[Event "Speed Chess Championship 2025"] [Site "Chess.com"] [Date "2026.02.07"] [Round "3"] [White "Lazavik, Denis"] [Black "Carlsen, Magnus"] [Result "1/2-1/2"] [WhiteElo "3242"] [BlackElo "3329"] [Annotator "jjlang"] [Variant "Standard"] [ECO "?"] [Opening "?"] [StudyName "Tactics Tuesday 02/17/2026: Chess.com Speed Chess Championship"] [ChapterName "Lazavik, Denis - Carlsen, Magnus"] [ChapterURL "https://lichess.org/study/9dM2f5CO/FLndv10h"] [FEN "1k1rq3/1pp5/p3npp1/P3p2p/2Q1P3/1P2NP1P/1KP3P1/3R4 w - - 0 30"] [SetUp "1"] [Orientation "white"] { Today's puzzles come from the 2025 Chess.com Speed Chess Championship, played in London earlier this month. In intense time scrambles, the world's best players got into many tactical positions, and we've pulled the highlights. In our example, White missed a brilliant chance to build a mating net with imbalanced material by playing } 30. Qxe6!! (30. Rxd8+ Nxd8 { was played and the game later drew. }) 30... Qxe6 31. Rxd8+ Ka7 32. Nd5 { would be better for White. Why? Best is } 32... b6 { Alternatively, after } (32... Qc6 { White wins with } 33. Ne7 Qe6 34. Nc8+ Kb8 35. Nb6+ Ka7 36. Ra8#) 33. axb6+ cxb6 34. Ra8+ { A familiar theme! } 34... Kb7 35. Rxa6! { Next, the b-pawn falls. White will have connected queenside passers and great winning chances in Lazavik – Carlsen. } 1/2-1/2