CrunchLabs Masters: Firouzja beats Nepo to reach Grand Final

Nepo knocks out Carlsen, then loses to Firouzja

The protagonists of the 2021 World Championship match in Dubai, Magnus Carlsen and Ian Nepomniachtchi, were paired up against each other in the semifinals of the Division I losers' bracket of the CrunchLab Masters. Alireza Firouzja, who came from losing the winners' bracket final, would face the winner of the all-star matchup.

Nepo and Carlsen drew twice to set up an Armageddon decider. Playing white, the Russian grandmaster scored a 71-move win with the black pieces. In the Champions Chess Tour Armageddons, contenders place a bid with the amount of time they are willing to play with the black pieces - thus getting draw odds. In this case, Nepo placed a bid of 7 minutes and 56 seconds, only 4 fewer seconds than Carlsen - the latter thus started the game with 10 minutes on his clock.

After beating the perennial favourite, Nepo again got the black pieces in the first game against Firouzja. The French representative scored a 39-move win (analysed below) and drew the following encounter to set up a rematch against Maxime Vachier-Lagrave. MVL had defeated Firouzja in the winners' bracket final, after having taken down Carlsen in an exciting match.

Players in Division I get a rest day before the Grand Final, which is set to take place on Wednesday. For Firouzja - i.e. the winner of the losers' bracket - to claim tournament victory, he needs to beat MVL twice, first in a 4-game match and then in a 2-game match, dubbed the Grand Final Reset.

Firouzja 1 - 0 Nepomniachtchi

Division I bracket

Master Class Vol.11: Vladimir Kramnik

This DVD allows you to learn from the example of one of the best players in the history of chess and from the explanations of the authors (Pelletier, Marin, Müller and Reeh) how to successfully organise your games strategically, consequently how to keep y

All games - Division I

Division II: Grischuk to face Vidit

In Divisions II and III, the Grand Finals will take place on Tuesday. In Division II, Alexander Grischuk gained the right to face Vidit Gujrathi in the Grand Final by winning the very competitive losers' bracket - Grischuk defeated Hikaru Nakamura in the final, after the latter had reached this stage by beating the ever-tricky Vladimir Fedoseev.

Much like Firouzja in Division I, Grischuk had reached the final of the winners' bracket, where he lost to Vidit in a thrilling Armageddon decider.

Grischuk 1 - 0 Nakamura

Division II bracket

Master advanced Tactics and Calculations like a super Grandmaster

The Indian chess grandmaster Vidit Gujrathi with an ELO of over 2700 (June 2023) is one of the best 20 players in the world. For the first time, the sympathetic top player presents himself in a video course. Let a world-class player show you tactical moti

All games - Division II

Division III

Arjun Erigaisi and Evgeny Alekseev reached the Grand Final in Division III. Once again, it was the player who had lost the final of the winners' bracket who made it to the Grand Final after winning the losers' bracket - in this case, 38-year-old Alekseev.

Division III bracket

Master Class Vol.17 - Boris Spassky

In this video course, experts including Dorian Rogozenco, Mihail Marin, Karsten Müller and Oliver Reeh, examine the games of Boris Spassky. Let them show you which openings Spassky chose to play, where his strength in middlegames were and much more.

All games - Division III

Links

• Official website
• Four ‘regular’ events and a grand finale in this year’s Champions Chess Tour
• Carlsen beats resilient Firouzja, wins Chessable Masters
• Firouzja takes down Carlsen to win Chess.com Classic