When I lose a game of chess, I tend to know exactly where it went awry. Take the following position, where I faced Alireza Firouzja at the XTX Markets London Chess Classic, held at the Emirates Stadium in December. Firouzja, rated in the world top ten, was the top seed at the Elite section, and his canny middlegame play had taken me out of my comfort zone. In the position below, my first instinct was 21 Bxd5, but I was nervous: after 21…Nxd5 22 Qxe5 Bd6 23 Qd4 his active pieces, and my wayward horse on a5, seemed to offer ample compensation for the sacrificed pawn. But then the thought crossed my mind – why trade off my bishop at all? Before I knew it, I had played a howler.
Luke McShane-Alireza Firouzja
London Chess Classic, December 2025
21 Qxe5?? Now if 21…Bd6 22 Qd4 Nxc3+ 23 Bxc3 Bxf3?? 24 Qxg7 is mate. But I got my wires crossed, forgetting the queens could be exchanged first: Qxe5 22 Rxe5 Nxc3+ 23 Bxc3 Bxf3 24 Rd3 Bf6 25 Rxf3 Rxc3 26 Rxc3 Bxe5 The dust settles and I’m hopelessly lost. 27 Rc6 Rb8 28 h3 Nc4 29 Rxa6 Bxb2 30 Nc6 Re8 31 a4 Bc3 32 Ka2 Nd2 33 axb5 Re1 White resigns
It was the second seed, Nodirbek Abdusattorov from Uzbekistan, who shaped the event with his run of six consecutive wins. His winning 7.5/9 score was astonishing even for a player of his calibre, and included the win against Adams shown in the game below. Alas, I was his final victim, and had the distinct feeling of being so outplayed that I could not even be sure where I had gone wrong.
Michael Adams-Nodirbek Abdusattorov
London Chess Classic, December 2025
1 e4 c5 2 Nf3 Nc6 3 Bb5 e6 4 c3 d5 5 d3 Bd7 6 Bf4 Nge7 7 O-O Ng6 8 exd5 exd5 9 Re1+ Be7 10 Bd6 O-O 11 Bxc6 Bxd6 12 Bxd7 After 12 Bxb7 Rb8 13 Bxd5 Bg4 Black has good compensation for the sacrificed pawns. Qxd7 13 Na3 Rae8 14 Nc2 Qb5 15 b3 Nf4 16 Re3 Qc6 17 g3 Nh5 18 Nh4 Nf6 19 Nf5 Re6 20 Qf3 Rfe8 21 Rae1 Bf8 22 Rxe6 fxe6 23 Nh4 23 Nh6+ gxh6 24 Qxf6 Bg7 25 Qh4 Bxc3 26 Re2 and the weakened kingside promises sufficient counterplay for the lost pawn. Qa6! This deft queen manoeuvre will show that the White queenside is built on sand. 24 a4 Qa5! 25 d4 Ne4 26 c4 26 Re3 Qb6! wins at least a pawn. cxd4 27 cxd5 Ng5! 28 Qh5 (see diagram) 28 Qd3 was the lesser evil, though after Qxd5 29 Qxd4 Qxb3 Black has a healthy edge. d3! 29 Qxg5 29 Qxe8 is no better: dxc2 30 Rf1 Qc5 31 Rc1 Qxd5 32 Rxc2 Qd1+ wins dxc2 30 Rc1 Ba3! 31 Qh5 Rf8 White resigns as 32 Rxc2 Qe1+ 33 Kg2 Qe4+ picks off the rook.
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