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Caruana Blunders 2 Rooks But Still Sets Up Carlsen Final
Caruana won a fantastic match against Aronian to join Carlsen in the Final. Photo: Maria Emelianova/Chess.com.

Caruana Blunders 2 Rooks But Still Sets Up Carlsen Final

Colin_McGourty
Colin_McGourty
Staff
| 30 | Chess Event Coverage

They may be playing Chess960 instead of regular chess, but it's world number-one Magnus Carlsen and number-two Fabiano Caruana who will contest the Final of the 2024 Freestyle Chess G.O.A.T. Challenge after Carlsen eased past GM Nodirbek Abdusattorov, while Caruana won an epic clash with GM Levon Aronian that went all the way to armageddon. GM Alireza Firouzja will take on GM Gukesh Dommaraju in the battle for fifth place. 

The Final begins on Thursday, February 15, at 7 a.m. ET / 13:00 CET / 5:30 p.m. IST.  

Carlsen made a painless draw to reach the Final, but Aronian spent Valentine's Day locked in a seven-hour, six-game thriller against Caruana.  

Semifinals Results

Carlsen Doesn't Give Abdusattorov A Chance

Carlsen has found his form in Germany. Photo: Maria Emelianova/Chess.com.

When Peter Doggers asked if the Semifinal against Abdusattorov had been as tough as expected, Carlsen responded: "No, not really, I think yesterday’s game was really a very, very tough one, it could have gone either way, but today he never really got a position where he could play for anything, and then it’s hard to use his abilities there."

Carlsen, who needed only a draw, came to the game in high spirits, and was ready to sacrifice a pawn as early as move three.

As on the previous day, his young Uzbek opponent didn't take him up on the offer, and an intense battle ensued. On his second appearance in the confessional, Carlsen was having even more fun:

"I love this game! We spent half our thinking time over the first seven moves, where the armies just didn’t come into contact at all really, and now it’s all heating up very, very quickly. The kings are going to be exposed, it’s going to be hard for either side to castle. I do think he’s about to bamboozle me tactically somehow, but I don’t really see it!" 

I do think he's about to bamboozle me tactically somehow, but I don't really see it!

—Magnus Carlsen

Instead it turned out it was Carlsen who did all the bamboozling, with 14.Qa4? b5! the point at which a difficult position for White became a lost one. From there on it was all one-way traffic, until the world number-one allowed a draw by repetition to secure a spot in the Final.

Carlsen's words were ominous when asked about that match: "I’m calm, I’m spending my time, I feel like I’m hitting my form, I’m very optimistic!"

Confessing isn't supposed to be so much fun. Photo: Maria Emelianova/Chess.com.

He got to watch as his opponent was decided in a grueling, gut-wrenching, seven-hour battle.  

Caruana Gets Revenge Against Aronian


Caruana came into day two of the Semifinals needing to win on demand against Aronian, and that's just what he did, with the first game going as well for him as it had for his opponent the day before: "I think the classical game was my best game. I think that was just a very good game. I didn’t really get much from the opening, but at some point I think I evaluated the position better than Levon." 

We saw that was true during the game, since Aronian appeared in the confessional to explain that 14.Bxc5! wasn't a threat. It was, and by the time he realized that, it was too late. Caruana powered home with a brilliant attack in his opponent's time-trouble. 

 That's our Game of the Day and has been analyzed by GM Rafael Leitao below:

GM Rafael Leitao GotD

When your opponent resigns one move before checkmate. Photo: Maria Emelianova/Chess.com.

That meant tiebreaks, and in the first 15+10 rapid game the momentum continued, with Caruana tricking Aronian in the middlegame to gain a big advantage, but then, as his heart rate climbed, he suddenly blundered a whole rook and the game.

He needed to hit back again, and he did, with a little help from some wild opening play from Aronian. 

His move-two queen foray was a double attack on the undefended c2 and b4-pawns, but after 3.a3! taking the c2-pawn would simply run into Rc1. The queen lurched around the board as Caruana built up his forces and went on to win a fine game to take the match to blitz.

Aronian found some time to relax between the games. Photo: Maria Emelianova/Chess.com.

Aronian's shaky opening play continued in the 5+2 blitz, and Caruana was better with Black by move three before going on to win a game in which only his time handling and heart rate gave cause for concern. Finally the world number-two had taken the lead in the match, and only needed a draw in the second blitz game... but in a position he would normally draw at will, lightning struck twice.

Here Caruana played 40.Rb7??, released the piece, and realized he was blundering his rook to 40...Nxb7. He picked up the rook again, then resigned. His heart rate had hit a staggering 170. 

Caruana said of that number: "I can feel my heartbeat at some points, so I figure it’s pretty high—that’s usually a sign that it’s getting up there... Maybe I reached the highest, the world record already!" 

It would all end well for Caruana. Photo: Maria Emelianova/Chess.com.

He'd suffered a huge blow, but there were two reasons he gave for being able to handle the armageddon game that followed. One was the format, which he said is "just all instincts—you can’t think too much about what happened in the past because there’s no time!" The other factor was how the day had gone:

"I felt like my intuition was good. I did donate two rooks to Levon today, so that was the main problem, but my opening play was quite reasonable and I was outplaying him in the opening in most games, so I was quite confident that I would be able to play quickly and maybe get a decent position."

I did donate two rooks to Levon today, so that was the main problem!

—Fabiano Caruana 

Caruana won the bid to get the black pieces, and draw odds, by offering to play with four minutes and 11 seconds, while Aronian, who bid a few seconds more, got the white pieces and five minutes on his clock. As it happened, however, Caruana played the opening both more precisely and faster, so that his opponent was soon left in a desperate situation. It made for spectacular chess, with Aronian punting 24.Nxg7!?, which strictly speaking could have lost on the spot to 24...Rc2!!.

Caruana, who said he was "still a bit shaken" after "a crazy match," called this "a bit of revenge" for a mirror-match with seven decisive games that he'd lost in armageddon to Aronian in last year's American Cup.   

What does Caruana think of his upcoming Final against Carlsen? "I’m happy just to be there and I’ll do my best. In general, I’m enjoying the time here. I like playing this kind of chess—it’s fun!"

Aronian, meanwhile, will take on Abdusattorov in the third-place match. He was preparing by taking up the challenge of writing a Freestyle Chess rap! 

A certain Dutch GM hit back.

Let's hope Freestyle Chess can help inspire these guys to stick to their chess careers for a while yet.

Gukesh Reawakens To Earn Showdown With Firouzja

The battle for fifth place—and an automatic invite to next year's event—inevitably struggled to compete with the drama elsewhere, especially as Firouzja eased into the Final with a draw against Ding in which the queens were exchanged by move seven. That wasn't the whole story, as for once the world champion seemed to have some chances in the simplified position, but Firouzja was precise when he needed to be and, once again in the tournament, it didn't feel as though Ding had the desire and tenacity needed to beat the world's best players. 

Firouzja defeated Ding with a minimum of fuss. Photo: Maria Emelianova/Chess.com.

The other match-up was very different, as Gukesh, who had failed to win a game since a three-game winning streak on day one, suddenly sprang into life.

Gukesh has had a strange event but can still end on a high. Photo: Maria Emelianova/Chess.com.

Keymer, needing only a draw in the classical game, admitted in the confessional, "There’s not exactly much reason to be proud with the way I've played so far!" It was a one-sided game, with Gukesh completely winning without needing to move his rooks or king.

Gukesh was on a roll, and scored an equally impressive win in the first rapid tiebreak. After 31...Re8 he spotted the somewhat surprising quickest win.

That could have been just the start of another great tiebreak battle, since Keymer was completely winning with the white pieces in the next game, but the young German star picked the wrong moment to swap off queens and allowed a draw.

Moments before resignation. Photo: Maria Emelianova/Chess.com.

After impressing for most of the event, Keymer will be playing for only seventh place in his final match—though he does take on the world champion! 

The Freestyle Chess G.O.A.T. Challenge takes place February 9-16, 2024 in the Weissenhaus Private Nature Luxury Resort, Germany. All games are Chess960. It starts with a seven-round rapid tournament to decide pairings before a classical knockout tournament with two-game matches. A tie is decided by two 15+10 rapid games, then, if needed, two 5+2 blitz games, then finally an armageddon game. The prize fund is $200,000 with $60,000 for first place.

How to watch?
You can watch the Freestyle Chess G.O.A.T. Challenge on Chess.com/TV. You can also enjoy the show on Twitch and catch all our live broadcasts on YouTube.com/Chess24. The games can also be followed from our Events Page.

The live broadcast of the day, hosted by IM Tania Sachdev, GM Peter Leko, GM Niclas Huschenbeth, and WIM Fiona Steil-Antoni.

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Colin_McGourty
Colin McGourty

Colin McGourty led news at Chess24 from its launch until it merged with Chess.com a decade later. An amateur player, he got into chess writing when he set up the website Chess in Translation after previously studying Slavic languages and literature in St. Andrews, Odesa, Oxford, and Krakow.

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