GrandMaster Alireza Firoutza vs GrandMaster Anish Giri,
Sinquefield Cup 2024, Round 5


Firouzja defeated Giri in round five and could have done it even quicker. In what started as a Giuoco Pianissimo, White got a knight to f5, usually an achievement already. In this case, it could have hit Black's kingside with devastating effect. Firouzja said he had looked at it, calculated 14-ply-deep.

The game went on and Firouzja had trouble finding a good plan while Giri remained solid. After a repetition of moves, Firouzja then missed 31...Qa5, after which he couldn't repeat a third time and therefore was forced to try 32.b4, which worked out pretty well. He got a better ending, which was suddenly winning after a big mistake by Giri on move 42.