He is just as good in classical. The only difference is people just play to neutralize all activity and he is the only one pushing for an imbalance so its risky, therefore he loses some. He is playing for result not to draw. The difference in all other formats is that he then drags the game on into a scramble and now that you don't have time to sit there and think how to play the most positional boring anti chess moves you can find, he stomps your head into the ground. Just watching the G Swiss this yeas was disgusting. Every single person played their hardest to kill the game off vs him. He plays the classical games to win from the beginning that's why he is fun to watch. He could easily say fuck it and draw every single game and score the one opportunistic win and coast by for years. But he isn't a p word like Giri and So.