Erdogmus prevails in second half
The Clash of Generations chess match between 49-year-old Peter Svidler and 14-year-old Yagız Kaan Erdogmus was held from 24 to 30 July at the InterContinental Hotel in Marseille. The head-to-head confrontation featured a 6-game classical match, followed by a 12-game blitz section.
The classical time control was 100 minutes for the first 40 moves, 50 minutes for the next 20, and 15 minutes for the rest of the game, with a 30-second increment starting from move one. The blitz time control was 3 minutes per game plus a 2-second increment per move.
In this insightful video course, Grandmaster David Navara shares practical advice on when to calculate deeply in a position — and just as importantly, when not to.
Free sample video: Introduction
Free sample video: Invisible moves
The match pitted two players at opposite ends of the chess spectrum: the experienced Svidler, an eight-time Russian champion and one of the most recognisable names in modern chess, and the rising star from Turkey, Erdogmus, who had just turned 14 in June.
After the first half of the classical match, the score was tied 1½–1½. While Svidler had bounced back in game three to level the score, it was Erdogmus who would go on to take the match by storm in the final three classical games, winning the fourth and sixth encounter to get an overall 4-2 victory.
Game 4 – Erdogmus beats Svidler’s Grünfeld in 22 moves
Coming off a loss in game three, the young Erdogmus struck back immediately with the white pieces, winning the shortest encounter of the match in just 22 moves. Svidler, playing black, went for his long-time favourite Grünfeld Defence in response to 1.d4. His young opponent, in turn, demonstrated excellent preparation, blitzing out his first eight moves and entering a known line seen in over a hundred previous games.
Instead of the more popular 8…Qa5, Svidler chose 8…Qd8, a less common continuation. The players followed a line played between Matthias Bluebaum and Velimir Ivic at the 2021 Lindores Abbey Blitz tournament: 9.h5 Bg7 10.Nf3
Here, Svidler introduced a new move with 10…c5, instead of 10…0-0, aiming for sharper play. There followed 11.d5 e6 12.Qa4+ Bd7 13.Qf4 0-0 14.0-0-0, the engines already preferred White, typical of many Grünfeld structures where Black accepts positional weaknesses in exchange for activity.
From this point on, Erdogmus exploited his positional trumps with remarkable maturity. When Svidler further weakened his kingside with 16…h6, the youngster quickly pounced with 17.hxg6 fxg6 18.Qg3, and Svidler’s fatal error followed with 18…Bf5 (necessary was either 18…Be8 or 18…g5, both unattractive alternatives at first sight).
The blunder allowed an immediate 19.Bc4, threatening a devastating discovered check. After 19…Kh8 20.Ng5 Qe8, Erdogmus delivered the killer blow with 21.Rxh6
Resignation came after 21…Bxh6 22.Rh1. Svidler would have needed to make major material concessions to avoid checkmate. He was facing the forced line 22…Kg7 23.Rxh6 Kxh6 24.Qh4+ Kg7 25.Qh7#.
A striking display of sharp preparation and cold-blooded execution from the Turkish prodigy.
Game 5 – The second draw of the match
With the score now 2½–1½ in Erdogmus’ favour, game five saw a repeat of the Sicilian structure that had occurred in game three, a game Svidler had won. Interestingly, it was Erdogmus – coming off a win against the Grünfeld – who now entered similar lines against Svidler’s 1.e4, not fearing his opponent’s own preferred structures.
Svidler, once again showing his depth of understanding in this particular Sicilian setup, obtained a solid position with chances to play for more. In the late middlegame structure, White surely looked the one with the better chances.
Yet, despite the positional edge, Svidler was unable to find a way to break through. Erdogmus defended resourcefully and calmly, steering the game towards simplification.
After 38 moves, the players agreed to a draw in a position where White still looked slightly better, but progress seemed elusive. The result left Erdogmus a full point ahead going into the final classical game.
Game 6 – Erdogmus seals the match with a win
Down 2–3 and needing a win to tie the score, Svidler had the black pieces in game six and chose the Arkhangelsk Variation of the Ruy Lopez in response to 1.e4. It was a logical choice given the must-win situation, as the variation often leads to double-edged battles.
Svidler indeed sought complications at every opportunity, but this approach failed to deliver the desired imbalance. Instead, White steadily accumulated positional trumps, particularly targeting weaknesses on the queenside.
Here, Erdogmus calmly protected the f2-pawn with 29.Re2 while preparing to target the black weakness on the a-file. After 29…Bc5 30.Qxa6, it was evident that Black’s chances for victory were minimal.
In another situation, Svidler might have tried to defend the position passively, but his ensuing attempts to get active counterplay allowed Erdogmus to eventually make the most of his outside passed pawn and convert his advantage with clean technique.
Erdogmus won three games (two with white, one with black), lost one, and drew two. The classical result earned him 16 FIDE rating points and a place in the world’s live top 100. He also moved to number 7 in the junior live rankings and is now the youngest player in the junior top 20. The next youngest, Ivan Zemlyanskii of Russia, will turn 15 in August.
Blitz section – Svidler strikes back
After the conclusion of the classical match, the players contested a 12-game blitz match with a 3+2 time control. Here, it was Svidler who took full control, showing his superior speed and tactical precision in this format.
Svidler won the blitz match with an overwhelming score of 10–2. While Erdogmus entered the event with a blitz rating of 2500, his level in fast time controls is not yet as consistent as in classical chess.
Nonetheless, the youngster did show flashes of brilliance, particularly in game four, where he concluded the game with the strong 25…Qb3, prompting immediate resignation by Svidler.
Despite this highlight, the blitz section belonged entirely to the seasoned Russian grandmaster.
