, so rook d1 first. This was the point. And then after bishop d5, knight d5 works. Exactly. The difference being that after king d6... Well, bishop d8 is a start. You can just take on d8. Yeah, this is a good start. Or on f7 now. I've written a bit too many of black spaces. Anyway, he goes knight d4, which of course was the plan. I should mention rook g8 is also an option, and maybe a good one. But yeah, this was what I ended up with. And again, the knight on c4 comes in handy. So I completely don't care about the rook on a1, but he cannot take it because now I go knight f7, rook gc7, queen e7. And I've written some sort of mate. I'm not sure which one. Knight d5 probably. Knight d5, king g8. Queen h7, king f8. And probably, I mean... Just want to take queen. Yeah, you probably just take the queen. Anyway, because here white noise, I've written a mate including bishop ace at the end of this line. So anyway, it was clear this has potential for whites. And while it's... This has potential. Yeah, I mean, and it was clear that Sasha would be afraid going for this. And probably likely so. I mean, computers give queen e2s on the move. I'm not sure which is correct, even, but... What were you most... What are you going to use the most topical line after knight c6 on the board? No, yeah. Knight d4 was, of course, the most... Serious. Serious option. So now I have to take with the knight. That's clear because bishop d4 with d4. I mean, all my ups on that bishop. Yeah, you don't want to give that bishop up. Yeah. So it could actually take on d4, of course. This is a serious option. And here you don't have to pardon me because I need some time, but I think e5. This is what I had in mind. Knight goes... God knows where, so h7, let's say. e6, f6. Now this is where I need it to be accurate. So I need some time to remember. Because I'm trying to remember from the lines I was calculating back then, and of course it's not an easy task, but... I think there was some check included. And... Was I going back somewhere? I don't know. I mean, because it feels like I'm a piece down, but of course... Yeah, it looks very dangerous for black, but... As well, but... I mean, as soon as he can solidate, I'm lost, so... I know that I'm not lost, that it's a draw, but... Of course... You had seen a perpetual somewhere here as a backup. It's not really a perpetual. You fight a piece down, but you get enough counterplay because I think your hook joints in the game or you get enough points. But yeah, I don't... You know, you're gonna hear me say I don't know a bit too often during the analysis of this game because simply it's too complicated. Yeah. And so yeah, Rook-Tex-D4 was, of course, a critical option. Bishop-Tex-D4 is actually as well. So here, if I... So you're a full rook down at this... Yeah, I'm a full rook down, but... All my hopes are pinned on this bishop and b2. And yeah, here I had another option, which was probably better. It was knight f5 check, h7, knight e7. And I get back this bishop... This knight on f6. And then I go e5 and I get a solid bind. I mean, it's actually quite similar to what I wanted in the game, but... And he's unable to defend that knight after knight e7? Well, I... Okay, Rook-T6 runs into e5. Yeah, that's a point. I think that's a point. No, Rook-T6 actually... Rook-T6 is what I was afraid of because e5, rook-T6, but... Yeah, I think this was the best for white. And it's a draw. But I mean, even that position after e5, Rook-T6, if you just take on f6? Yeah, but I felt I don't threaten anything. So, I mean, maybe I'm wrong, but like... Okay, let's go queen f5 first. And no... Ah, no, I threatened queen h5. Yeah, this actually is good for white. Yeah, there was lots of things, but maybe e5 is also a good move. Anyway, I mean, it's clear that knight f5 was better move than what I did. Because after e5, no, you can go knight h7, I think. So that's the difference between playing knight f5 check first and... Yeah, and no, e6 f6. And this is lost for white. This is a different version of this. This, but not a good one. So this... I mean, I think I was considering going all out. It's a different version by a whole rook. No, you have knight on d4, which is supposed to come in handy, but it really doesn't help enough, in my case. So, it's difficult to say what was the best try, but anyway, queen h5, queen h6 comes down to nothing. He's got rook g8 if you try and threaten queen g7, may it? Yeah, or even the queen comes back into play. So, yeah, knight h7 was the right move. At the same time, I have to say rook g8 is very natural, because then you get the control of the g-file, which is important for two things. I mean, of course it covers white checks on this diagonal, so with rook g6. And it also allows you to get counter play against opponent g2. So, sometimes, 10p coming in and g, and of course, like point xf6, king h7. No, the bishop doesn't have the influence he used to, which is actually why e5 is not a natural move, because... I mean, it's pretty natural, but it cannot be white because the bishop loses power. So you're just blocking your own diagonal, the very strong bishop. Yeah, and now I actually don't have any counter play. I mean, if anyone has activity, it's black. But after rook g8, actually my idea was not to take on f6, it was to play knight f5, which is why I should have done it right away, to be honest. But, you know, the process of thought, of course, is not exempt of even illogical mistakes, I would say. So king h7 and no knight e7. Now the point is, knight controls g6, and this helps my case a lot. And now, well, black has a flurry of options, as always, but none do the trick. Like if he goes knight e8, yeah. I take on g8, king g8, queen g4. Because, well, if king goes to h7 or queen e4 check, you cannot bring the queen to g6 because of queen e8. So anyway, you have to go back. King f8 runs into bishop a3, so you have to go to h8 at some point. So a6, f6, and queen f4. And actually, now that I think of it, there was a line where I said that it's a draw at the end. This was the line. This was the line because now after queen xe6, I go x1, and I get to take on h6, take on c7, and my pieces turn direction, and I somehow make a draw. So yeah, knight e8 was a good try, but again a scary one. Sasha chose the most practical choices, but also helped me in a way that my options were suddenly quite easy, and my position was maybe not as bad as it should have been. At this point, what was your evaluation of your position? Did you feel that you had messed up somewhere? I didn't feel I messed up. But I tried to make the most of my position, and it could backfire. Clearly, after knight e7, I'm not sure I make a draw, but I have a pretty good intuition that it should be OK for me already. And it's still pretty complicated. Yeah. If I was afraid of getting worse, I would have refined from playing this a long time ago, and giving up the pawn and everything, and then the rook. So during the game, that difference between playing knight f5 first and playing e5 first, that was not something that you realized afterwards? I knew there was some difference, but of course we had very little time left, and I probably saw something after knight f5 and knight e7 that bothered me, which is why I played e5, and as often happens in this case, there are about two options, and one of them is wrong, but not the one you think is. So anyway, Sasha chose the most practical continuation, and that would bring the exciting part of the game to a term quite soon. So it goes rook a, b, 8. Oh, it's all this was not the exciting part. No. All these crazy checkmates that you've been showing us. No, I said it would bring the crazy part to an end. Oh, it'll bring it to an end, OK. So anyway, rook b, 8. I mean, yeah, suddenly he couldn't find a way to get like his... The knight on e7 actually is extremely useful. It controls also these squares on the long diagonal, which means the bishop has no access to them, and thus he needs to lose some time, and so it goes rook a, b, 8. It attacks the bishop on b2, but no, I don't care because if it goes, it would be too... Well, I can't even take on g8 right away. I can also go queen e4, because after rook g6, I take on g6, I went into queen e7, and after king h8... You take on g8. I take on g8. And perpetual? No, not perpetual. King g8, queen e8, right? I thought queen g4, but... Oh, you're just trying for more? I thought I am, but no. I thought I'm trying for more, but maybe... I run? Yeah. Do you win enough? That's a good question. You probably don't. I mean, it's... yeah. I mean, I'll have to probably... Yeah, if I go bd3, then you bishop d3, run into queen g8, queen a7 now. Yeah, even rook e1. The computer shows rook e1, so... Yeah. The computer is right. So anyway... After point xf6, the point of rook b8 is to force the queen exchange, because now, if I go queen f5, the point is... In goes king h8, 9g8, rook g8. And now there's a double attack on the bishop and the pawn on g2. And, well, the problem is that the attack on the pawn is also an attack on the king. So... I lose the bishop. So after queen b7, I just took on b7. I don't have much choice. He took. Of course, now I take the rook. He takes my bishop. Well, I have to take the pawn. It's too strong. So I take it. He takes the knight, because, well, he cannot really attack my rook. Then it goes to g4. And, suddenly, I again have some attack against the king. So he takes. I take on c4. Now he eliminates my pawn on f6, with rook b6. I take his pawn. And I'm a pawn up, but this is an elementary draw. It's even easier than with black's pawn on g7 instead of f7, because, as you can see, the king is very safe on g7. It cannot be attacked. So I did something like I moved my pawns, of course, forward. To be honest, I was not realistically trying to win it, but, you know, trying to play some more moves and, you know, win the game to an end later on. And I felt like this would be actually a good way to end it without any pieces left. So it took on h6 now, because, as a way, suddenly, I have some sort of initiative if I can get a 5. But I didn't get a 5, so yes, for king h5, I take on f7, he plays king g4, and it's a draw. So the entire sacrifice led to a forced draw in the end with king and king. There was nothing forced about this game. This is what made it so painful during it. Yeah, but this is... That's exciting as well. I mean, after you've had a game like this, even though it ends in a draw, and you come back and you realize that you probably missed something, it's quite satisfying to play such games. Well, I did miss things, but I didn't miss things for myself. I mean, I was never winning in that game. But, you know, sometimes you get over-excited about some options over the board. And of course, you always try to avoid that. But at the same time, if it leads to exciting games, you know... I mean, if you never take a chance, then especially against elite players, you just don't win. Right. And how was the whole journey of the World Cup with this game and forward for you? Well, in this match, I actually went through after the warped. We made two more draws in the first rapid portion. Then I won the first again in an Italian. In the second rapid portion, I managed to draw in a theoretically lost hand game, actually a rook and pawn against bishop and pawn, but he made one in accuracy. Then he was still winning, but study-like. And somehow I managed to work it together. And then I won my match against Peter. My first classical game went the same way. I mean, I sacrificed a pawn. This time, I knew I was better, but I messed up. So I was worse. I offered a draw. He declined. Five moves later, he's still better, but he offers me a draw back. So I thought, yeah. It's time. But that was the second game because the first game, I was actually in serious trouble with black. I managed to to hold it by a thread, but and then the rapid format went better. I mean, I made a draw first with white, but then with black, I managed to win it thanks to some good preparation and some, you know, tricks. I always look for tricks. Thank you for that wonderful game. And are you open to taking some questions from? So guys, any questions around the game guys for MBL? It's a good time to ask. Anything that you've been wanting to ask him? I think they're all pretty impressed. No doubts, no questions about this game, huh? I don't think I can take more questions about this game. I don't... It's just so, it's just so wild. I mean, this is also, I mean, deliberate choice because it's very wild. And of course, it reflects that, you know, we don't understand all that's going on but we also have to improvise sometimes. Right. Well, I want to ask you a question. Maxime, when we see these elite tournaments happening and, you know, the world top 10 players constantly playing against each other, most of your tournaments are like that, what's that feeling like? I mean, how do you come up with new ideas on the board or trying to make things exciting, trying to enjoy the game when you're playing the same player again and again? It's the main difficulty, of course, and generally the first one sets the tone for the tournament. So if the first one is exciting and already people are starting to win, that means that the people in the bottom needs to take more risk. Also, people who start with draws need at some point to win a game. And generally the tournament ends up being pretty exciting. People try new openings, maybe. And there were a few candidates tournaments like that as well. And there's also the other side where, you know, you start with five draws or maybe four draws, one win. And well, I think in London it was like 19 draws before there was a win. And then, you know, it's not that the games lack interest, but at the same time you don't need to take the same risks and losing can actually bar you from winning it. So, you know, you play maybe a bit more conservatively. I mean, games are still interesting, but and of course sometimes there's just exhaustion because, you know, you play the same players and so of course that doesn't... And also the level at the end is so even. I mean, the level of play and the level of strength. Yeah. And I think also the drawing margin is just too much for people like us. And generally, in general, even here you can see that drawing margin is quite high and, you know, you need utmost accuracy to actually set your opponents' problems after problems and to make him quack under the pressure. That's the general trend these days. Yeah. And talking about what's happening here, you know, in the first round we obviously saw a lot of... Obviously, I say because it's quite often for open tournaments a lot of casualties, so to say on a lot of hard top boards. Is that something that the absolute elite players in the world like yourself consider or are worried about when you participate in open tournaments because you don't know who you're going to meet and who you're going to play against? Well, I mean, there's always some part of luck. I mean, it depends who you play against, depends how the games go, but... Actually, generally, I had a much more difficult time in the first editions where my rating was not that high. So, you know, it doesn't... No matter, you just try to play games and, you know, of course, sometimes it happens that you don't get to play a game, you just, you know, your opponent neutralizes you and you just make a draw. And, well, of course, it's not great, but, you know, then there's another game and, of course, you... You definitely have to make uses of your chances because, otherwise, the tournament can get pretty long, but it's definitely fun. I mean, you don't get to play the same players and I think that's an added value when I play top-ten players like each top-ten player ten times a year. That's... I think that just... I think that just too much, to be honest. I think we would be better off keeping these encounters some sort of, I wouldn't say magic, but, like, you know, you... What would be Federer Nadal if they played each other once a month? I don't think it would be that great. Right, and your openings as well, you enjoy playing the Nidog, Runfield. It's very clear that also your style of play is so dynamic and you enjoy a complicated position. This game was an example of that. So do you think your style is also suited for open tournaments because you're able to take chances and risks like you do with the top players as well? Well, I'm not sure because, you know, taking risks... I don't take extraordinary risks or so I like to keep the position under control and actually this game was sort of an exception where I was happy not to have things under control, but generally I like to take risks that I feel like I can control and I think, for instance, he covered as much better record in open tournaments because... Maybe he's taking a lot more risks. Yeah, maybe. I think he just doesn't care. He wants to show he's a stronger player anyway. Yeah, we have a question. A question from the chat. Mias127, do you ever read opening books? Do you do your preparation on your own? No, I do read opening books from time to time. I mean, of course, not very often, but some ideas are there and some ideas you might not want to miss. What was the last chess book that you read? Chess book. Wow, it's been a while now. No, actually it hasn't been, but it was not about openings, but it was about end-game studies. Okay, well, I have actually one more question and it's still open to the audience. Yeah, we've got... When you think for a league player, you're repertoire is, especially with black, pretty narrow, perhaps, having considered sort of changing it from time to time, so not the right preparation. I know you're saying, okay, so he's asking if you feel that you're... No, I'm just repeating it for our audience. Do you feel that your repertoire from black is probably a little narrow and you need more options to widen it? It's an interesting question. Of course, you want to be able to play as many things as possible. On the other hand, it's difficult to play all of these things very well, so... I mean, I've been trying, of course, to play other things from time to time, especially a few years back, but it didn't bring results, so in general, then I just decided at some point to focus on the night off, on the grandfeld, make it stabilized, and then, now that it's stable, I can think about expanding again and we'll see how that goes in the next few months or in the next year. Talking about the night off, that is your favorite opening. There was this phase, I remember, when there were a few games that you lost in the night off, but you don't lose hope in the opening. You keep playing, and I think there were a few games that you lost in a row in the night off. How do you handle that, or do you not blame it on the opening? Because a lot of us feel often, if we lose in a line, we don't want to repeat it. Yeah, well, I mean, if I had lost because my position was immediately... I mean, Ikaou or Vishi, for that matter, because I think there were just two losses. I'd shown some sort of refutation. Of course, I would have stopped and found something else to play, but this was not the case. And I think, more or less, every opening players play in our days are sound, and we can see that with the Berlin, of course, but people also play the Marshall, people also play the night off. I don't think I'm the only one. People play Queens Gambit, people play Nimzo, people play Grenfell, people play Slav, and all of the openings have their merits, and in general, again, the drawing margin is so high that every opening is normally okay for Black. We have a question from Mike. I'm asking Mike, clientchesse.com, such an honor to ask you a question. I want to know, this is completely hypothetical, but we know that Magnus and Ikaou have both worked with Kasparov. I don't think it lasted very long for either, but completely hypothetically, if you had a chance to work with him, would you, especially given your dual affinity for the night? Well, it's very hard to answer this question, but no, it's not very hard. It's very probable that they would take the chance because, yeah, night off, it could be definitely interesting. Any questions from the audience? Yes, we've got... What you were saying earlier about playing, you know, the top level players, and if you're going to read them, you have to miss losing to a certain extent. They were saying about playing in open tournaments and, you know, coming up against people who aren't as high rated and you're on paper expecting to win those games. Were you saying that in the games against players who were not as strong, you would take less risks, or would you just play the same way, you know, regardless of the strength of the program? So would you change your style of play depending on your opponent or your philosophy and your style of play remains the same, whether you're playing an elite tournament with the elite players or you're playing players in an open event? Yeah, I think it's not the opponent that changes the way you start a game. It's the situation on the tournament. So if I desperately need a win, I'm going to take my risk. If I desperately need a draw, well, I'm going to try to get life out of the position, but hopefully, I mean, that doesn't happen often enough to me to need a draw in the last round. This is the ideal, but, you know, it can't always happen. And, well, if my situation is, you know, a first round or, like, a middle of the park or, I mean, I need a win, but a draw is also fine. I just play a normal game and that, you know, if I play a 2,300 or 2,500 or 2,800, it doesn't really matter because I just want to play my best chess. I mean, to manage it is another question, but... So you more play according to the tournament situation than... Yeah, if I take a draw, it's generally going to be because I need a win. Okay, I have to get this one question in. I think it's something that all of us think about. Now, two of the world's best tournaments happen at the same time. There's Vaikanzi. Of course, the format is totally different, but these are probably the best tournaments in the world. There's Vaikanzi and there's the open Gibraltar. Players of your level, how do you... And you're a regular here, you come here quite often. How do you choose and pick which one you want to play in? Because, of course, both are extremely attractive in their own way. Yeah, of course. I mean, Vaikanzi's legendary tournament. So, of course, you know, sometimes you have to make a decision. And of course, it would be great, I think, if both tournaments didn't collide, but they do. So, you know, I mean, there's no magic trick to making a decision there. Okay. Well, I am done with questions. Do we have any... Peter? Anything? Yeah. If you had to choose a period in history where you would be a top-class player somewhere in history, which period would you choose and what? I think I would choose the period, you know, where computers started appearing, but they were still under control. So, you know, you learn a lot, but they don't sort of drag you. You also have control over them. I mean, we still do, but in very limited proportions. And not only that, but, you know, we feel like, you know, there's still... I mean, they still, at this time, you know, at the start, they taught us a lot, but I think this was the most interesting period for chess. In the 90s, sort of? Early 2000s. Early 2000s, yeah. So, I just got to message some fan of yours from India who wants to know that you did not make it to the candidates, which was heartbreaking for many of your fans, but who would you be rooting for there and what would you feel about it? Well, I would be rooting for anybody. I mean, of course, I have personal affinities, but you know, candidates are too important, you know, and, well, I wouldn't be rooting for anybody about myself, but myself would not be there. So, anyway, you know, I feel like every of the eight players would have a shot. I mean, the tournament is so close in strength, and depending on who gets the head start, who gets the lucky breaks, because you need lucky breaks to win these candidates. Yeah, basically, everybody is strong enough to win it from time to time. Each one of them will have a shot, but who do you think will have the best shot at the World Championship? A bit in my guess. Well, that's a different question, of course. I think there are some players that would have less chances, but I won't name them. Name the one who you think would have the most. I don't know. I mean, really, I'm just, you know, waiting for the action to start before doing any predictions. We're not going to get the information. Well, I mean, the point is, you know, I'm sorry to all the Indian fans, but when Vichy won the candidates, I think I said, and at least I thought that he had almost no chance of winning it. I think you just lost that last fan who asked you a question. Yeah. So, you know, I mean, and I think I was not the only one, to be honest. So anyway, it's a very different kind of event compared to the ones you usually play. People come up so well-prepared, and a lot of things depend on, you know, the scenario of the tournament. So, yeah, it's very, really impossible to make a prediction, simply an accurate one, at least. And no personal preferences, yeah. Maybe, but I'll keep them to myself. All right. Well, do we have any more final questions? We have one. Oh. All right, so this is... How far do you think France will go in the World Cup but not talking about chess anymore? We're talking about football now. Yeah. No, I think we have a great team. We have great players, and unfortunately, we don't make the most of it. So, you know, I think we will go far, but I would fancy our chances a bit more if we took more risk. Played like you, do. No, not necessarily like me, but if we made all the players play together, I mean, I feel like there's something lacking to get really excited considering the level of the individual players we have. I mean, I think we should have the best team in the world. And in terms of potential, and I think Spain is ahead of us, Brazil is ahead of us. I mean, it's really ahead of us. And I think we should be something like clever with Brazil, and we're not, so something is lacking. So even if we don't get a clear answer about the candidates, as far as the Football World Cup is concerned, you're still supporting France despite a few teams ahead. Yes, I will be, but by the way, don't take my predictions too seriously because if I was that good, my betting would go much better than it does. Well, you've got a pretty strong career at the casino going, so maybe your betting's not that bad. Well, casino is casino, and you know, you don't have to win to come back. That's the issue. All right, well, thank you so much. I think that's all for tonight. That's all the questions we had. Great time with you, Maxime. Thank you. Beautiful game and a great conversation. Thank you very much.