Carlsen Wins 2024 Julius Baer Generation Cup, Wesley So Takes Division II, Caruana Division III

GM Magnus Carlsen won Division I of the 2024 Julius Baer Generation Cup after defeating GM Alireza Firouzja 2.5-1.5 in the Grand Final. After three hard-fought draws, the world number-one found a brilliant way to break through (40.e6!!) in the fourth and final game.

There was no reset in any of the three matches as the Winners Bracket victors won in the other divisions as well. GM Wesley So won Division II, after a white win in armageddon vs. GM Denis Lazavik, and GM Fabiano Caruana won Division III with a game to spare, 2.5-0.5 against GM Vincent Keymer.

Division I Final Bracket

• Division I: Carlsen Wins What He Calls His Best Match
• Division II: So Blunders/Mouse Slips, But Wins In Armageddon
• Division III: Caruana Dominates

Division I: Carlsen Wins What He Calls His Best Match

Three out of the four CCT events this year have featured Firouzja vs. Carlsen. If including the Grand Final Resets, Firouzja had won three previous matches and Carlsen one. It was a close and highly accurate match, and Carlsen only took it in the last game.

Curiously, all three draws were bishop endgames, opposite-color in the first one and same-color in the second and third. Carlsen later said that the first game set the tone for a high-quality struggle in the rest of the day. 

Magnus sacs his queen, but he wins it back on the g2 square in a few moves!

The game ends in an opposite-color bishop endgame draw, 99% accuracy by both sides.https://t.co/SOmXj8mXiS#ChessChamps pic.twitter.com/epISdIujVJ

— chess24 (@chess24com) October 1, 2024

In game two, Carlsen saved a difficult—that is, lost—endgame with the white pieces by sacrificing his bishop and achieving a fortress.

Carlsen traded the pieces into yet another bishop endgame in their third draw, and Game Review rates the accuracy as 99 percent for each side.

It all came down to the last game, where Carlsen grinded a small advantage but seemed to lose control after 33.Qe3?! d5!, when suddenly Firouzja initiated fireworks. They traded into a heavy-piece endgame where, given one chance after 39.Qxg4?, Carlsen found what GM David Howell referred to as an "almost superhuman" move, 40.e6!! and then 41.f5!!. GM Rafael Leitao explains the ins and outs of the Game of the Day below.

Carlsen was pleased with the high qualify of the match, calling it his best one yet:

I felt like I was rarely in a lot of danger today, even though I guess I was lost in the second game, but I don't think any of us actually realized that. I felt like this was my best match so far and it feels really good to finish off with that.

I felt like this was my best match so far and it feels really good to finish off with that.

—Magnus Carlsen

He also revealed that he's looking forward to taking his good form to the next event that starts on Thursday, the Global Chess League, and then the Champions Chess Tour Finals in December: "For the rest of the year I will only be playing rapid and blitz, so it's good to see that I'm playing myself into shape. The Finals are going to be awesome, good field and a rare chance to play a tournament in Oslo!"

He earns $30,000 in this last CCT event, while Firouzja closes out with $20,000 as runner-up. Both players will meet again, however, in Oslo at the end of this year.

The top eight players on the leaderboard advance to the Finals. Though Firouzja finishes at the top, it's Carlsen who's earned just $3,000 more than him so far.

Division II: So Blunders/Mouse Slips, But Wins In Armageddon

So's match with Lazavik was topsy-turvy from the second game onward. So won from a worse position in game two, and then was moves away from clinching it in game three but then blundered and lost. Ultimately, he won Division II two games later, with White in the armageddon tiebreak.

Game one was a peaceful draw in the Italian, but in the second Lazavik was winning with a knight against bishop. As clocks ran low, however, it was a total meltdown and it was So who took the first full point.

Lazavik outplayed So in the endgame, but collapsed when he dropped under 5 seconds! So takes the lead 1.5-0.5.https://t.co/2zo96AL69P#ChessChamps pic.twitter.com/b84FCnDzjl

— chess24 (@chess24com) October 1, 2024

But the slings and arrows of outrageous fortune didn't end there. So was about to win the match with a game to spare in the next game—when he either blundered or mouse-slipped directly into a mate-in-one.

Wesley was winning and about to close out the match, but a blunder (mouse slip?) allowed a mate in one! The match is tied going into the last game.https://t.co/EFY6lzT8IH#ChessChamps pic.twitter.com/zMHwtOFUel

— chess24 (@chess24com) October 1, 2024

A draw in the fourth game meant that the match would be decided by armageddon. Given a single chance, So won it in style with the only winning move 17.Bxh6!!, sacrificing a piece to open up the enemy king. Though Lazavik had one chance to save the game on move 21, the attack ultimately crashed through.

So earns $15,000 and Lazavik $10,000. Both players will be at the CCT Finals as well. 

Division II Bracket

Division III: Caruana Dominates

Caruana won the first two games against Keymer, then drew the third, to win the match without playing a fourth. He had a rough start to the final CCT event when he suffered four losses in the Play-in, but he dominated the third division.

Caruana controlled the game in both games he won. In the first, with the black pieces, he gained a space advantage. Keymer advanced his h-pawn forward, but it only became a weakness. After winning a pawn, Caruana converted flawlessly.

In the second game, Caruana's space advantage in the Maroczy Bind transformed into a deadly passed b-pawn. He made it look easy:

Caruana earns $7,500 and Keymer $6,000. It was the best possible ending for the American GM considering his start to the event. 

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 6: Firouzja Advances To Grand Final Vs. Carlsen, Eliminates Aronian With 2-0 Sweep
  • Day 5: Carlsen Overpowers Firouzja's Spirited Charge, Aronian Sweeps Fedoseev In Losers Bracket
  • Day 4: Contrasting Wins For Carlsen, Firouzja; Attacking Masterpiece By Vachier-Lagrave
  • 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