Carlsen beats resilient Firouzja, wins Chessable Masters

by Carlos Alberto Colodro
2/7/2024 – Magnus Carlsen won the Chessable Masters after defeating Alireza Firouzja in the Grand Final Reset of Division I. Firouzja started the day with two wins in a row, and obtained a draw in game 4 to set up a rematch. In the Reset, however, it was Carlsen who scored first. Firouzja then failed to make the most of an advantageous position, as he allowed Carlsen to turn the tables and get a 2-0 final victory.

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Carlsen uses his “extra life”

Magnus Carlsen continues to dominate the online-chess scene, as he defeated Alireza Firouzja to win the first event of this year’s Champions Chess Tour. The Norwegian won four out of seven events in last year’s edition, including the in-person Finals in Toronto.

Now, just two days before the start of the Freestyle Challenge in Germany, the world number one beat one of his most resilient rivals in an incredibly hard-fought pair of matches.

Since Carlsen had won the winners’ bracket, Firouzja needed to beat him in two consecutive matches to take the title. The youngster started strong, grabbing back-to-back wins, which meant Carlsen needed to score 2/2 in the remaining games to take the match to sudden-death.

Carlsen did win game 3, but a draw in game 4 meant a 2-game rematch would decide the tournament champion.

Chessable Masters 2024

In the Grand Final Reset, Carlsen got the white pieces first, and outplayed his opponent in a sharp position with kings castled on opposite sides.

Carlsen v. Firouzja - Game #1 (Grand Final Reset)

Black was already in trouble, with his monarch clearly more vulnerable than its white counterpart. Thus, the ever-resourceful Firouzja played 27...Ne4, the engines’ first suggestion.

A tactically alert Carlsen, however, also found the strongest move in the position: 28.Rxb6+, giving up an exchange while further weakening the black king’s position.

There followed 28...axb6 29.fxe4 Ka7 30.b5 fxe4 31.Bxe4

White has two pawns for the exchange and, more importantly, a better coordinated army facing a weakened king. Carlsen continued to make progress until getting the win on move 48.

It was Firouzja who was in a must-win situation now, and he was not in the mood to go down easily. The prodigious grandmaster, in fact, was in the driver’s seat in the late middlegame of the second encounter.

Firouzja v. Carlsen - Game #2 (Grand Final Reset)

Yet another double-edged struggle between two fighting contenders!

Here, White should be better in the long run thanks to his better structure and his strong queenside pawns. Carlsen, however, correctly assessed that he needed to create counterplay immediately, and continued with 32...f5.

In the ensuing battle, the former world champion outplayed his young rival, using his passed pawn on the e-file as his key weapon.

Firouzja resigned the game, and the match, after 39...e2.

Nevertheless, it was a brave attempt at taking down the perennial favourite by Firouzja, who came from winning the very competitive losers’ bracket. Carlsen later noted that he really needed his “extra life” in the Grand Final, as his opponent showed his usual resilience throughout the six games played on Wednesday.

Chessable Masters 2024

Carlsen v. Firouzja - Game #3 (Grand Final)

Expert analysis by GM Karsten Müller


Video analysis by IM Robert Ris


All games - Grand Final and Grand Final Reset

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MoveNResultEloPlayers
Position not in LiveBook
1.g3 d5 2.Nf3 g6 3.Bg2 Bg7 4.d4 Nf6 5.c4 c6 6.0-0 0-0 7.Nc3 dxc4 8.e4 b5 9.Qe2 a5 10.Rd1 Nbd7 11.d5 cxd5 12.e5 b4 13.exf6 Nxf6 14.Nb5 Bd7 15.a4 Bxb5 16.axb5 e6 17.Nd4 a4 18.Nc6 Qb6 19.Nxb4 Qxb5 20.Bd2 Nd7 21.Bc3 Nc5 22.h4 Nb3 23.Bxg7 Kxg7 24.Qe5+ f6 25.Qxe6 Qxb4 26.Rxd5 Ra7 27.Rad1 Re7 28.Rd7 Rff7 29.Rxe7 Rxe7 30.Rd7 Rxd7 31.Qxd7+ Kh6 32.Bd5 Qe1+ 33.Kg2 Nd2 34.Qa7 Qe5 35.Qc5 Kg7 36.Qa5 a3 37.bxa3 c3 38.Qa7+ Kh6 39.Qc5 c2 40.Qf8+ Kh5 41.Qf7 h6 42.Qd7 0–1
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WhiteEloWBlackEloBResYearECOEventRnd
Carlsen,M2894Firouzja,A28310–12024Division I4.1
Firouzja,A2840Carlsen,M28851–02024Division I4.2
Carlsen,M2876Firouzja,A28491–02024Division I4.3
Firouzja,A2842Carlsen,M2883½–½2024Division I4.4
Carlsen,M2882Firouzja,A28431–02024Division I5.1
Firouzja,A2836Carlsen,M28890–12024Division I5.2

Find all games of Division I at Live.ChessBase.com


In this Video-Course we deal with different dynamic decisions involving pawns. The aim of this Course is to arm club/tournament players with fresh ideas which they can use in their own practice.


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Carlos Colodro is a Hispanic Philologist from Bolivia. He works as a freelance translator and writer since 2012. A lot of his work is done in chess-related texts, as the game is one of his biggest interests, along with literature and music.

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