14-Year-Old Woodward Dethrones 5-Time Champion Robson

For the first time since its inception, GM Ray Robson is not the winner of the 2025 Chess.com Puzzles Championship. Fourteen-year-old GM Andy Woodward, who was the runner-up in 2024, reversed the narrative this year. He also picked up $1,500 for first prize, while Robson takes $1,000 in second place.

Woodward defeated Robson convincingly in the Winners Final 5-2 but collapsed in their second match, 2-5, in the Grand Final. The Grand Final Reset decided it all, and Woodward prevailed by the slim margin of just one point, 2.5-1.5.

Knockout Bracket

• Winners Quarterfinals: GMs Woodward and Robson Advance With IMs Atanasov and Putnam
• Winners Semifinals: Woodward, Robson Advance
• Winners Final: Woodward Stuns Robson
• Losers Round 1: Indian GMs Pranav, Raunak Advance
• Losers Quarterfinals: Putnam, Pranav Advance
• Losers Semifinals & Final: Robson Defeats Pranav, Secures Rematch Vs. Woodward
• Grand Final: Woodward Cracks, Robson Finds His Form
• Grand Final Reset: Woodward Recovers From 'Worst Scenario' To Win It All
• Interview With Andy Woodward

On Thursday, the eight strongest and fastest puzzle solvers qualified for the knockout stage of the event. They were GMs Robson, Woodward, Daniel Naroditsky, Pranav Venkatesh, and Raunak Sadhwani as well as IMs Liam Putnam, Yoseph Theolifus Taher, and Anthony Atanasov.

The knockout featured matches, with best of eight in the Winners Bracket and best of four in the Losers. A big difference between this stage and Puzzle Rush Royale on Thursday was that players received the same puzzles as their opponents. With one-on-one matches being a difference as well, it wasn't just about getting the highest score; it was also about scoring well consistently.

Commentator NM Sam Copeland joked on the broadcast, "There's death, there's taxes, and there's Ray Robson winning the Puzzles Championship." There's truth to the humor, as he was the overwhelming favorite going in.

Winners Quarterfinals: GMs Woodward and Robson Advance With IMs Atanasov and Putnam

There were three 5-0 sweeps out of the four matches.

Robson, who started slow on the previous day, started with a dominant 5-0 sweep against Raunak. He solved the following puzzle to reach his highest score in that encounter, 58. Can you find the only sequence that wins? Black to move. 

Robson, by the way, got just one puzzle wrong in the entire first match. Meanwhile, Woodward 5-0'ed Naroditsky as well, sending his compatriot to the Losers Bracket.

Meanwhile, two international masters continued to the Winners Semifinals. Atanasov took down the Indonesian IM Taher 5-0, with his highest score being 59. Putnam defeated GM Pranav 5-2 in the closest match of this stage.

The last puzzle Pranav got wrong in the match is the following one (number 51). He instantly played the most obvious move, but take a little longer and you might find the correct one! White to move.

Winners Semifinals: Woodward, Robson Advance

This was as far as the IMs got, however, as Robson and Woodward punched their tickets to the Winners Final, where they played the first of ultimately three matches against each other. Woodward defeated Putnam 5-2, while Robson scored 4.5-2.5 against Atanasov.

Woodward put up his highest score of 58 twice in the match, even if Putnam scored higher once with 59. Time ran out when the 14-year-old reached this puzzle (number 59), so he didn't even have a chance to attempt it. But you do! White to move and win.

Winners Final: Woodward Stuns Robson

The teenager, who had lost both in the Winners Final and Grand Final against Robson the year before, got his revenge. He won convincingly 5-2 with a round to spare—his first match win against the reigning champion.

The scores these players achieved are simply mind-boggling. Woodward scored 60 twice and finished the match with 62 in the last round, the highest score in the event and one point away from his all-time personal best. 

This was the 62nd puzzle, which Woodward reached with 12 seconds on the timer. He thought for five seconds before blitzing out the entire solution. White to move.

He had five seconds to solve the 63rd puzzle but alas didn't manage.

Robson wasn't eliminated there, however, as he would have a second chance in the Losers Final. Let's turn our attention to the Losers Bracket.

Losers Round 1: Indian GMs Pranav, Raunak Advance

The two Indian GMs prevailed in the first match of the Losers Bracket.

Raunak eliminated Taher with a 3-0 score, while Pranav just barely eliminated Naroditsky by tiebreaks after they had finished tied 2-2. The tiebreak was most puzzles solved. Pranav won by just one: 207 solved against Naroditsky's 206. Tough!

Can you solve the last puzzle Naroditsky got wrong? It was number 51. Black to move.

Losers Quarterfinals: Putnam, Pranav Advance

Putnam eliminated Raunak with a 3-1 score, while Pranav edged out Atanasov by tiebreaks after they had scored 2-2.

Pranav, Atanasov, and both commentators were stumped by the following puzzle (number 55). It's certainly one of the hardest puzzles we saw in the day. You can take a stab at it below, but it's the hardest one in this article! White to find a brilliant sequence and win. 

Losers Semifinals & Final: Robson Defeats Pranav, Secures Rematch Vs. Woodward

Pranav beat Liam Putnam 3-1 in the Losers Semifinals. 

The following puzzle is the last one Putnam got wrong (number 55). He quickly got the first three moves correct, but with seven seconds left, he erred on the fourth and final move. How far can you get? White to move and win.

And Pranav's reward? A match with the nearly invincible Robson. 

The American won 3-0 with scores of 58, 56, and 57. Even still, even after he had won the second round by a slim margin, he was shaking his head, perhaps knowing that this wouldn't be enough to defeat Woodward. He would need to do better, and at first he did.

Ray Robson just barely takes the point to go 2-0, but he's still shaking his head in disappointment!#PuzzleChamps pic.twitter.com/VwpbQd34n5

— chess24 (@chess24com) January 17, 2025

Grand Final: Woodward Cracks, Robson Finds His Form

The start of the match was a wakeup call for Woodward, who until now was winning every match seemingly without a challenge. The first chink in the armor is the following moment, when he already had got three wrong by puzzle number 36.

For reference, Naroditsky on the previous day had said that players at this level aim to avoid getting a puzzle wrong until they're on number 50.

Andy gets three wrong by 36, a disaster as he's left with his head in his hands! Ray is going to win this round and boost his tiebreaks tremendously.#PuzzleChamps pic.twitter.com/tDaKoHBU7B

— chess24 (@chess24com) January 17, 2025

Two rounds later, we saw a disastrous mouse slip from Woodward (on the left). He, of course, was going to capture the queen on a1 to complete the puzzle, but the slip Ra7??, leaving his rook hanging, spoiled the solution. 

Robson, on the other hand, remained calm the whole way through and won the match 2-5. It seemed like the old, unstoppable Robson was back in the nick of time.

Woodward Recovers From 'Worst Scenario' To Win It All

"This was pretty much the worst scenario that could happen," Woodward later said in the interview. "I was really stressed in the middle, but fortunately it worked out." The third and final match could hardly have been closer, and it was decided by a single Puzzle Battle. 

This was pretty much the worst scenario that could happen.

—Andy Woodward

But before we get to that, we have to show the puzzle that Copeland called the most beautiful of the day. It featured the staircase motif, immortalized in this famous clip by GM Hikaru Nakamura.

This was puzzle number 57, which Woodward solved first. Keep in mind that players are solving this in a matter of seconds.

Even still, the first Puzzle Battle ended in a tie after both players scored 58-58 each with missed puzzles. 

Woodward then took the lead with 61-53.

But Robson struck back to even the score. With 1.5-1.5 apiece, the match would be decided in the fourth Puzzle Battle, as long as they didn't draw like they did in round one. But Woodward won with 54-49.

Interview With Andy Woodward

Woodward said he had no expectations before the event, a sentiment chess players and winners often express: "Coming into today, I didn't really have any expectations. I was just going to try to have fun and play my best."

I was just going to try to have fun and play my best.

—Andy Woodward

He explained that he had started practicing for this event in the middle of December. One of the things he practiced was avoiding mouse slips. "I was happy I didn't slip as much today."

Does solving puzzles help your chess in tournaments, GM Pepe Cuenca asked? Woodward thinks so, explaining, "It's a way for me to spot tactics easier in my real games."

When Copeland asked what had changed between last year and this year, Woodward replied that it's mostly his confidence: "Not much has changed, to be honest. It's just a lot of confidence that I've gained in the past year or so."

It's just a lot of confidence that I've gained in the past year or so.

—Andy Woodward

He doesn't have big plans for how to spend the money and will probably just save it. As for how he'll celebrate? More Puzzle Rush!

How will Andy celebrate after two days of playing Puzzle Rush and Battle?

"Probably just play more Puzzle Battle to celebrate. It's fun just playing it in general... just takes my mind off other things."#PuzzleChamps pic.twitter.com/SmhU8GQmQF

— chess24 (@chess24com) January 17, 2025

The next Community Championship will feature 3 Check Chess on February 27-28. Think you have what it takes to win it, or do you want a chance to play some of Chess.com's strongest players? Join the club and the tournament next month.

Previous coverage:

• Puzzle Rush Royale: Naroditsky Comes Clutch In Final Rush, Qualifies With 7 Others
• It's Tactics Time! The Chess.com Puzzles Championship Starts On January 16
• Chess.com Community Championships 2025 Cycle Kicks Off January And Features 12 Events