Grischuk Shows Class Is Forever Vs. Arjun, Carlsen Swindles Nepomniachtchi

GMs Magnus Carlsen, Alireza Firouzja, Levon Aronian, and Alexander Grischuk advance to the Division I Winners Semifinals of the Julius Baer Generation Cup 2024, after respectively defeating GMs Ian Nepomniachtchi, Vladimir Fedoseev, Maxime Vachier-Lagrave, and Arjun Erigaisi. In the closest and only match to go to armageddon, Carlsen blundered an exchange in one move but then swindled Nepomniachtchi to win the game. Grischuk, on the other hand, showed that age is just a number against the current world number-three.

Eight players advance to the Division II Winners Quarterfinals. We will look at GM Vidit Gujrathi's queen sacrifice in game four, an exciting back-and-forth struggle, against GM Ray Robson.

Another eight players advance to the Division III Winners Quarterfinals. Readers will be challenged with a puzzle from GM Jules Moussard's third win against GM Rasmus Svane.

Division Play continues on Saturday, September 28, starting at 11 a.m. ET / 17:00 CEST / 8:30 p.m. IST.

Division I Bracket

• Division I: Grischuk's Back, Carlsen Shaky Vs. Nepomniachtchi
• Division II: Vidit Sacrifices Queen In Game 4
• Division III: Moussard Sacrifices Nearly Everything For Checkmate

The rest of the tournament will be the Division Play phase, which will feature double-elimination brackets in all three divisions. Eight players participated in Division I, 16 in Division II, and 32 in Division III. We saw four-game matches with a 10+2 time control.

Division I: Grischuk's Back, Carlsen Shaky Vs. Nepomniachtchi

All four matches were tied 1.5-1.5 before going into game four, though they reached that situation in vastly contrasting ways. In the end, we had just one armageddon, between Carlsen and Nepomniachtchi. The players who lost aren't yet eliminated; they will have another chance in the Losers Bracket starting on Saturday.

Firouzja 2.5-1.5 Fedoseev

Firouzja was the first player to win his match. Usually if a player can achieve pawns on e4 and d4, we call that the ideal pawn center. Firouzja managed to get that and even pushed both pawns farther—all the way down the board. Navigating the complications with his king in the center, he earned the Game of the Day with this one, analyzed by GM Rafael Leitao below.

After a draw in game two, Fedoseev managed to swindle a point in game three when Firouzja, under 10 seconds, walked into a discovered check. But game four was an absolute disaster for the Slovenian GM. First, Firouzja trapped a bishop and then won an exchange. By move 22, he was up a rook for three pawns.

Grischuk 2.5-1.5 Arjun

Firouzja will next face Grischuk, a player of the "old guard" who showed that he still means business. There is no Grischuk without time trouble, and this offered plenty of intrigue as usual. 

Game one was brutally one-sided. Arjun's innocent 9...g6? was an opening mistake that left him with doubled and isolated pawns, and he just never recovered.

Grischuk lost game two, playing with five seconds against five minutes, and then failed to win game three when he was up two pieces—exchanging queens allowed Arjun to eliminate his last pawn and draw the game against two knights.

Two pieces up and a mate in nine for White in this position, but Arjun managed to draw this game! He keeps the score level going into the last game, 1.5-1.5.https://t.co/pCONPcqxJi#ChessChamps pic.twitter.com/4kx1dDNbxI

— chess24 (@chess24com) September 27, 2024

Still, Grischuk managed to win the match when Arjun collapsed in a holdable knight endgame. Grischuk's elated fist pump, however, will be the most memorable part:

"I've been watching Grischuk for my whole chess career, 20+ years, and I've never seen him react like that," says Howell as an ELATED Grischuk defeats Arjun.https://t.co/pfgvmbNJof#ChessChamps pic.twitter.com/eKU8KTnDPh

— chess24 (@chess24com) September 27, 2024

Carlsen 3-2 Nepomniachtchi

It's impossible to not see this matchup, every time it happens, as some sort of sequel to their 2021 world championship match—and the 2023 match that never happened. Nepomniachtchi came as close as one could possibly get to defeating the world number-one—without actually defeating him.

Although Nepomniachtchi is now in the Losers Bracket, he's still leading a tournament he's playing over the board at the same time, the Vugar Gashimov Memorial 2024. Long days for the chess players!

It was the closest match of all, and the four drawn regular games look like a quieter result than it really was. Okay, game one was a relatively uneventful draw when Nepomniachtchi failed to prove anything with White, but in game two Carlsen won a pawn but erroneously traded queens into a holdable rook endgame. Game three, Carlsen won two pawns in a wild opening, but it wasn't enough:

Magnus is two pawns up out of the opening and Ian doesn't look too happy, but White does have compensation! David Howell shows how this happened:https://t.co/1Q669is7wJ#ChessChamps pic.twitter.com/4ykG5Lzdil

— chess24 (@chess24com) September 27, 2024

Nepomniachtchi was much better with the black pieces in game four by move 18, but after he played 19...fxe3? in 40 seconds, it fizzled out in a single move. So we were off to armageddon, with Carlsen defending with the black pieces and with seven minutes and 28 seconds. Nepomniachtchi had 10 minutes with the white pieces and a must-win situation.

Armageddons, with zero increment especially, are always nervy affairs. Carlsen blundered a full exchange and explained his thought process:

Obviously, that was a massive blunder, and I really feel like I got away with one. I had a really, really pleasant position, and I was sitting there thinking I can do anything I want, and I felt like f5 was a little bit too early, but then I thought, yeah, it looks so good. Then he played f4 and I was like, oh, I fell for the oldest trick he had.

Carlsen made the most of it, however, sacrificing a second exchange with 22.Rxe5!?. That decision turned out to pay unexpected dividends: 

Carlsen is often critical of his play, even when he wins, but he wasn't dissatisfied with the level of play in this one: "The level was decent. This was not one of my worst matches for sure. It wasn't great, but it wasn't horrible either."

Asked how he always manages to defend or even win losing positions, he retorted, "I don't. Sometimes I just lose." He also admitted that he's not the best at it, nodding to GMs Hikaru Nakamura and Firouzja as masters of that craft.

"In general, there are people like Nakamura, for example, or Alireza, who are even more resourceful than I am, but then they also need it more often. It sort of comes with playing style as well."

- Carlsen on how he saves or wins losing positions.#ChessChamps pic.twitter.com/HXvLAqt9ft

— chess24 (@chess24com) September 27, 2024

As for his upcoming match against Aronian, who defeated Vachier-Lagrave, Carlsen responded: "Levon has been one of my favorite opponents for many years now," not suggesting that it'll be an easy match but that it'll be full of interesting games. 

Aronian 2.5-1.5 Vachier-Lagrave 

Of all the players who advanced in the Winners Bracket, Aronian had the poorest start to the match. He lost the first game, drew the second, only won game three because Vachier-Lagrave hung a piece, and finally won game four with an extra pawn.

Game one must have been some sort of a wakeup call for Aronian as his French Defense came crumbling down. 25.Nxd5!! was a brilliant sacrifice by Vachier-Lagrave to put away the game. If the knight recaptures, f5 hangs, but if the queen recaptures, 26.Bc4 wins the queen. 

Vachier-Lagrave actually let the win slip after this but then won it again after many moves. Two games later, Aronian received the greatest gift from the high skies: a free bishop.

There is no luck in chess, they say.https://t.co/2SGDbjkRbL#ChessChamps pic.twitter.com/lyNGbb9WSv

— chess24 (@chess24com) September 27, 2024

Game four was Aronian's better win, where he converted an extra pawn. It looks convincing enough, but a closer look reveals that Vachier-Lagrave had the study-like defense of 55...Rb8!!. Good luck finding that with 13 seconds on the clock.

Vachier-Lagrave will still have a chance of reaching the Grand Final through the Losers Bracket. He embarked on that path last year in the 2024 AI Cup and then defeated Carlsen twice in the Grand Final. Can he pull off a similar feat again? Regardless, he's already in the CCT Finals after winning the last event.

Division II: Vidit Sacrifices Queen In Game 4

Division II Bracket

In Division II, at this stage, two players can still make it to the Finals through the leaderboard if they finish at least in second place: GMs Denis Lazavik and Wesley So. Vidit had an outside chance of making it in, but because of the performances of others, he no longer has a chance at being in the Finals. He can still win $15,000 in Division II, though.

12...Nd7!? was an interesting queen sacrifice by Vidit, and the game could have gone either way. By coming out on top, he continues in the Winners Bracket and will face GM Vasif Durarbayli next.

Division III: Moussard Sacrifices Nearly Everything For Checkmate

As far as qualifying for the Finals, GM Jan-Krzysztof Duda also had a shot but was eliminated on Friday. Only GM Vincent Keymer still has a chance if he finishes in at least ninth.

One of the most dominant victories was by Moussard against Rasmus Svane, 3-1. In the last game, he sacrificed almost the rest of his pieces to force checkmate. There are slower ways to win, but can you find the most efficient way?

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 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