Fedoseev, Martinez, Lazavik Prevail Against Top-20 Players

GMs Magnus Carlsen, Jose Martinez, Vladimir Fedoseev, and Denis Lazavik won their matches on day three of the 2024 Champions Chess Tour Chessable Masters to stay in the Winner's Bracket. In a day of upsets in Division I, Martinez played the Game of the Day against two-time World Championship Challenger GM Ian Nepomniachtchi and won the match 3-1.

GM Hikaru Nakamura is still alive and kicking in Division II. He defeated GM Yu Yangyi 3-1 and is one of eight players advancing in the Winners Bracket. 

In Division III, GM Eltaj Safarli is one player to watch out for. On his way to the Winners Semifinals, he defeated speed-chess expert GM Oleksandr Bortnyk 3-0 and then GM Abhimanyu Mishra, the record-holder as the world's youngest grandmaster, 2.5-1.5. 

Day four begins on Saturday, February 3, starting at 11 a.m. ET / 17:00 CET / 9:30 p.m. IST.

Division I Bracket

• Division I: Upsets Galore
• Division II: Nakamura Continues To Fight
• Division III: Watch Out For Safarli!

The rest of the tournament will be the Division phase, which will feature a double-elimination bracket in all three divisions. Eight players duke it out in Division I, 16 in Division II, and 32 in Division III. Nobody's eliminated until Saturday. 

Division I: Upsets Galore

Carlsen was the only player to skirt an upset on Friday, as he defeated GM Wesley So. On the other hand, Fedoseev took down GM Alireza Firouzja—though it's a slight stretch to call this an upset—and Lazavik, a definite underdog, overcame 2021 World Blitz Chess Champion Maxime Vachier-Lagrave.

Carlsen 2.5-1.5 So

The marquee matchup featured the 2023 CCT champion against the 2023 Finals runner-up. While an exciting pairing, the whole match came down to game two, which Carlsen won on time—in a position that was, objectively, nowhere near winning.

In a position that the engine marks as better for Black but not winning, Carlsen wins on time!#ChessChamps #ChessableMasters pic.twitter.com/aN5PZjaKFC

— chess24.com (@chess24com) February 2, 2024

After the game, Carlsen told Norway's TV2 that he had no idea he was playing against So until a few hours before (though pairings were posted on Chess.com and his match was announced on Twitter/X).

On this year's faster time control, he said: "You feel that you get extremely stressed in the time trouble, because you have no break to think [with the two-second increment], because you have to move immediately. There is a panic among the players that you usually don't get—you saw that with Wesley."

There is a panic among the players that you usually don't get—you saw that with Wesley.

—Magnus Carlsen

Speaking from Spain, Carlsen added about his match against Fedoseev tomorrow: "I think Fedoseev is in Spain as well, so we could just as well play over-the-board!"

Martinez 3-1 Nepomniachtchi

Martinez continued his inspirational run by defeating world number-seven Nepomniachtchi, with two wins and zero losses. The very first game featured a Petrosian king march—as his king ran across the entire board away from danger—and it finished with a checkmate on the board—for the white king.

GM Rafael Leitao analyzes the thrilling game below. 

After the game, Martinez shared both his happiness at the victory as well as his sadness at "accusations" and "suspicions" levied against him. His post is translated from Spanish:

Very happy with today's performance, resisting the attack in the first game with little time is very difficult but I was able to do it, surviving 2 games a little worse to be able to advance to the next phase!

But sad, bitter because of the constant accusations or suspicions of many.

Muy feliz con el performance de hoy, resistir el ataque en la primera partida con poco tiempo es muy dificil pero pude lograrlo, sobrevivir 2 partidas un poco peor Para poder avanzar a la siguiente fase!

Pero triste, amargo por las constantes acusaciones o sospechas de muchos.

— Jose Martínez Alcántara (@GMJoseMartinez) February 2, 2024

Lazavik 3-2 Vachier-Lagrave 

After four draws, Lazavik held with the black pieces in armageddon. In a desperate attempt to win an equal rook endgame, Vachier-Lagrave lost—but a loss and draw meant the same thing by this point in the match.

"Every win was very special for me because it's very hard to beat any top players," said Lazavik after the match. About playing Martinez on Saturday: "I think it will be more or less an equal match." Considering his results in speed chess over the last two years, over the board and online, we might not be calling him an underdog much longer:

Fedoseev 2.5-1.5 Firouzja

The French number-one against the Slovenian number-one was the other very close match. After each winning once, then drawing in game three, the equal endgame in game four seemed destined to reel in an armageddon. 

But, in time trouble, Firouzja's 64.Rd7? allowed a pretty deflection tactic. Sachdev called the rejoinder 64...Rf7! "the big resource, the big move by the Big Fish."

In terms of over-the-board rating, the Loser's Bracket is curiously higher-rated than the Winner's. In the two Losers matches, Vachier-Lagrave vs. Nepomniachtchi and So vs. Firouzja, two super-GMs will be eliminated on Saturday.

Division II: Nakamura Continues To Fight

After losing to Lazavik on the previous day, a determined Nakamura came to Division II with a vengeance.

Yu faced his wrath in the first round of Division II, and in game one Nakamura's sharp tactical eye came in full focus when he found the blow 42.e4!, winning a piece.

It's important to remember the stakes here. The winner of Division II not only takes home $15,000 but automatically qualifies for Division I of the next event. 

You can find the full brackets and pairings for Division II here. 

Division III: Watch Out For Safarli! 

Bortnyk is one of the best speed chess players out there, and we almost never see him lose three games in a row. In game two, Safarli found the strong in-between move 21.Rc1!, setting up a cascade of tactics around the black king with a queen "sacrifice" as the cherry on top.

Like in Division II, eight players remain in the Winner's bracket as we head into day four.

You can find the full brackets and pairings for Division III here. 

The 2024 Chessable Masters is the first of its four events and determines one of the players who'll make it to the in-person CCT Finals. The event starts on January 31 at 11 a.m. ET/17:00 CET and features a $300,000 prize fund.

Previous coverage:

• • Lazavik Beats Nakamura 2-0; Dubov Plays Brilliancy
  • Martinez Wins Play-in On His Birthday
  • Faster And Fitter: Champions Chess Tour 2024 Returns With Chessable Masters