Clutching at straws

There are moments in the world of chess when one cannot help sensing a faint whiff of desperation—an anxious rustling among those determined to preserve Magnus Carlsen’s reputation as the game’s supreme being, yet without the inconvenience of his actually contesting world championships again. His admirers, indefatigable in their devotion, seem ready to clutch at any contrivance that might prop up the old orthodoxy.

Thus it was that four of the world’s finest players converged on Saint Louis this autumn for the inaugural 2025 Clutch Chess: Champions Showdown, held from October 27–29 in the newly expanded Saint Louis Chess Club. The organisers heralded the event as the highest-rated tournament of the year, parading World No. 1 (by rating) Magnus Carlsen, World No. 2 Hikaru Nakamura, World No. 3 Fabiano Caruana, and the Lilliputian World Champion, Gukesh Dommaraju—a billing that seemed designed as much for theatre as for competition.

The atmosphere was thick with money and expectation. A total of $412,000 lay in wait, distributed through an intricate system of daily win bonuses and the ominously named Champion’s Jackpot. The rapid double round-robin—18 games at 10 minutes plus a 5-second increment—was stitched together with escalating point values: 1 point per win on Day 1, 2 on Day 2, and 3 on Day 3. It was, according to the organisers, a format engineered to cultivate tension and fan excitement “up until the very last round.” One might almost have thought they were describing a travelling circus rather than a chess tournament.

“Having these four giants of the game here in Saint Louis shows the city’s importance on the world chess stage,” declared GM Yasser Seirawan, the event’s commentator and a four-time U.S. Champion, sounding for all the world like a loyal herald announcing the arrival of visiting kings.

Clutch Chess itself is a curious invention—the brainchild of Grandmaster Maurice Ashley—constructed around the idea that a match’s stakes should swell round by round, like some moral lesson in compounding interest. In this world, no lead is secure and every game must bear enormous significance. It is, in effect, a repudiation of the old ways, and like many such repudiations, it operates under the cheerful assumption that novelty equals improvement.

To be clear, the arithmetic was simple enough:
Day 1 – each win: 1 point and $1,000
Day 2 – each win: 2 points and $2,000
Day 3 – each win: 3 points and $3,000

In the Clutch Chess: Champions Showdown the basic prize structure stood at $120K, $90K, $70K, and $60K for first through fourth places, with an additional $72,000 in bonus funds. Any prize from a drawn game was swept into the Champion’s Jackpot, bestowed only upon the ultimate victor. In the event of a tie, a playoff would settle matters. Everything was carefully arranged to ensure that suspense—manufactured or otherwise—never entirely dissipated.

Four titans of the game. One city. High drama. Every move counts. So the slogan ran, echoing through the promotional materials with all the earnestness of a political pamphlet. Whether match or tournament, the Clutch format promises that every game carries meaning up to the finish line.

Well—so the official line would have us believe. Another view, equally plausible, is that Clutch Chess represents an arbitrary experiment, delicately designed by Carlsen’s friends and supporters to highlight his strengths while subjecting the diminutive official world champion, Gukesh, to maximum discomfort. For my part, I suspect the Clutch scoring system will eventually join that pile of historical curiosities alongside the now-forgotten and unlamented scheme of 3 points for a win, 1 for a draw, and 0 for a loss—yet another contraption invented to remedy flaws that were never really there.

This week’s game is perhaps closer to a study than a game. The theme is: when is a win not a win? (The answer is at the end of the analysis.)

Dommaraju Gukesh vs. Magnus Carlsen

Clutch Chess: Champions Showdown (rapid), 2025, Saint Louis, rd. 1

1. e4 d6 2. d4 Nf6 3. Nc3 e5 4. Nf3 Nbd7 5. Bc4 Be7 6. O-O O-O 7. a4 c6 8. Re1 h6 9. h3 Re8 10. Be3 exd4 11. Bxd4 Bf8

Customarily, 11… Nf8 has been played at this point.

12. Nd2 Ne5 13. Bf1 Ng6 14. a5 Be6 15. g3 d5 16. Bg2 Bb4?!

More resilient is, 16… dxe4 17. Ndxe4 Nxe4 18. Nxe4 b6 19. Nc3, with near-equality.

17. a6 bxa6 18. exd5 Nxd5 19. Nxd5 Bxd5 20. Rxe8+ Qxe8 21. Bxd5 cxd5 22. c3 Bf8 23. Rxa6 Qb5 24. Ra2 a5 25. Qa4 Qd3 26. Nf1 Ra6 27. b4 Re6 28. Rd2 Qf5 29. bxa5 Qxh3 30. a6 Re1 31. Qb5 Bc5 32. Qd3 Bxd4 33. cxd4 Ra1

34. Rd1?

After 17 moves of precariously balanced parity, White slips – and badly! 34. Qe2 Qe6 35. Ra2 Qxe2 36. Rxe2 Rxa6 37. Re8+ Nf8 38. Ne3 g6 39. Rd8 Kg7 40. Rxd5, was enough for equality. The move played offers Black a bolted-on win after, 34… Nh4!! 35. gxh4 Qg4+ 36. Qg3 Qxd1 37. Qh3 Qc1 (to protect c8) 38. a7 Rxa7, and a pawn and the exchange down, White has no counterplay and is losing. However …

34… Nf4? White resigns 0-1

Similarly to the above, White facing mate on g2, sees only the failure of the variation with 35. gxf4 Qg4+ 36. Qg3 Qxd1 37. Qh3 Qc1; White saw it coming, hence the resignation.

But hang on, how about sacrificing the queen … ? 35. Ne3 Nxd3 36. Rxa1 Qc8 37. Nxd5 Qa8 38. Nc7 Qf3 39. a7 Qxf2+ 40. Kh1 Qf3+ 41. Kh2 Qe2+ 42. Kg1 when Black has nothing better than a perpetual check, and White has transformed his chances. Or he might have done, had he not resigned – had he been looking for something other than defeat?

(And the answer to our earlier question is, of course: a win is not a win, when it’s a draw!)

Ray’s 206th book, “  Chess in the Year of the King  ”, written in collaboration with Adam Black, and his 207th, “  Napoleon and Goethe: The Touchstone of Genius  ” (which discusses their relationship with chess) can be ordered from both Amazon and Blackwells. His 208th, the world record for chess books, written jointly with chess playing artist Barry Martin,  Chess through the Looking Glass ,  is now also available from Amazon. 

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