Round 5 – Alexei vs. Karpinen, a Russian grandmaster known for his clinical precision and aversion to risk. The audience expected a calm draw. What followed was madness.
By move 10, Alexei had pushed his kingside pawns recklessly, castled into danger, and sacrificed a perfectly good bishop for positional compensation that no one could immediately grasp.
In the commentary booth, three analysts stared at the board, their expressions tightening with every move.
"This is... insanity," muttered GM Vishan Kumar. "Look at this! The boy's just handed his bishop to a man who lives for technical conversion."
"But he's not losing," another commentator replied slowly, eyes narrowing. "He's—wait, he's setting something up. Look at the pressure on the dark squares. No, no... he didn't just blunder. He planned this."
By move 18, murmurs began to spread across the audience. Then, gasps.
On move 23, Alexei played a quiet rook lift—seemingly pointless—until three moves later, it became the spine of a devastating attack that tore through Karpinen's structure like a wire through silk.
Commentators went from confusion to awe.
"This is Tal's chaos," said Vishan, breathless. "But calculated. This is... more than imitation. This is evolution."
Karpinen resigned on move 31.
The Press Conference.
The post-game press conference was packed. Journalists from ChessBase, Le Monde, New York Times, and even non-chess outlets like BBC and VICE filled the room. Microphones were raised like weapons. Flashes popped. Elena stood off to the side, watching with a strange pride in her eyes.
Alexei sat down, still calm, fingers loosely laced.
"Alexei, what was that bishop sacrifice? Did you calculate all thirty-one moves?"
A soft smile. "No. Only twenty-two. The rest was intuition."
Laughter. Confusion. Awe.
"Was this inspired by Tal's style?"
"It was inspired by something deeper. Something between the lines."
"How do you define your style then?"
Alexei paused. "Creative survival."
Another voice shot forward. "How do you stay calm while playing such unorthodox moves?"
"I grew up playing in shadows. If you hesitate, they disappear. So I don't hesitate."
A veteran journalist leaned forward. "Some are calling you the successor to Mikhail Tal. What do you say to that?"
"I'm not trying to become Tal," Alexei replied. "I'm trying to find who I am—with his fire guiding the way."
The room fell silent.
Then came the final question. "Are you ready to face the world's best?"
Alexei looked over at Elena, who nodded just once.
"Yes," he said. "And I'm not alone on this path."