Let us start with a puzzle. Look at the position above. It is White's move. Black has a strong knight on d5, right in the middle of the board, but it has few good squares to go to. If White attacks it the right way, the knight will have to run, and a knight that is running with no help from its friends is in trouble. White can attack it with a single pawn move. Keep it in mind: you will meet the answer in the game below.
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gWhite to move. Black's knight on d5 is strong, but it has few good squares to go to. One pawn move attacks it and takes away its best squares. Which pawn?
The player with the white pieces was Alireza Firouzja, a 22-year-old who plays for France. The player with Black was Magnus Carlsen, the world number one. It was the very first round of Norway Chess in Oslo, in May 2026, and Firouzja was playing with an injured ankle.
A Boy from Babol
Alireza Firouzja was born on 18 June 2003 in Babol, a city in the north of Iran. At 12 he won the Iranian championship, and at 14, in 2018, he became a grandmaster. In 2019, at 16, he passed a rating of 2700, and he was the second-youngest player ever to do it.
At the end of 2019 he left the Iranian chess federation and played under the flag of FIDE, the world chess federation. Since 2021 he has played for France.
Climbing to the Top
- In October and November 2021 he won the FIDE Grand Swiss in Riga, Latvia, scoring 8 points out of 11, half a point ahead of everyone else. The win gave him a place in the 2022 Candidates Tournament.
- In December 2021, at 18, he passed a rating of 2800. He was the youngest player ever to do it, more than five months younger than Magnus Carlsen had been.
- In June and July 2022 he played in the Candidates Tournament in Madrid, the event that picks the challenger for the world title, and he finished sixth.
- In April 2024 he played in the Candidates again, in Toronto, and he beat D Gukesh in Round 7. Gukesh won the tournament, and that was the only game he lost.
- In May 2026, in the first round of Norway Chess, he won his first classical game against Magnus Carlsen, which is the game you can study below. He finished the tournament in third place with 15.5 points. R Praggnanandhaa won it (read about him here).
The Game: Alireza Firouzja vs. Magnus Carlsen, Norway Chess 2026
Alireza Firouzja 1-0 Magnus Carlsen Norway Chess 2026, Oslo · Round 1 · Classical, two hours for the first 40 moves, then 10 seconds added for every move from move 41 White: Alireza Firouzja · Black: Magnus Carlsen
A quiet opening, and a plan
The game began as a Queen's Gambit Declined.
1.d4 d5 2.c4 e6 3.Nf3 Nf6 4.Nc3 h6 5.a3 c5 6.cxd5 exd5 7.Bf4 Nc6 8.e3 a6 9.Be2 c4 10.Ne5 Bd6 11.O-O O-O 12.Bg3 Bf5 13.f4 Be7 14.Bf3 Rc8 15.Rc1
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31adehPosition after 10.Ne5, with Black to move. White's knight sits on e5, in the middle of the board. Black's pawn on c4 has closed the queenside, so White's pieces have room on the other side.
Carlsen played 9...c4, which closed the queenside, so the action moved to the other side of the board. Firouzja's knight went to e5, in the centre, and he supported it with the pawn move 13.f4. Then he put his bishop on f3 and his rook on c1. Our own Stockfish 17.1 run, at depth 22, called the position level or a little better for White, between a fifth and two thirds of a pawn, for the next ten moves.
A pawn is won, and a line is opened
15...b5 16.Be1 b4 17.axb4 Bxb4 18.Bh4 Bxc3 19.bxc3 Qd6 20.Ra1 Ne4 21.Rxa6 f6 22.Bxe4 Bxe4 23.Ng4 Qd7 24.Nf2 Ne7 25.Qe2 Rc6 26.Rxc6 Qxc6 27.Nxe4 dxe4 28.Ra1 Nd5 29.Be1 Rb8 30.f5 Kh7 31.Qg4 Qd7 32.Qxe4 Re8
6cdfgPosition after 19.bxc3, with Black to move. Black has given up a bishop for a knight, and White's pawn has taken back on c3. White's bishops are on f3 and h4, and White's knight is still on e5.
The pieces came off one by one, and the game stayed level for a long time. Our engine had it exactly equal for several moves after the trades. But on move 21 Firouzja's rook took the pawn on a6, and on move 32 his queen took the pawn on e4. After 32...Re8 our engine had White better by about four tenths of a pawn.
The more important thing was the clock. Carlsen had 162 seconds left after 32...Re8, and Firouzja had 71 seconds. There was no extra time to come until move 41.
Two minutes on one move
33.Qg4 Kg8
Carlsen thought for 143 seconds about his 33rd move, almost all the time he had left, and he played 33...Kg8. Our engine marks this as the mistake of the game. It moved the score from about six tenths of a pawn for White to nearly three pawns. The only move that kept the game close was 33...Nxe3, taking the pawn on e3. After 33...Kg8 Carlsen had 19 seconds for the next seven moves.
34.e4
This is the answer to the puzzle. The pawn attacks the knight on d5, and it was our engine's first choice. It rated White more than two and a half pawns better.
34...Ne3 35.Qf3 Nc2 36.Rc1 Na3 37.Bg3 Nb5 38.e5
cgPosition after 38.e5, with Black to move. Black's knight has run from d5 to e3, c2, a3 and b5, always near the edge of the board. White's queen, bishop and rook are all ready, and White's pawns on e5 and f5 are about to open the black king.
The knight ran from d5 to e3, to c2, to a3 and then to b5, always along the edge, where it had almost no help. Carlsen had between 9 and 13 seconds left on his clock after each of those moves, and Firouzja kept hitting the knight or making a new threat. After 38.e5 our engine had White nearly four pawns ahead, and Firouzja won the game.
What to Learn from This Game
- A knight on the edge is a knight in danger. In the middle of the board a knight can reach eight squares. On the edge it can reach only four, and on a corner only two. After 34.e4 Black's knight had a few squares, and every one of them led it closer to the edge.
- Give your pieces a plan. Firouzja's knight on e5, his pawn on f4, his bishop on f3 and his rook on c1 all worked together. When Carlsen's pawn on c4 closed the queenside, White simply played where there was room.
- Do not spend all of your time on one move. Carlsen used 143 seconds on 33...Kg8 and had almost no time left to find the answers to White's threats. If a move is hard, try to find a safe one, then keep a few minutes in the bank.
- When your opponent is short of time, keep making threats. Firouzja played 34.e4, 35.Qf3 and 36.Rc1 one after the other. Each one asked a new question, and Carlsen had a few seconds to answer it.
Five More Games to Study
- Alireza Firouzja vs. D Gukesh, Candidates Tournament, Toronto 2024, Round 7 (1-0). Gukesh went on to win the tournament, and this is the only game he lost. Our engine had Gukesh better by about one pawn around moves 21 to 24, and then the game turned. Gukesh's 37...a3 and 38...Kh8 are the moves it marks, and the second one allowed a forced checkmate. You can try the position below.
- Alireza Firouzja vs. Nijat Abasov, Candidates Tournament, Toronto 2024, Round 11 (1-0). A Reti Opening, and a win in only 24 moves. Abasov's 16...f6 and 20...Rb8 are the moves our engine marks, and it had White better by almost four pawns by move 20.
- Fabiano Caruana vs. Alireza Firouzja, Candidates Tournament, Madrid 2022, Round 14 (0-1). The last round, in a Berlin Defence. It was an endgame for a long time and our engine kept it close. Caruana's 60.Ne4 and 61.Kd2 gave Firouzja a winning position, and he won in 63 moves.
- Alireza Firouzja vs. R Praggnanandhaa, Norway Chess, Oslo 2026, Round 2 (1-0). A Queen's Gambit with a long fight. Our engine had the game close until about move 28, and then Firouzja's edge grew slowly. Praggnanandhaa's 57...Ka3 is the move it marks. Praggnanandhaa beat Firouzja five rounds later.
- Alireza Firouzja vs. D Gukesh, Norway Chess, Oslo 2026, Round 8 (1-0). The queens came off on move 14, so this is a long endgame. Both players made mistakes late in it: Gukesh's 43...Re5+, Firouzja's 46.Kf1 and Gukesh's 46...Kb3, and Firouzja won in 61 moves.
A Position to Try
83Firouzja vs. Gukesh, Candidates 2024, after 38...Kh8. White to move. Black's king is boxed into the corner, and Black has a pawn on a3 that is running toward the first row. Find White's best move.
The answer is 39.Nf8. The knight threatens to give check on g6, and the rooks are both ready to join in. Our engine finds a forced checkmate in seven moves after it. In the game Gukesh played 39...a2, and Firouzja replied 40.Ng6+, which gives check while the black pawn is still one step from queening.
A Champion Still Growing
On 18 June 2026 Alireza Firouzja turned 23. He learned chess in Iran, became a grandmaster at 14, left his home federation at 16, passed a rating of 2800 at 18, and in May 2026 finally beat Magnus Carlsen in a classical game. In the game above he made one threat after another while his opponent was short of time. When you are the one with more time on the clock, you can do the same.