The video captures a post‑match interview after a high‑stakes team chess event. Vidit Gujrathi reflects on a close, unclear match and the pressure of expectations, while Anish Giri comments on a time‑scramble with opponent Nihal. Magnus Carlsen, initially announced as Player of the Match, graciously hands the trophy to Vidit, emphasizing team effort over individual accolade. The hosts probe into key moments of Magnus’s winning game – the pivotal pawn pushes d5 and c5, a bishop exchange, and a rook‑knight versus rook endgame – and discuss the psychological impact of opening choices and time pressure. Vidit describes his nerves in the final blitz minutes and the confidence boost from a strong performance. The conversation also touches on how rapid‑form success can carry into upcoming classical rounds, the team’s morale, and the tournament’s exciting format. Throughout, the dialogue is informal, interspersed with multilingual interjections and chant‑like cheers.
Chapters
Alpine APM Vipers.
Yeah, I, I think it was a very close match. Um, I did not see the results, but when I had seen the positions, it looked very unclear. So it was not obvious that we are like clearly better on any of the boards. So I knew that I had to, you know, push. I had a very comfortable position, but, um, I'm glad actually I played a good game in my opinion. Um, I mean, one always thinks like that before they check with engine, but I felt like I played good and it was very rewarding for the team to, you know, win this. It was a really crucial match.
You know, the first time you won the player of the match, uh, right here, you told me coming into this contest, coming into this tournament, I did not have a lot of expectations. And the way that you played in the first game impressed yourself. Now when you're here and the kind of wins that your team has been going through, what How do you feel now?
Yeah, there are no expectations when you're at home, but when you have to play the next day, suddenly you start like, you know, expecting, um, from yourself, and you don't want to let the team down, so you put in, uh, the work. Uh, so, but yeah, I still try not to, you know, take it too much to heart, especially the losses which I had like yesterday. So I was like, okay, let's move on. I think that helps in recovery. Um, but yeah, I can say everything that I want to say, but all that matters is to play good chess.
Absolutely. Well, Anish got into a little time scramble there with Nihal, who is the time monster. He knows how to play it fast. How big did you have to dig for that draw?
Yeah, well, it was of course crazy. Obviously, when I'm down seconds with Nihal, like, everybody knows how it's gonna end. And I was quite happy that it didn't follow the expected script, and then I, and I held it. But most importantly, of course, is that we did pull off a great win, which is great for our team, but a big loss For a vibe coding community.
All right then, on that note, let's announce the player of the match and to give away the award. I would like to call upon Mr. Girish Subramanian, Senior Vice President HR Five. The player of the match award goes to Magnus Carlsen.
Magnus!
Magnus! Magnus!
Magnus! Things started to take a U-turn, started to change from your match, the game that you won. Um, talk us through that game.
Um, yeah, first of all, uh, I, I think this was a great, great match. It was a very good team performance, super gutty against, I think, a very, very good team. Um, and, uh, Of course, we're thrilled to get the win. I think my game, I was doing pretty well early on, but he's very, very good, and he put up a— much like the team, he put up a good fight. But I was able to, yeah, kind of wriggle myself out of it and find some good moves to win. I will say though that as much as I'm happy with the game and happy with the win, I do not deserve this player of the match as much as, um, the, um, the man who, who won us the match. So I would like to respectfully pass on the trophy to Vidit.
That is all that team effort is all about, and that team comes Into play right now. Thank you so much for doing this. That was a lovely gesture. Vidit, one last question now that you have the trophy in your hand. Number three, number four.
I mean, first of all, I'm just like like honored that Magnus thought so highly of my game, and it was really a nice gesture. So I really appreciate it. Thank you.
अरे ले ले ले Thank you so much.
Congratulations! Give it up for the R party.
Congratulations, Magnus, and a huge congratulations for the match win as well as the player of the match. With just two pawn moves, d5 and c5, the engine indicates that Sindarov position went from normal to practically lost. Tell us about something what happened exactly there.
Yeah, I think his opening choice was maybe not the best from a practical. tactical point of view because it kind of leads to positions where— which he prefers to play from the white pieces, not the black pieces. And about those moves you mentioned specifically, um, things kind of don't happen in a vacuum. So the position was already a little bit more difficult for, for black to play, and then when you don't feel like you have a lot of good choices, you often make bad choices, and he Um, yeah, he made what seemed like very active, normal moves, uh, because he didn't feel like he had anything, um, that was, that was obviously good. But of course I was very happy to see that because the way I judged it, um, I thought that I was, um, much better already.
Magnus, you got the player of the match initially and you decided to, you know, give that to Vidit. Uh, what impressed about that game and why did you Why did you decide to do that? It's a very nice gesture, by the way.
No, I think it was a really gutty, uh, gutty win since, and, uh, and a great way to, to rebound from, from the last game as well. So, um, it was, uh, a big performance when we, uh, we needed it, uh, the most.
With it, uh, what was the emotions like at the end? Because every— all the other games that Danny won, yours was the last, and the whole match depended on the game.
So What were your emotions? I did not know about the results, like I had no time to check it, but I knew that I have a winning position and earlier at least a very good chance to win. So I was trying to really, um, just go into the blitz mode because we had like 1 minute and I just wanted to trust my instincts there. But at the end there were a little bit of nerves as well, so I could have won much easier.
It did take longer than it should have.
Yeah, yeah. And then I was like My heart was in my mouth, but, uh, I managed.
The Rook Knight pawn versus Rook, what were you discussing, Anish, like, off the field? You wanted him to play something.
Yeah, I mean, there were a couple of forks and some other things, but of course, uh, the good thing about those positions is that you have to, like, really, really do something very silly in order to give the win away. Because just by making random moves, you can never, you can never, yeah, really blunder. Uh, so it was one of those cases where you kind of, as, as a team, you're a little bit frustrated that it's not happening sooner, but I don't think we had any doubt that, um, yeah, I was gonna bring, bring it home at some point.
And you beat Vidit in a similar position, right?
What?
You beat Vidit in a similar position.
Well, that was without the pawn.
Without a pawn.
That was without the pawn, uh, which, yeah, it's another story.
Sorry, from a personal standpoint, how much satisfaction?
Uh, no, I mean, it feels, um, feels really good to, you know, that our team is doing well, but the job is not— job is not done yet. Uh, we still have a difficult match tomorrow. And yeah, from, from my own standpoint, you know, um, yeah, this felt like my best win so far, um, um, against a very good opponent.
Magnus, after Bishop e3 by you in the opening, Sindarov spent quite a bit time and then actually captured Bishop takes e3, which is actually the first new move in the position. Were you expecting Were you expecting bishop takes c3 there?
Yeah, I thought it was one of his choices in general there. In general, his other bishop is a little bit misplaced, so like that's kind of the key feature of the position that it's pretty harmless except for the fact that he always has to spend a move placing his bishop on a better square. When he captured my bishop, Again, I thought it was good psychologically because he prefers to be on the other side of that position.
And it's like after winning back-to-back EWC World Championship and you're here, so how does it feel?
I know it feels, uh, feels good.
I—
it's, uh, it's a really good tournament and I, I really, really like, um, like the, uh, the format here, uh, makes for, for great, great excitement. And, uh, yeah, hopefully the best is to come.
Thank you, my lord. For Magnus, he goes this way all the time. But yeah, we just— it's all about practice and, you know, more blitz.
Do you think there's form that you can carry from rapid to classical at all? Because you have 3 days.
Definitely. I think it helps when you have a good performance because you also get a confidence boost and you trust yourself more. You play chess like faster and, you know, you don't come into those situations, you're more in the fighting spirit. So it definitely adds up, I would say.
After winning the knight with this nice move b4, how did you think the position was? Practically winning, or should it be fine for Dubov?
I think objectively, if you check with engine, it should be fine for black. He should have activity. But practically, with like the advantage Than like thirty seconds, it's very tough to hold because he has these pawns, but they are falling off. And that's what happened in the game. One by one, all the pawns fell. Like because it's very hard to play with two seconds increment and being accurate there.
Thank thank you. Thank you so much. Slow mode, slow mode, slow mode. Magnus.
