Caruana Storms Back To Division I After Armageddon Win Vs. Dreev

GMs Fabiano Caruana, Amin Tabatabaei, and Pavel Eljanov emerged victorious in the 2023 Julius Baer Generation Cup Play-in on Tuesday. They will join GMs Magnus Carlsen, Wesley So, Nodirbek Abdusattorov, and Denis Lazavik, who claimed their spots in the Aimchess Rapid, the previous CCT event.

Due to a DDoS attack on Monday that interrupted the tournament (and the Chess.com website), the Play-in concluded on Tuesday. GMs Alireza Firouzja and Eduardo Iturrizaga were unable to play their match and the last Division I spot will be rescheduled for a later date—just one of them will make it through.

Updated on 8/30/2023: Firouzja won the match 2-1 and advanced to the knockout.

The knockout tournament begins on Wednesday, August 30, starting at 11 a.m. ET / 17:00 CEST / 20:30 IST.

• Swiss
• Match Play 

Swiss

Caruana was one of the favorites in the field of 169 mostly-grandmaster participants. He reached the Grand Final two times in previous CCT events, but has yet to win one and thus to secure his seat in the December Finals. In the Aimchess Rapid Division I, he was unable to finish in the top three, so he had to qualify once again through the Play-in. 

Tabatabaei had the best start to the Swiss tournament and was the last player on a perfect score after five rounds. In round six, however, the U.S. champion brought the Iranian GM's sole lead to an end. The latter seemed to overestimate a knight sacrifice in the endgame.

In the very next round with the black pieces, the American GM took down his co-leader on 5.5/6, Firouzja, to take the sole lead. He made two quick draws, with GM Ian Nepomniachtchi and then Iturrizaga, to close out the tournament in first place with 7.5/9. 

Despite suffering his only loss in the tournament to Caruana, Firouzja finished in tied-second. GM Pavel Eljanov won on demand with Black in a time scramble against GM Levon Aronian in the last round to finish on the same score as Firouzja.

With so many games, there are bound to be unusual stories and results that can sometimes go unnoticed. A curious endgame occurred between GMs David Anton Guijarro and Gadir Guseinov, where promoting to a second queen actually lost the game.

In addition, 18-year-old Azerbaijani GM Aydin Suleymanli certainly deserves an honorable mention for a terrific start where he took down four world-class grandmasters in a row, but had a less stellar performance in the second half.

Tiebreak scores are incredibly important in the final standings of the Swiss and can spell the difference between making or not making Division I. A giant crowd of 11 players finished with 6.5 points, but just five of them would move on to match play for Division I.

Results | Play-In Swiss (Top 20)

(See full results here.)

Match Play

The top-eight finishers in the Swiss played a two-game match to decide the four players who would play in Division I next month. The favorites did not all win their matches. Notably, Tabatabaei sent Nepomniachtchi to Division II. Due to a scheduling conflict, Firouzja and Iturrizaga will play their match at a later date. 

The Tabatabaei-Nepomniachtchi match was the most shocking. Just when commentator Pruess said he saw no way for the game to end in anything but a draw, a lazy king move by Nepomniachtchi allowed his opponent's passed pawn to advance to touchdown. 

After a shocking blunder, Amin Tabatabaei takes down Ian Nepomniachtchi with the black pieces!

Nepo is in a must-win situation with Black in the next game to make it into Division I. #ChessChamps #JuliusBaerGenerationCup pic.twitter.com/0gdt4ciZFc

— chess24.com (@chess24com) July 25, 2023

Nepomniachtchi was in a must-win situation with Black in the next game, but the Iranian grandmaster shut down any chances and drew a rook endgame to win the match. 

Caruana vs. GM Alexey Dreev was an intriguing match that went down to armageddon. After the American GM won the first game, his 54-year-old opponent won on demand in the next. However, Caruana managed to secure his spot in Division I with a black win in the tiebreak.

The first game in that match was the most impressive, though, where Caruana struck hard on the e6-square, first with a pawn sacrifice and then with a combination involving 13.Rxe6. He went on to outplay his opponent with two minor pieces for a rook.

This is our Game of the Day and has been annotated by GM Rafael Leitao below.

The last match was Eljanov vs. GM Rauf Mamedov. The Ukrainian grandmaster completed his journey to Division I by winning both games.

In the first game, Mamedov seemed to mouse-slip as he allowed a forced mate-in-two (although he was defending a pawn-down position anyway). 

The commentators pull up an analysis board, but the game is already over! Pavel Eljanov wins game one immediately with a mate-in-two.#ChessChamps #JuliusBaerGenerationCup pic.twitter.com/AFXfQobZwP

— chess24.com (@chess24com) July 25, 2023

Mamedov was in a must-win situation with White in the second game, but after he overextended in a Caro-Kann Defense, Black went on to win that game as well.

Seven of the eight players have been determined for the knockout stage, which will commence in a month. Firouzja vs. Iturrizaga will determine the last spot. Will Carlsen claim another tournament victory? Will So claim his first? Or will we perhaps see a fresh new face crowned champion?

The Champions Chess Tour 2023 (CCT) is the biggest online tournament of the year. It is composed of six events that span the entire year and culminate in live in-person finals. With the best players in the world and a prize fund of $2,000,000, the CCT is Chess.com's most important event yet.

Previous Coverage

• • Julius Baer Generation Cup Named As Next Champions Chess Tour Event