Watching Magnus Carlsen win tournaments feels like watching an escape artist: you’re never quite sure how he succeeds, but it’s no surprise when he does. After four rounds of the TePe Sigeman & Co event, held in Malmö earlier this month, Carlsen languished on two points from four games, after losing a fascinating endgame battle against Jorden Van Foreest (see below). He then won his last three games in a row to draw level with Arjun Erigaisi, followed by winning the tiebreak.
The pattern is well established; his motivation seems to only peak when the prospect of not winning becomes real. In the final of the Freestyle World Championship in February, he turned around a desperate position to beat Caruana, while at the World Blitz Championship in December he trailed the leaders by two full points with just five games to play, but still made the cut of the final four and went on to win the whole thing.
Van Foreest aims to isolate and trap the knight, while Carlsen would achieve a draw if only he could return it to safety on the kingside.
Jorden Van Foreest-Magnus Carlsen
TePe Sigeman & Co Tournament, Malmö, May 2025
66 Rd7? Natural, but the finesse 66 Rd8!! Kg6 67 Rd7! was stronger, since Black would prefer not to have the move here, e.g. 67…Kf6 68 Kh5 Nc3 69 Rd3 Ne4 70 Rf3+ Ke5 71 Kg6 wins. In a practical game, it is scarcely possible to appreciate this subtlety. Nc3? 66…Kg6 draws, since White has no good waiting move. 67 Kf5 Ne2 68 Re7 Nd4+ 69 Kf4 Kg6 70 Re4 Nb5 71 Rc4 Kh5 72 Ke5 g5 73 Ke6? Though far from obvious, the king would be better placed on d5. Na3 74 Rd4 Nb5 75 Rd3 Kh4 76 Ke5 h5 77 Rb3 Na7 78 Rc3 Nb5 79 Rc5 Na3? 79…Na7! looks passive, but after 80 Kf5 Kxh3! Rc5-c3+ is not a fork, so 81 Kxg5 Kg3 82 Kxh5 Kf4 draws. 80 Kf5 Nb1 81 Rc2 Na3 82 Rb2 g4 83 hxg4 hxg4 84 Kf4 Kh5 85 Ra2? 85 Kf5 Kh4 86 Rg2 g3 87 Kf4 wins Nc4 86 Rc2 Na3? The final mistake. 86…Nb6 draws, as the knight retains more scope. 87 Rc3 Nb1 88 Rd3 Now 88…Kh4 89 Rd1 attacks the knight and threatens mate, so Black resigns.
This duel of rook against knight reminded me of an endgame study by the renowned composer Kasparian. The original contains some moves leading up to this moment, the finale. Paradoxically, White wins by forcing the knight to rejoin the herd.
1 Rb6! Nd8 1…Nc5 drops the knight to 2 Rb5 2 Rd6 Nf7 2…Nb7 3 Rd7 is no better 3 Rd7 Ng5 4 Re7 White wins due to zugzwang – the obligation to make a move.
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