CrunchLabs Masters: Firouzja beats Nepo to reach Grand Final

by Carlos Alberto Colodro
7/23/2024 – Alireza Firouzja advanced to the Division I Grand Final in the online CrunchLab Masters by beating Ian Nepomniachtchi in the losers' bracket final. On Wednesday, following a rest day, Firouzja will face Maxime Vachier-Lagrave, who had already defeated Firouzja in the winners' bracket final. In Division II, Alexander Grischuk and Vidit Gujrathi reached the Grand Final, while Arjun Erigaisi and Evgeny Alekseev will face off in the Grand Final of Division III. | Photo: Tata Steel Chess Tournament / Lennart Ootes

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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

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

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

All games - Division III

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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.