Carlsen Reaches Grand Final, Defeats Dark Horse Lazavik

On day five, GM Magnus Carlsen claimed his spot in the Grand Final of the 2024 Champions Chess Tour Chessable Masters. He defeated GM Denis Lazavik 2.5-1.5 in the Winners Final on Sunday. 

In the Division I Losers Quarterfinals, the favorites moved forward. GMs Ian Nepomniachtchi and Alireza Firouzja respectively eliminated GMs Vladimir Fedoseev and Jose Martinez.

In Division II, GMs Levon Aronian and Vincent Keymer have reached the Winners Final. GM Alexander Grischuk will face GM Alexey Sarana in the Winners Final of Division III.

Day six begins on Monday, February 5, starting at 11 a.m. ET / 17:00 CET / 9:30 p.m. IST.

Division I Bracket

• Division I: Lazavik Beats Carlsen For First Time, But Number-1 Shuts Down Upset
• Division II: Aronian's Back In Business
• Division III: Sarana To Play Grischuk In Winners

Division I: Lazavik Beats Carlsen For First Time, But Number-1 Shuts Down Upset

Going into day five, our models predicted a 90 percent chance of Carlsen winning the tournament. Against Lazavik, the world number-one inched closer to achieving that objective. He's now in his fifth Grand Final out of a possible six (finishing third in the 2023 Chessable Masters). 

In the Losers Bracket, Martinez and Fedoseev bid the tournament goodbye on Sunday, and each earned $10,000 for reaching day five. 

Winners Final: Carlsen 2.5-1.5 Lazavik

Nearly half Carlsen's age, Lazavik is the biggest dark horse of the tournament. The world number-one said on the previous day: "He's defeated a murderer's row of players just to get here, so certainly not easy. I have to up my game a bit."

Every single one of the four regular games was tense. Carlsen won the first game after applying tons of pressure on the clock and board, but the teenager showed in the next games that he will not go easy into that good night.

Lazavik, incredibly, held an endgame with 10 seconds against over three minutes—before defeating the world champion for the first time in his life in game three. 

"Magnus resigns! Denis takes a historic victory!" (David)

We have a tied score going into the last game, with Denis having the white pieces.#ChessChamps #ChessableMasters pic.twitter.com/Q7kk25U9uJ

— chess24.com (@chess24com) February 4, 2024

This upset of a lifetime is our Game of the Day, and GM Rafael Leitao shares his analysis below. 

"It obviously became very difficult after game three," said Carlsen after the match. "I was pretty tired by the way the match was going."

Still, Carlsen managed to get the job done in game four—without going to armageddon. Lazavik, once again, stubbornly defended for most of the game, but with little time he collapsed in the endgame after trading queens. 

"With some luck, he could've won," said Carlsen about his opponent. "He's just fundamentally very sound. Good understanding. He's not easy to break down. I think with some experience he's going to become a top player."

I think with some experience he's going to become a top player.

—Magnus Carlsen

Carlsen will have two rest days, when he will travel to Germany where he will be playing the Freestyle Chess G.O.A.T. Challenge 2024. Meanwhile, Lazavik will play the winner of Nepomniachtchi vs. Firouzja in the Losers Final for a chance at a rematch with Carlsen. 

Losers Quarterfinals

Fedoseev 1-2 Nepomniachtchi

After losing a rook endgame, Fedoseev won on demand in game two, showing great tenacity as he did against Carlsen the previous day. The two-time Candidates winner, however, managed to win a close armageddon game to advance.

After winning game one, Nepomniachtchi was winning for most of game two as well, and a 2-0 match victory seemed like a foregone conclusion. But the ill-timed 46.f4?? left his pieces as poor spectators to the march of the passed d-pawn.

With 10 minutes against Fedoseev's seven minutes and 35 seconds in the armageddon, Nepomniachtchi would have to "re-win" the match. Both sides were winning at various points of the nervous time-trouble frenzy, but the final mistake came just after Fedoseev built a fortress. 

After Black's natural 55...Rd7??, White had one more trick up his sleeve, and Fedoseev knew his fate once the miraculous 57.Kh6! appeared on the board.

Firouzja 1.5-0.5 Martinez 

After a solid draw in game one, Firouzja managed to win a topsy-turvy game two. He won a pawn in the middlegame, but the resilient Peruvian GM drummed up enough counterplay to get back into the game. 

In the end, getting close to potentially holding a difficult draw, Martinez found the right idea—a knight sacrifice—but the wrong execution, and Firouzja converted with the extra piece.

Division II: Aronian's Back In Business

The former world number-two and five-time Candidates participant Aronian showed his class against GM Vladislav Artemiev in the Winners Semifinals. 21.Rad1!!, sacrificing a pawn and temporarily a piece, prepared a brilliant set of rook sacrifices that broke down the black defense.

In the other Winners Semifinals match, Keymer defeated GM Benjamin Bok only in the armageddon, on demand with White. With Keymer less than half Aronian's age, the Winners Final should be a fascinating clash of generations.

You can find the full brackets and pairings for Division II here. 

Division III: Sarana To Play Grischuk In Winners

Grischuk defeated GM Eltaj Safarli with five draws, having Black in the armageddon tiebreaker. On the other hand, Sarana convincingly took down GM David Paravyan with a more one-sided 2.5-0.5 score.

The first game featured an insane heavy-piece endgame where "best play" showed White drawing with three connected passed pawns for a rook. Instead, we saw Black "sacrifice" his queen for a touchdown with his own passers.

Will Sarana be able to show the same killer form against the three-time world blitz chess champion?

You can find the full brackets and pairings for Division III here. 

The 2024 Chessable Masters is the first of its four events and determines one of the players who'll make it to the in-person CCT Finals. The event starts on January 31 at 11 a.m. ET/17:00 CET and features a $300,000 prize fund.

Previous coverage:

• • Carlsen Reaches Winners Final Vs. Lazavik
  • Fedoseev, Martinez, Lazavik Prevail Against Top-20 Players
  • Lazavik Beats Nakamura 2-0; Dubov Plays Brilliancy
  • Martinez Wins Play-in On His Birthday
  • Faster And Fitter: Champions Chess Tour 2024 Returns With Chessable Masters