Firouzja Edges Out Caruana, Advances With Carlsen, Nakamura, Arjun To Winners Semis

GMs Magnus Carlsen, Arjun Erigaisi, Hikaru Nakamura, and Alireza Firouzja are the players left in the Winners Bracket after day one of the 2025 Chessable Masters Playoffs. Firouzja's match against GM Fabiano Caruana was the longest and closest, only decided in armageddon tiebreaks.

GMs Wesley So, Praggnanandhaa Rameshbabu, Alexander Grischuk, and Sam Sevian were eliminated after two match losses. The following players are on their last lives in the Losers Bracket: GMs Caruana, Andrey Esipenko, Vladislav Artemiev, Ian Nepomniachtchi, Wei Yi, Jan-Krzysztof Duda, Yu Yangyi, and Anish Giri. 

Day two of the Playoffs is on Wednesday, February 19, starting at 11:00 a.m. ET / 17:00 CET / 9:30 p.m. IST.

Playoffs Winners Bracket

Playoffs Losers Bracket

• Winners Bracket: Carlsen, Arjun, Nakamura, Firouzja On 2/2 Match Wins
• Losers Bracket: 4 Players Eliminated, Duda Plays Game Of The Day

We've reached the main event of the Chessable Masters, the Playoffs. For the next four days, players will have two lives in the double-elimination bracket; that is, they can lose two matches before they're eliminated. On top of prize money, competitors also vie for CCT points; after two events, the top-12 on the leaderboard qualify for the 2025 Esports World Cup.

Matches are best-of-four in the Winners Bracket, best-of-two in the Losers, with an armageddon tiebreak if needed. The time control is the same as previous days, 10 minutes for each side with no increment.

Winners Bracket: Carlsen, Arjun, Nakamura, Firouzja On 2/2 Match Wins

Carlsen, Arjun, and Nakamura had the clearest match victories. Firouzja's match against Caruana was, by far, the closest battle.

Carlsen Undefeated Even With Internet Scare

Carlsen defeated Esipenko 3-1 in the Round of 16 before going on to send Yu to the Losers Bracket 2.5-0.5 in the Winners Quarterfinals. While the scores look convincing on paper, his opponents had winning positions in each match.

In the first match, Carlsen won his best game in game one. He was then likely to flag Esipenko in game two when the latter pre-moved a stalemate trick that worked! Even the world number-one looked amused.

Just as Carlsen looked sure to flag Esipenko, the latter found a nice stalemate trick to save the game!

If Carlsen didn't capture the rook, however, he probably would have won on time!https://t.co/zz3FZVttmQ#ChessChamps pic.twitter.com/uermtMIUZ4

— chess24 (@chess24com) February 18, 2025

After another draw, Esipenko's biggest chance came in game four. Twice, he had a Bxf7 temporary sacrifice to win easily, and when Carlsen was spared he not only saved the game but won it.

Carlsen's second match, against Yu, took on the same blueprint—an early lead and a later scare. After winning a dominant game one, Carlsen came close to losing the second. From where he's staying in Austin, Texas, he told Norwegian TV 2 that as he was getting outplayed he also disconnected for about a minute. He later learned that he has to reset his internet connection every day, and what better timing? 

After reaching equality, Carlsen, with a pawn less, outplayed his opponent in the endgame. Typical!

"It cost me a minute, but thankfully not the game," said the former world champion who went on to take the match with a draw in game three.

It cost me a minute, but thankfully not the game.

—Magnus Carlsen

Arjun Is Back After Underwhelming Performance In Wijk

Tata Steel Chess 2025, which ended at the start of February, will be a tournament Arjun takes in his stride. His performance in the Chessable Masters, so far, should silence his critics. He overcame Artemiev by a tight margin of 2.5-1.5 before 3-0'ing the formidable Wei in the Winners Quarterfinals.

Game one against Artemiev was a miraculous save—yes, he was dead lost—and they drew three games in total. His only win came in game four, and it was thanks to a quiet king move in a tactical position. Black was tied up with no way to save the pinned knight.

In game one against Wei, Arjun played a speculative piece sacrifice in the Berlin Defense that worked to perfection. 10.Bxf7? will send Stockfish to the hospital in a fit of laughter, but in a 10-minute game it provided for plenty of fireworks. Arjun's long-term pressure against the king eventually yielded a full point, even if there were better moves at several turns.

Nakamura Resurges After Retirement Talk In Weissenhaus

A week ago, Nakamura said the "R" word (retirement) when he struggled to win won positions and ultimately lost several of them in Weissenhaus. This week, he had just about a perfect day—that one draw against Grischuk you see below, he accepted it in a winning position because it won the match.

Nakamura won the first match 2.5-0.5 against Grischuk with a game to spare. Had it panned out differently, it might have influenced the entire day. Grischuk was winning, but with little time he stumbled into equality—and then into a mate-in-one. 

Grischuk, who was winning a few moves ago, allowed equality - and then a mate in one!https://t.co/0zmgfAIssg#ChessChamps pic.twitter.com/t6OX0UkNrV

— chess24 (@chess24com) February 18, 2025

Games two and three followed the same pattern: when under a minute, Grischuk collapsed. In game two, he was a pawn down with compensation, but when he dropped another he was lost. In game three, Grischuk had pressure against an exposed king, but again lost control.

Nakamura then 3-0'ed Nepomniachtchi in the Winners Quarterfinals. The first game was a nice display of patience when playing against the isolated queen's pawn. First he blockaded it, improved his pieces, made luft, and then ultimately won the pawn and the game.

You can listen to Nakamura's thoughts about the games and his tournament in the video below.

Firouzja Missed Some Mates, Won Anyway

Firouzja beat Giri 2.5-0.5 before winning the longest match of the Winners Quarterfinals against Caruana. 

We can start with the match against Giri. After a draw in game one, Firouzja wrapped up with two back-to-back wins. The last game was heartbreaking for Giri, who was on the verge of winning and tying up the score ahead of the last game. Instead, after 40...Qe8??, just like that the match was over.

Firouzja allowed two forced checkmates, but he still won the match against the U.S. champion. The first time was in game one, a mate-in-one. It should be said that Caruana was winning anyway, but this certainly brought an end to Black's suffering.

Alireza blunders mate in one and Fabiano can't believe it! It's the second mate-in-one blunder we've seen today!https://t.co/ijf8xKmUpe#ChessChamps pic.twitter.com/zhEQFuqGrv

— chess24 (@chess24com) February 18, 2025

And then, after winning two back-to-back games and needing a draw, Firouzja blundered a mate-in-three in the last game. This allowed Caruana to reach the armageddon tiebreak.

Alireza, needing just a draw, allows another forced mate and we're off to armageddon!

Fabi is still alive!https://t.co/sjFX1YISfC#ChessChamps pic.twitter.com/s1UubNPFY0

— chess24 (@chess24com) February 18, 2025

In the armageddon, Caruana achieved the goal of reaching a complicated game out of the opening, but he was never able to provoke a mistake. Over-reaching, since he was in a must-win situation, he lost the game.

Losers Bracket: 4 Players Eliminated, Duda Plays Game Of The Day

The Losers Bracket features two-game matches, not four. Incredibly, all eight of the regular games were drawn—despite plenty of fighting chess—and all four of the matches went to armageddon tiebreaks.

Esipenko, in a must-win game with the white pieces and with the knight and rook, outplayed So with the bishop and rook. Meanwhile,  Praggnanandhaa's center collapsed against Artemiev in a Caro-Kann, and he was the first player eliminated in the tournament.

Giri eliminated Sevian with a nice game in the English Opening (some Benoni with reversed colors), playing with a space advantage on both sides of the board. And Duda won the armageddon game against Grischuk in our Game of the Day, a remarkable and complicated struggle in the Sicilian Defense. GM Rafael Leitao shares his insights in the analysis below.

That leaves us with 12 players left on day two of the Playoffs. On Wednesday, someone will win the Winners Bracket, while the Losers Bracket will take two days to be decided. That leaves us the Grand Final on Friday.

Who do you think will finish at the top of the Winners Bracket? Carlsen, Nakamura, Arjun, or Firouzja? Let us know in the comments below.

Previous coverage:

• Play-In: Wei Yi Wins Swiss, Qualifies With 7 Others For Playoffs
• Chessable Masters Opens 2025 Champions Chess Tour Spearheaded By 5-Time Champion Carlsen
• Chess Makes Historic Debut At Esports World Cup 2025 With $1.5 Million Prize Pool