Carlsen, Nepomniachtchi, Arjun, Aronian, Fedoseev Advance To Division I

The three divisions of the Julius Baer Generation Cup 2024 are set to begin. After a Play-in and two Division Placement matches, we will see the following players in Division I: GMs Magnus Carlsen, Ian Nepomniachtchi, Arjun Erigaisi, Levon Aronian, and Vladimir Fedoseev. They will be joined by three players who qualified in the last event: GMs Maxime Vachier-Lagrave, Alireza Firouzja, and Alexander Grischuk.

In Division II Placement, six players won their matches to advance to this division. GM Denis Lazavik is in this field, and he needs to finish in at least second place to make it to the CCT Finals. In round two, he swept GM Gadir Guseinov 3-0 and we will review the second game.

Another 20 players won their matches in Division III Placement. We will look at a victory by German number-one GM Vincent Keymer against his countryman GM Dmitrij Kollars, whom he also swept 3-0.

Division Play begins on Friday, September 27, starting at 11 a.m. ET / 17:00 CEST / 8:30 p.m. IST.

Division I Bracket

• Champions Chess Tour Finals Live In Oslo 
• Division Placement: Format Explained
• Division I Placement: Sweeps On All Boards In Round 1, No Armageddons In Round 2
• Division II Placement: Lazavik Keeps Hope Of CCT Finals Alive
• Division III Placement: Keymer Traps 1 Knight, Then Another

Champions Chess Tour Finals Live In Oslo 

The Champions Chess Tour Finals were announced on Thursday to be held in Oslo, Norway, this year starting on December 17. While three of the eight participants are known—Carlsen, Firouzja, and Vachier-Lagrave—this is the last chance for others to take the remaining five seats.

Nepomniachtchi is likely to secure one through the leaderboard, as the player with the most points who hasn't already qualified. The following graphic was shown at the start of the broadcast, and the only person we can now rule out is Vidit, who will be in Division II and playing for the $15,000 prize but can no longer make it to the Finals.

Division Placement: Format Explained

Day two of this almost weeklong tournament features the Division Placement stage. Based on their results in the Swiss on day one (with the exception of four players who qualified through the previous CCT event), players were sorted into three sections, Division Placement I through III. 

In Divisions I and II, participants played two matches. The first was a two-game match; the second, a four-game match (with a potential armageddon tiebreak). Players who won both of their matches will play in the equivalent division in the next phase.

For example, if a player in Division II Placement wins both matches, they make it into Division II, while if they lose just one match they're bumped down to Division III. Division Placement III featured just one round, and players were eliminated if they lost.

Division I Placement: 2-0 Sweeps On All Boards In Round 1, No Armageddons In Round 2

The first set of matches was a "best of two," and the second was a "best of four." The players who lost will still play in Division II.

Round 1: Sweeps On Every Board

Every single match was, atypically, a 2-0 sweep. The winners moved on to round two while the players who lost were relegated to Division II.

GM Wesley So, who finished second in the Play-in on Wednesday, beat GM Mukhiddin Madaminov in the first game with the precise 28.Nf5!, temporarily sacrificing the f2-pawn and the exchange on e1. It was the only winning move and he saw that, two moves later, he'd regain material with interest.

Madaminov earned an objective advantage in the second game, having two extra pawns (both doubled and isolated), but So ultimately won that game with checkmate on the board.

Aronian earned the Game of the Day distinction the previous day with his win in the French Defense against GM Vasif Durarbayli. While game one started as a Sicilian Defense, it transposed into a French pawn structure. Thematically, Aronian played a Greek Gift that wasn't objectively winning, but practically speaking, it was nearly impossible to defend.

Aronian won an endgame with a bishop against a knight in game two to take the match.

Curiously, GM Tuan Minh Le also had the opportunity to play a Greek Gift, but this one was much more difficult to calculate (you have to see and properly assess 19.e4! down the line). He mounted a kingside assault anyway without sacrificing anything.

Le was on his way to at least drawing the bishop endgame in game two, which would be good enough to win the match, but he won that one too. His reward for winning this match would be to play the world number-one next.

GM Jose Martinez won his first game against GM Benjamin Bok by reaching an endgame with two bishops against a rook—it wasn't objectively winning yet, but Bok lost on time when good moves were difficult to find. In the next game, the Dutch GM found a brilliant move in a complicated struggle:

But, again, the clock was Bok's Achilles' heel. Three moves later, he had 19 seconds against a minute and 45, and playing on the increment didn't help. Martinez crashed through to round two.

Round 2: No Armageddons

The two closest matches, which went all the way to four games, were Arjun vs. So and Aronian vs. Vidit. Still, there wasn't a single armageddon tiebreaker in Division I Placement this time.

Carlsen, Nepomniachtchi, and Fedoseev all won their matches with a game to spare. The world number-one was traveling back home just before the round began, and fortunately he got back just in time.

In transit to get home to the Julius Baer Generations Cup. Will I make it on time or have to play it from my phone? pic.twitter.com/TYOxmyJatS

— Magnus Carlsen (@MagnusCarlsen) September 26, 2024

The very first game Carlsen won against Le is our Game of the Day. It was by no means the cleanest, but it features an exciting back-and-forth battle that culminates with a queen vs. rook endgame—something we don't often get to see. GM Rafael Leitao goes over the full game below.

They drew the next game, and Carlsen won a cleaner endgame in game three, converting a bishop and extra pawn against knight.

Nepomniachtchi logged in after playing at the Vugar Gashimov Memorial over the board in Azerbaijan, which also started on this day. After three rounds of rapid, he leads that event with GM Richard Rapport.

Vugar Gashimov Standings After 3 Rounds

As for this event, he was the first to finish his day, with 2.5-0.5 against Martinez and with a game to spare. After a draw in game one and an endgame win with the black pieces in game two, the match wrapped up somewhat anticlimactically. Martinez's 20.Ne3?? was an attempt to play for the win, but the problem was that there just wasn't a good follow-up. Nepomniachtchi proved it:

Fedoseev drew against GM Grigoriy Oparin in game one but then won an "equal" queen endgame that was difficult for his opponent to defend. The most instructive line is on move 50, where White can force the pawn endgame, allow both sides to queen, and then finally skewer the enemy queen.

Aronian blundered a piece at the end of game one, but up a pawn in the next game, Vidit returned the favor:

From a pawn-up endgame, Vidit lets slip a draw and then blunders into a loss! Aronian evens the score 1-1.https://t.co/fpiNtVhnbc#ChessChamps pic.twitter.com/6h5zhoMnas

— chess24 (@chess24com) September 26, 2024

It was an even 1-1 score, but the Armenian-American GM won both of the games that followed. Aronian won with a powerful passed e-pawn in game three and, finally, cleaned up the last game with a tactical blow. After Black's 28...Bc5??, Aronian showed that Loose Pieces Drop Off (LPDO!). 

Arjun has been on a tear in recent times. At the 45th Chess Olympiad, he won individual gold on board three and rose to the world number-three spot by rating. He and the victorious Indian teams met the prime minister earlier, and he didn't fail to impress in this match either.

Meeting our honourable Prime Minister Shri @narendramodi was an incredible experience. It was a dream come true for me. I am very grateful for his words of encouragement. Also I am very happy that chess is getting such huge recognition. Thankyou Sir! We hope to make you proud… pic.twitter.com/18BdDQzBua

— Arjun Erigaisi (@ArjunErigaisi) September 26, 2024

Arjun drew both of his white games and won twice with the black pieces, the opposite of common strategy. In the final game, he found a pretty—although not difficult for him—queen sacrifice on the road to checkmating his opponent.

You can listen to GM Hikaru Nakamura's video recap of Carlsen's and Arjun's victories below.

With that, all eight of our Division I players are now decided. One of the most exciting matchups in the Quarterfinals will be Carlsen vs. Nepomniachtchi, another settling of the scores after their 2021 world championship match.

Division II Placement: 

Lazavik was a finalist last year, and he has a chance to make it back if he can finish at least second in Division II. In the Play-in, he was undefeated, but he also drew five out of his nine games. He wasn't so timid on Thursday.

First, he defeated GM David Navara 1.5-0.5, but then he swept Guseinov 3-0. In our featured game against Guseinov, in game two, Lazavik sacrificed a knight for two connected passed pawns. He won the game with a direct assault on the king.

The tournament doesn't get any easier from here. Next, Lazavik will have to face Oparin, second of GM Fabiano Caruana and one of the best-prepared players on earth.

Division II Bracket

Division III Placement: Keymer Traps 1 Knight, Then Another

The players in Division III aren't going to make it to the CCT Finals, but they're still playing for a $7,500 first prize.

Among the many players in this division is Caruana, who lost four games in the Play-in and won't be in the Finals this year. He defeated GM Karthikeyan Murali with a 3-0 sweep and will be looking to score that first prize.

But we're going to focus on another sweep, Keymer's. The theme of his third game against Kollars was the knight trap. First he trapped a knight on c1, and then he trapped the remaining knight on the queenside as well. He finished the game with a light-squared attack, using his unopposed light-squared bishop.

Division III Placement Results

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 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