Halfway through the Fide Grand Swiss, held in Samarkand earlier in September, Magnus Carlsen picked out 14-year-old Yagiz Kaan Erdogmus as the player who had impressed him the most. The Turkish teenager, a grandmaster since last year and already established in the world’s top 100, looked utterly undaunted by the elite opposition he faced there.
In the second round, under pressure against the world champion, Dommaraju Gukesh, he came under pressure in the endgame but stirred up enough complications to save the game. The diagram shows the critical moment, after 39…Kd7-c6.
Dommaraju Gukesh-Yagiz Kaan Erdogmus
Fide Grand Swiss, Samarkand, 2025
1 d4 d5 2 c3 Nf6 3 Bg5 c6 4 Qc2 Ne4 5 Bf4 Bf5 6 Qb3 Qb6 7 f3 Nd6 8 Nd2 Nd7 9 g4 Bg6 10 h4 h6 11 Bg2 e6 12 h5 Bh7 13 e4 a5 14 Qxb6 Nxb6 15 a4 Nbc4 16 Nxc4 Nxc4 17 b3 Nd6 18 e5 Nc8 19 Bf1 Kd7 20 Be3 Kc7 21 Kd2 Nb6 22 f4 Nd7 23 Bd3 Bxd3 24 Kxd3 b5 25 f5 bxa4 26 Rxa4 c5 27 Ne2 c4+ 28 bxc4 Nb6 29 Ra2 Nxc4 30 fxe6 fxe6 31 Nf4 Re8 32 Bc1 Kc6 33 Rf1 Rg8 34 Kc2 Be7 35 Nxe6 g6 36 g5 Kd7 37 Nf4 Rgf8 38 Rg1 Bxg5 39 Nxd5 Kc6
40 Bxg5 Throwing away the win. The strongest move was 40 Nf6!, with the point that 40…Bxf6 41 Bxh6! soon recovers the material. For example, after 41…Bh8 42 Bxf8 Rxf8 43 Rxg6+ Kd5 44 Kb3 White retains a large advantage, although the game is not over. Alternatively, 41…Bg7 42 Bxg7 Rf2+ 43 Kb3 Rb8+ 44 Kxc4 Rxa2 45 hxg6 and the pile of pawns should win the game. Kxd5 41 Bf6 gxh5 42 Rg7 Gukesh had perhaps hoped that his bishop on f6 would put a lid on the counterplay, but Erdogmus finds a neat way to secure the draw. Rxf6! 43 exf6 Re2+ 44 Kb1 44 Kb3 a4+! and the Ra2 drops off, or else 45 Rxa4 Rb2 is mate. Re1+ 45 Kc2 Re2+ 46 Kb1 Re1+ Draw agreed
Impressive as it was to draw with the world champion at such a young age, the greatest show of resilience was yet to come. In the fifth round, his defence against Nodirbek Abdusattorov held the draw after 190 moves and 8.5 hours of play. The day before that, he found a dazzling finish in a wild game where White has just promoted a pawn on d8.
Aditya Mittal-Yagiz Kaan Erdogmus
Fide Grand Swiss, Samarkand, 2025
White has just promoted a pawn on d8, which Erdogmus meets with a glorious combination. 37…Qxf2+!! 38 Rxf2 Re1+ 39 Kh2 Rxf2+ 40 Kxh3 Rh1+ 41 Kg4 f5+ 42 Kh5 g6 checkmate
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