Firouzja Advances To Grand Final Vs. Carlsen, Eliminates Aronian With 2-0 Sweep

GM Alireza Firouzja has advanced to play GM Magnus Carlsen in the Julius Baer Generation Cup 2024 Division I Grand Final. GM Levon Aronian showed tremendous form when he defeated GM Maxime Vachier-Lagrave 1.5-0.5 but was met with an immovable Firouzja in the Losers Final. The French number-one won the match 2-0.

In Division II, GM Denis Lazavik defeated GM Jose Martinez 1.5-0.5 so that he will play GM Wesley So in the Grand Final. This will be the only Grand Final where the two participants haven't yet played each other in this event.

In Division III, GM Fabiano Caruana defeated GM Vincent Keymer once before in the Winners Final, but the young German number-one bounced back against GM Jules Moussard 1.5-0.5 in the Losers Final to stage a rematch in the Grand Final.

The three Grand Finals conclude the event, on Tuesday, October 1, starting at 11 a.m. ET / 17:00 CEST / 8:30 p.m. IST.

Division I Bracket

• Division I: Aronian Shows Great Form, Firouzja Shows Better
• Division II: Lazavik Overcomes Martinez In Rook Endgame
• Division III: Keymer Earns Rematch Vs. Caruana

Division I: Aronian Shows Great Form, Firouzja Shows Better

Losers Semifinals: Aronian 1.5-0.5 Vachier-Lagrave

We saw a vintage Aronian, who continued his good form from the 45th Chess Olympiad, in this event. He performed with at least 90 percent accuracy against all of his opponents—that is, until he ran into Firouzja in the Losers Final. Against Vachier-Lagrave, however, he played nearly perfectly.

After a draw in game one where both players exhibited approximately 98 percent accuracy, Aronian took the match in the second game. Vachier-Lagrave played provocatively with the black pieces and Aronian showed excellent technique to prove the advantage.

7.Rc8?! was the Frenchman's first liberty taken in the opening, leading to a closed position with less space for Black. But 9.h6 and 10...g5? took it too far. Aronian masterfully prosecuted the space advantage.

Losers Final: Aronian 0-2 Firouzja

The next match, however, was the end of the road for the Armenian-American grandmaster. With this victory, Firouzja has now finished at least second in every CCT event this year. Aronian's eliminated but receives $15,000 on his way out. He's also already clinched a spot in the CCT Finals through the leaderboard, and that comes with a minimum of $12,000.

Aronian, who'd been employing the French Defense with the black pieces this event, again essayed the Armenian Variation of the sharp Winawer Variation. He equalized comfortably and Firouzja admitted he hadn't even checked it before the match, though Aronian played it in St. Louis and earlier in this event. After equalizing, Aronian opted much later to go into an opposite-color bishop endgame with two pawns down.

Firouzja said, probably referring to the endgame before 34...e4?, "It's a bit tricky for Black, but it should not be a big deal. I was quite lucky to win that game." After the mistake, however, Firouzja efficiently used zugzwang to show that the endgame, in fact, was not defensible for Black.

Aronian came with a quirky surprise on move two (2.d3) in the next game, followed by a "Delayed King's Gambit" as GM David Howell called it, or an "Accelerated Vienna," as GM Robert Hess suggested.

Firouzja explained the complicated second game concisely, noting that he was already unhappy with his second move:

It's on move two I got outplayed already. 2.d3 Nf6 is not a great move, I think. It's the only trick and I fell for it. At least [it's] something to learn. But after, he's of course better, and so I had to kind of go for these complications, I think, and I felt like it's very tricky for me. It's very dangerous, but I just trusted my intuition there and just went for it, but I think with a few good moves he had a very good position.

GM Rafael Leitao goes over this incredibly complicated game in the annotations below.

Firouzja also explained the red Laughing Cow image on the wall behind him: he's staying at an Airbnb and has no clue why it's there. As for the chess, he has earned a rematch with Carlsen in the Grand Final. To win the tournament, he will have to defeat the world number-one twice, a feat he has already accomplished earlier this year.

Division II: Lazavik Overcomes Martinez In Rook Endgame

After a draw in game one (98 percent accuracy by both sides), Lazavik won a pawn-up rook endgame to take the match. As is often the case with rook endgames, Martinez did have a defense, but he was down to his last three seconds. Lazavik put him in zugzwang later to win a second pawn.

Lazavik will have to defeat So two times on Tuesday if he's to win Division II. 

Division II Bracket

Division III: Keymer Earns Rematch Vs. Caruana

Former World Championship Challenger Boris Gelfand came incredibly close to playing in the Losers Final. In his match against Keymer, which started with two draws, he was winning in the armageddon game but lost on time—by three seconds, with the extra piece. In armageddon, unlike in the regular games, there is no increment.

Keymer then won the first game against Moussard in the Losers Final and drew the second. It was another rook endgame, and in this one Moussard sacrificed a pawn temporarily for activity. It turned out, however, that the sacrifice wasn't so temporary after all. It was another rook endgame that was too difficult to defend in a rapid game.

With that, Keymer will face Caruana in the Grand Final and will have to win twice. Caruana won their previous match 2.5-0.5. He'll have two chances—in case he loses the first match—to do it again.

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 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