Levon Aronian scored a dominating 2-0 win over Vladimir Fedoseev in a Losers Quarterfinals match. Magnus Carlsen awaits the Losers Bracket winner in the Finals.

Carlsen Overpowers Firouzja's Spirited Charge, Aronian Sweeps Fedoseev In Losers Bracket

IM VSaravanan

Updated: Sep 30, 2024, 6:29 PM | 32 | Chess Event Coverage

GM Magnus Carlsen staved off a spirited challenge from GM Alireza Firouzja to prevail with a score of 2.5-1.5 in the Winners Bracket Finals of the Julius Baer Generation Cup 2024. He will now face the Losers Bracket winner in the tournament's Grand Final.

In the Losers Bracket Quarterfinals, GM Levon Aronian convincingly defeated GM Vladimir Fedoseev by a 2-0 margin. With the black pieces, GM Maxime Vachier-Lagrave defeated GM Alexander Grischuk in an armageddon tiebreak after both their regular time control games ended in draws.

Teenaged GMs Denis Lazavik and Vincent Keymer earned their tickets to the 2024 Champions Chess Tour Finals from Divisions II and III respectively, as the final list of qualifiers was confirmed at the end of the day's play. GM Fabiano Caruana produced an amazingly imaginative victory over Keymer in a Division III encounter.

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

2024 Champions Chess Tour Participants

Division I Bracket

Division I: Losers Quarterfinals & Winners Finals
Division II: Winners Semifinals & Losers Rounds 2 & 3
Division III: Winners Semifinals & Losers Rounds 4 & 5

Division I: Losers Quarterfinals & Winners Finals

The Losers Quarterfinals turned out to be two exciting matches with four top players facing each other in another crucial elimination round. With 1.5-0.5 as the required minimum winning margin for the short two-game matches in the regular 10+2 time control, one expected relatively safe games, but the players didn't seem to have any such notions.

Vachier-Lagrave 2-1 Grischuk

Any match involving Grischuk is an exciting spectacle for spectators, with the Russian's perpetual habit of courting time pressure. Vachier-Lagrave brought his own share of thrill by sacrificing a pawn for positional compensation and creating material imbalances in all the games, both effective strategies to add psychological pressure to their opponents.

However, it was Grischuk who seemed to be dictating terms in both the regular time control games, even coming close to winning the game and the match in the second encounter.

With scores tied at 1-1 at the end of regular time control games, the stage was set for an exciting armageddon tiebreak with its own special rules:

White needs to win the game; Black wins the match in case the game ends in a draw.
The players would confidentially bid for the colors by quoting a time they are willing to have for the game. With 10 minutes as the base time for the entire game with no additional time increments, the lower bid of time would win a player the right to decide the color.

When the confidential bids of both the players were revealed, the spectators witnessed a jaw-dropping spectacle.

The unbelievable difference of just one solitary second between the players' bids prompted commentator GM Artur Neiksans to exclaim: "These are like meta-level mind games! How can you predict your opponent will select ...just one second less?"

These are like meta-level mind games! How can you predict your opponent will select ...just one second less?

—GM Artur Neiksans

Vachier-Lagrave put up a stubborn show in the tiebreaker to maintain an equal position through to the endgame and won when Grischuk overextended the position in his effort to win.

Aronian 2-0 Fedoseev

The match started energetically from the get-go when Fedoseev sacrificed two pieces for a rook and two pawns in the first game in a queenless middlegame. However, in a complex position involving a mutual kingside attack, he blundered his king into getting checkmated.

Aronian with White dominated the second game, thus emerging as the most dominant match winner of the day.

Carlsen 2.5-1.5 Firouzja

A clash between Carlsen and Firouzja in quick time control is bound to produce considerable excitement, as Carlsen himself admitted after the game that "in faster formats, it is only Alireza who is remotely close" to his own chess strength.

"It remains to be seen if Arjun is quite 2800 strength yet, but Gukesh is really really good. I think he is by far the best apart from Alireza." - Magnus Carlsen#ChessChamps https://t.co/Z8XfpXDzuW pic.twitter.com/XvDxVsbgXH
— chess24 (@chess24com) September 29, 2024

But as Carlsen admitted, it was an error-prone match but a memorable clash for the spectators with so many twists and turns in all four games.

In the first game, fireworks started by the 16th move when Carlsen decided to sacrifice a piece.

The second encounter was the most dramatic of all, with fortunes fluctuating too many times for a single game.

Firouzja had the chance to repeat moves to force a draw after 24...Ne4 25.Qe2 Ng3 26.Qf2, but he deviated with 26...Na5, showing his fighting spirit.

Here, it was Carlsen's turn to repeat 29.Nh7 Rh8 30.Ng5 Rhf8, but he spurned a three-fold repetition with 31.Nf1, showing his own fighting spirit in turn.

Firouzja seemed to have gained a clear advantage here, as White finds it difficult to find a plan of action. However, the position remains extremely complex, making Neiksans remark: "How do you even get this position physically on the board? It feels like from a different century."

How do you even get this position physically on the board? It feels like from a different century.

—GM Artur Neiksans

Alireza had a clear path to advantage with 48...Qd6 or even 48...f4 here, but he blundered with 48...Qf4??, allowing 49.Be3 and simplification of the position.

After many more twists and turns, the game saw Carlsen missing a forced mate.

Carlsen missed an opportunity to force checkmate here with 66.Rab7 threatening checkmate with 67.R5b6#. He instead played 66.Rc5+ and the game went on.

After more twists, it was Carlsen's turn to make the final blunder of the game, allowing Firouzja to win.

Carlsen could have won with 77.Rxg3, stopping Black's passed pawns and getting ready to promote his own b-pawn. However, he blundered with 77.b7?? that allowed Black to win the game after 77...f2 78.Rxg3 Rh5+ 79.Ke4 f1=Q.

After some unbelievable twists and turns, GM Alireza Firouzja levels the score with a win! #ChessChamps pic.twitter.com/hr3yPHXsiu
— chess24 (@chess24com) September 29, 2024

After an uneventful third game, the fourth game was again an entertainer with incredible drama on the board. The highlight was Carlsen blundering his queen without Firouzja noticing.

After the game when asked about his ability to fight back from tough situations, Carlsen revealed his strategy, "The thing about Alireza is that he spends a lot of time. He is very good with little time, but you cannot be perfect all the time when you are surprised. That gives you a little bit of a chance to get back in the game; part of my strategy... was to try and force him to use that time, so that we could get into those situations where... I have a little bit more time myself."

The thing about Alireza is that he spends a lot of time. He is very good with little time, but you cannot be perfect all the time when you are surprised.

—Magnus Carlsen

The match was reviewed by GM Hikaru Nakamura with his insights.

Division II: Winners Semifinals & Losers Rounds 2 & 3

Division II Bracket

GM Wesley So managed to seal his place in the CCT 2024 finals with a 2.5-0.5 win over GM Shant Sargsyan. The final position of the first game shows an aesthetically beautiful finale.

White threatens to capture the trapped black rook on d7, and 27...Rxe7 is met with 28.fxe7 and a fork that wins a piece. A picturesque finish.

Division III: Winners Semifinals & Losers Rounds 4 & 5

Division III Bracket

One of the toughest matches in the lower divisions was between GM Fabiano Caruana and GM Vincent Keymer which went in favor of the former with a score of 2.5-0.5. Along the way, both of these incredible players produced a memorable clash. Rightfully, it is annotated as the Game Of The Day by GM Rafael Leitao.

How to watch?
You can watch the event on Chess.com/TV. You can also enjoy the show on our Twitch channel and catch all our live broadcasts on YouTube.com. GM Hikaru Nakamura also streamed on his Twitch and Kick channels. Games from the event can be viewed on our events page.

The live broadcast was hosted by IM Tania Sachdev and GM Arturs Neiksans.

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.

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