[10] During the tournament he played a queen sacrifice against Sergey Karjakin, which Leonard Barden said may be "the move of the year".

[19] Paired against Peter Svidler in round two, Esipenko drew the classical games but was eliminated in the rapid tiebreaks.

In a four-way playoff for the title, Esipenko was eliminated in the semi-finals by eventual tournament winner David Paravyan.

In round eight, he defeated World Champion Magnus Carlsen in their first game at a classical time control.

[23] Carlsen opted for the Sicilian Defence, Scheveningen Variation to which Esipenko chose the aggressive 8.g4 line inspired by the Keres Attack.

[29] In the preliminary stage, he finished 4th with 24 points, thus qualifying for the quarterfinals where he beat Eric Hansen 3-1.

[34] In February 2023, Esipenko competed in the first edition of the WR Chess Masters in Düsseldorf, where he tied for 5th place with 5 other players, scoring 4/9 (+1–2=6).

[35] In March 2023, Esipenko competed in the European Individual Chess Championship, where he placed 8th with a score of 8/11 (+5–0=6).

In December 2024, Esipenko won the Qatar Masters after drawing GM Arjun Erigaisi in the final round, finishing in sole first with a score of 7.5/9.