GM Jan-Krzysztof Duda will have a rematch with GM Magnus Carlsen in the Grand Final of the 2026 Chess.com Open Playoffs. On Saturday, the Polish star won the Losers Final 1.5-0.5 with the black pieces in a sharp Nimzo-Indian Defense against GM Denis Lazavik.
The Chess.com Playoffs conclude with the Grand Final on day four, which will be Sunday, April 26, starting at 11:15 a.m. ET / 17:15 CEST / 8:45 p.m. IST.
It will be the second time in this event that Carlsen faces Duda. On Friday, Carlsen won their Winners Final encounter 3-2 in armageddon. If Duda wins the first match on Sunday, which is best-of-four, he will have to win again in a best-of-two Reset.
First place earns $50,000, second $35,000, and both players have already qualified for the Esports World Cup.
Losers Quarterfinals: Lazavik, Nihal Advance
The two players who dropped down from the Winners Semifinals triumphed in their first match of the Losers Bracket.
Movahed 0.5-1.5 Lazavik
Lazavik’s first match was about as smooth as it gets, a win with White in game one and a draw with no fireworks in game two. His win was a fine technical effort where the bishop outplayed the enemy knight, winning a pawn on the queenside and pushing it to promotion.
Needing a draw in game two, Lazavik had no problem making a draw on the black side of an Italian Game. If anyone, it was Black who was playing for more, and Movahed never got a chance to turn the tables.
Abdusattorov 0-2 Nihal
Though Nihal’s victory looks more convincing on paper, it wasn’t as clean as Lazavik’s. Abdusattorov managed to create chaos in both games, even if he lost them.
Nihal outplayed the Uzbek number-one in a technical fashion, with a better knight against bishop, but the latter fought his way back into the game. It was in the mutual time scramble that he allowed a checkmate in one move.
Nodirbek blunders into a checkmate in one move, but still applauds his opponent right after 👏!https://t.co/E5NAWUoLKf pic.twitter.com/tB9KQDGNhw
— chess24 (@chess24com) April 25, 2026
In game two, Nihal found a practical exchange sacrifice to quash the flames of a potential attack. Though Abdusattorov had chances, especially to flag in the time scramble, it was Nihal who again came out on top.
Losers Semifinal: Lazavik Sweeps Nihal
Lazavik 2-0 Nihal
Lazavik’s inspired run continued into the Semifinal, where his technical strength overcame Nihal’s tactical wizardry. The first game was the key victory in the match.
Saddled with a long-term weakness, Nihal decided to sacrifice the c6-pawn for activity but chose the wrong plan. He went for a piece sacrifice against the enemy king, but Lazavik defended expertly and showed good technique at the end to stop three connected passed pawns.
With the black pieces in the next game, Lazavik defended with 96-percent accuracy in an Italian game, and Nihal lost only when he overpressed at the end, since a loss and a draw led to the same match result.
The opening of that game featured a curious blunder as early as move 10, by the way, and one that both players overlooked. Black could have won material in an unusual way starting with 10…Ng4, in the line shown below.
Losers Final: Duda Resurges
Duda 1.5-0.5 Lazavik
After an extremely cagey draw in game one, we had fireworks in the second game. Lazavik opted for the sharp Samisch Variation of the Nimzo-Indian Defense (6.f3), a surprising departure from his more solid tendencies, for example, in the Catalan Opening.
It didn’t work out in the game, but GM Eric Hansen pointed out how Lazavik may have already calculated the risk-reward ratio. Even if he lost the game, it didn’t mean the approach was necessarily wrong. Hansen said:
The fact that he’s qualified for the EWC impacted it [his opening choice]. If he was fighting for that spot, I think he would have stuck with his bread and butter, a more solid opening approach, but this is something he’s decided will benefit his chess.
GM Rafael Leitao analyzes the Game of the Day below.
Whatever happens on Sunday, Duda has reason to be satisfied with the tournament: he will be at least $35,000 richer and will have qualified for the EWC. He said he’s looking forward “to playing better than last year” in Riyadh, where he was eliminated in the group stage after a mouse slip worth $20,000.
😱 Abdusattorov cannot believe it! A mouse slip on move FIVE decides the game and Duda resigns and is eliminated!https://t.co/m3LhMG7IZ8#EsportsWorldCup pic.twitter.com/PI8426Z3kc
— chess24 (@chess24com) July 30, 2025
As for this event, he thought he’s been playing “reasonably well” so far. He went on: “Of course, once you start winning these matches, your appetite is up…. I was a bit upset about my match with Magnus because it felt like I was playing decent chess and had some chances.”
He’ll have another chance against the world number-one, though he said the likelihood of him winning two times “doesn’t seem very realistic, to be honest.”
Duda on having to defeat Magnus two times tomorrow to win the event:
“It doesn’t seem very realistic, to be honest, but I mean, I will just try to play good chess and maybe there will be some chances.” pic.twitter.com/5ZT0fmCZRk
— chess24 (@chess24com) April 25, 2026
Who will take the inaugural Chess.com Open title? Will Carlsen add it to his extensive list of tournament victories, or will Duda swipe away this one?
How To Watch
The Chess.com Open, taking place online from March 14 to April 26, is the world’s biggest open chess event. The tournament features open qualifiers, titled qualifiers, and Play-Ins that funnel into a 16-player double-elimination knockout. Up to $250,000 in prizes are available, on top of three direct qualification spots to the 2026 Esports World Cup.
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