Contrasting Wins For Carlsen, Firouzja; Attacking Masterpiece By Vachier-Lagrave

GM Magnus Carlsen's dramatic match against GM Levon Aronian and GM Maxime Vachier-Lagrave's brilliant attacking masterpiece against GM Ian Nepomniachtchi were the highlights of day four of the Julius Baer Generation Cup 2024.

GM Alireza Firouzja showed remarkable professionalism in effecting two smooth wins against GM Alexander Grischuk to score wins with both his white games to advance to the Winners Bracket Finals with a 2.5-0.5 margin. Contrastingly, Carlsen's encounter against Aronian proved to be a dramatic one where the Norwegian even allowed his opponent a simple checkmating possibility in the endgame in the very first game, though he finally prevailed with a margin of 2.5-1.5. Carlsen and Firouzja will play in the Winners Bracket Finals on Sunday, September 29.

In Division I Losers Round 1, Vachier-Lagrave and GM Vladimir Fedoseev prevailed over Nepomniachtchi and GM Arjun Erigaisi respectively with an identical score of 1.5-0.5 to advance to the quarterfinals of the Losers Bracket where they will face Grischuk and Aronian respectively.

With today's losses, Nepomniachtchi and Arjun have been knocked out of the event, and with that ends a chance to qualify for the 2024 Champions Chess Tour Finals in the case of Arjun. 

Division Play continues on Sunday, September 29, starting at 11 a.m. ET / 17:00 CEST / 8:30 p.m. IST.

Division I Bracket

• Division I: Losers Round 1 & Winners Semifinals
• Division II: Winners Quarterfinals & Losers Round 1
• Division III: Winners Quarterfinals & Losers Round 3

As all three divisions are being contested separately, it is important to understand their significance in terms of qualification to the CCT Finals, apart from prize money. At the beginning of the current event, this is how the CCT Standings look:

Apart from the winner of the current tournament, the top eight of the entire circuit qualify for the CCT Finals. Firouzja, Carlsen, and Vachier-Lagrave have already qualified by winning previous events, and we have players in other divisions vying for a spot in the Finals, each with a different margin of error. Nepomniachtchi is safely in, as the player with the most tour points who hasn't already qualified.

Division I: Winners Bracket Semifinals & Losers Bracket Round 1

Carsen 2.5-1.5 Aronian

This was the most exciting match of the day, in terms of drama. Summing up on Aronian's play, commentator IM Tania Sachdev remarked, "He got to feel good about the quality of chess he has shown today. He has played creatively; he has created his chances when he did get them; it felt like he flagged in a position that he should have held... It is never easy against Magnus, but I still keep thinking about that missed opportunity in Round 1, and how different this match would have been if Levon had just played king to f7!"

I still keep thinking about that missed opportunity in round 1, and how different this match would have been if Levon had just played king to f7!

—Tania Sachdev

That crucial, dramatic moment came in a drawish rook ending in the first game of the match when Carlsen overstepped while trying to squeeze out one of his favorite wins from a near-drawn position in a rook ending.  

Carlsen's blunder 44.h3?? allows Aronian to win the game immediately with 44...Kf7 here, setting up a checkmate with 45...Rf4#. But, with less than 10 seconds in his clock compared to Carlsen's more than a minute, Aronian missed the killer blow and continued 44...Ra3??, with Carlsen immediately letting out a shaking of the head, huge extended smiles, and hand gestures indicating that he had realized the blunder immediately afterwards. The game ended in a draw after 20-odd more moves. 

Levon Aronian misses a BIG win and Magnus sees it! 🤯#ChessChamps pic.twitter.com/hPFNt8WlwP

— chess24 (@chess24com) September 28, 2024

Curiously, this game reminds us of the famous encounter between the very players from the Grand Slam Final, Sao Paulo, 2012, where too Aronian missed a possible mating attack after a Carlsen blunder. 

The second game was a topsy-turvy affair where Aronian boldly sacrificed his queen on the 14th move, and the game took many dramatic turns throughout.

In the third game, it was Carlsen's turn missing to take advantage of a blunder by Aronian, but both the players had less than five seconds on their clocks at this point. The last game was also drawn, though not without drama, which meant that Carlsen won the match.

You can listen to GM Hikaru Nakamura's video recap about the match below.

Firouzja 2.5-0.5 Grischuk

Comparatively, Firouzja carved out a smooth match victory over Grischuk, with a grinding win in the endgame in the first game and a fluent assault in the third game.

BOOM moment! 🔥

Alireza Firouzja finds a brilliant tactic and is on the verge of winning the game. #ChessChamps pic.twitter.com/0B8AofRAFJ

— chess24 (@chess24com) September 28, 2024

The matches of Round 1 of the Losers Bracket were just two games but produced intense clashes.

Vachier-Lagrave 1.5-0.5 Nepomniachtchi

Vachier-Lagrave began the day creatively, effecting a brilliant attacking combination against Nepomniachtchi from the 28th move onward, after building up a steady advantage throughout. The game is even more remarkable considering that it came out of the solid Petroff Defense. This is our Game Of the Day, analyzed by GM Rafael Leitao below.

The French Grandmaster had an opportunity to produce another brilliancy in the second game with a beautiful sacrificial attack on the opponent's king. But he decided to end the game peacefully by repeating moves and achieving the necessary draw to win the match rather than undertake the trouble to win the game.

Fedoseev 1.5-0.5 Arjun

In the first game of the match, Arjun seemed to be making progress in a slightly better ending, as he achieved a clearly better position. But, both the players being short of time, the fortunes changed dramatically in just a matter of a few moves.

Arjun seemed to be having a decisive advantage in the second game but mishandled a tactical position.

Division II: Winners Quarterfinals & Losers Round 1

Division II Bracket

GMs Vidit Gujrathi and Wesley So maintained the momentum with wins, whereas GM Denis Lazavik dropped down to the Losers Bracket after losing against GM Jose Martinez, though his hopes of entering the Finals aren't yet extinguished.

Division III: Winners Quarterfinals & Losers Round 3

GM Vincent Keymer kept his qualification chances alive with a 3-0 score when his opponent GM Nikolas Theodorou was a non-starter for the games. GM Hans Niemann proved to be the best finisher for all the divisions when he came up with a cute move to end his miniature game against GM Frederik Svane.

Niemann uncorked the aesthetically beautiful 24...Qg3! here, prompting immediate resignation from his opponent.

Division III Bracket

The 2024 Julius Baer Generation Cup is the last of the Champions Chess Tour's four events and determines one of the players who'll make it to the in-person CCT Finals. The event starts on September 25 at 11 a.m. ET / 17:00 CEST / 8:30 p.m. IST and features a $300,000 prize fund.

Previous coverage:

• • Day 3: Grischuk Shows Class Is Forever Vs. Arjun, Carlsen Swindles Nepomniachtchi
  • Day 2: Carlsen, Nepomniachtchi, Arjun, Aronian, Fedoseev Advance To Division I
  • Day 1: Fedoseev Wins Play-in, Triumphs In Final Round With Black Win Vs. Wesley So
  • Julius Baer Generation Cup: The Final Leg of the 2024 Champions Chess Tour