Generation Cup: Carlsen, Keymer, Arjun and Le in semis

by Carlos Alberto Colodro
9/23/2022 – Magnus Carlsen, Vincent Keymer (pictured), Arjun Erigaisi and Le Quang Liem advanced to the semifinals of the Generation Cup. All four quarterfinal matchups offered a dose of excitement, as every single semifinalist lost at least one game on Thursday. While Le is set to play Arjun in semis, Keymer will have the tough task of facing Carlsen in a 4-game confrontation. | Photo: Lars OA Hedlund

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Arjun knocks out Yoo in tiebreaks

None of the four quarterfinal matches finished ‘ahead of schedule’ — i.e. after three games — in the Julius Baer Generation Cup. Moreover, all the contests offered a dose of excitement, with three of them seeing the contenders trading wins in the first two rapid encounters of the day. In the end, Magnus Carlsen, Vincent Keymer, Arjun Erigaisi and Le Quang Liem advanced to the semifinals.

Out of the four matches, the most exciting certainly was the one facing Arjun Erigaisi and Christopher Yoo. Yoo, who is the youngest player in the field at 15, impressed by reaching the knockout, and continued his run of good form in the quarterfinals. 

Facing Arjun, who has climbed to the 18th spot in the world ranking (!), Yoo won both his rapid games with the white pieces. What is more, he scored his second victory in a must-win situation — and he did not shy away from trading his queen for a rook and a bishop in the middlegame.

 
Yoo vs. Arjun - Game #4

31.Re1 was by no means forced (31.Qd3 or 31.Qd1 were both perfectly playable), but Yoo decided to create a material imbalance by allowing 31...Bxd2 32.Rxe8+ Kh7 33.Nxd2 Be6

 

White got good piece play along the dark squares, but of course having the extra queen gives Black plenty of flexibility. The struggle that ensued saw Arjun missing a couple of chances to get a large advantage, but it was the Indian who faltered last in the complications. After 60 moves, Yoo prevailed, and thus took the match to blitz tiebreakers.

In the blitz deciders, Arjun kicked off with a win and safely held a draw with black to get match victory. It was, nevertheless, a valiant showing by the 15-year-old US grandmaster.

 
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1.d4 Nf6 2.c4 e6 3.Nc3 Bb4 4.e3 0-0 5.Bd3 d5 6.a3 Be7 7.Nf3 dxc4 8.Bxc4 c5 9.0-0 cxd4 10.exd4 Nc6 11.Re1 b6 12.d5 Na5 13.Ba2 exd5 14.Nxd5 Nxd5 15.Qxd5 Be6 16.Qxd8 Raxd8 17.Bxe6 fxe6 18.b4 Bf6 19.Ra2 Bc3 20.Rf1 Nb3 21.Be3 Bf6 22.Rb1 e5 23.h4 Rd3 24.g3 e4 25.Ne1 Rc3 26.Rd1 Rfc8 27.Kf1 R3c4 28.Re2 a5 29.b5 Bd4 30.Ng2 a4 31.h5 R8c5 32.g4 Rxb5 33.Nh4 g6 34.hxg6 hxg6 35.Nxg6 Kf7 36.Nh4 Bxe3 37.Rxe3 Rc2 38.Nf5 Nd2+ 39.Kg2 Rbb2 40.Kg3 Rb3 41.Kf4 Rxe3 42.fxe3 Nc4 43.Nd6+ Nxd6 44.Rxd6 b5 45.Rb6 Rb2 46.Kf5 Rb3 47.Rb7+ Kg8 48.Kxe4 Rxa3 49.Rxb5 Ra1 50.Kf5 Rf1+ 51.Kg6 Kf8 52.g5 a3 53.Ra5 Ra1 54.Ra7 a2 55.e4 Ke8 56.e5 Kf8 57.e6 Ke8 58.e7 Rb1 59.Rxa2 Rg1 60.Re2 Rg3 61.Kh6 Rh3+ 62.Kg7 Rg3 63.g6 Rg1 64.Re5 Rg2 65.Kh6 Rh2+ 66.Rh5 Rg2 67.g7 Kxe7 68.Kh7 Kf7 69.Rf5+ Ke6 70.Rf1 Rh2+ 71.Kg8 Ra2 72.Rh1 Kf6 73.Kh8 1–0
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WhiteEloWBlackEloBResYearECOEventRnd
Erigaisi,A2725Yoo,C25631–02022E48Julius Baer GenCup KO1
Yoo,C2563Erigaisi,A27251–02022B76Julius Baer GenCup KO2
Erigaisi,A2725Yoo,C25631–02022D31Julius Baer GenCup KO3
Yoo,C2563Erigaisi,A27251–02022C67Julius Baer GenCup KO4
Erigaisi,A2725Yoo,C25631–02022E47Julius Baer GenCup KO5
Yoo,C2563Erigaisi,A2725½–½2022E60Julius Baer GenCup KO6

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Carlsen receives ‘massive gift’

The world champion got a 3-1 victory over Levon Aronian, but the match score is somewhat misleading — Aronian kicked off with a win, then blundered early in the second game, and played fighting chess before losing a double-edged fourth encounter. 

Aronian’s win in game 1 was very impressive. But then came what commentator Peter Leko described as “the most shocking development I have ever seen in a top-level match”.

 
Aronian vs. Carlsen - Game #2

12.Bd3 gives way to 12...0-0-0, pinning the bishop, and White is already in deep trouble! Trying to hang on to the bishop with 13.Qe2 is positional suicide due to 13...Bg4, as the white king is still in the centre of the board. Aronian, therefore, decided to play a piece down after 31.0-0 Nb4, and surprisingly continued fighting until move 48.

However, there was little doubt that Carlsen would eventually convert his considerable advantage to tie the match.

Wins in games 3 and 4 gave Carlsen the ticket to the semifinals, where he will face German prodigy Vincent Keymer. The world champion later reflected:

It was kind of a weird match. [...] Obviously I got a massive gift in the second game and I felt like after that I was pretty much in control.

 
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1.d4 d5 2.c4 dxc4 3.e3 Nf6 4.Bxc4 e6 5.Nf3 c5 6.0-0 a6 7.Be2 Nbd7 8.Nc3 b5 9.d5 exd5 10.Nxd5 Bb7 11.Nxf6+ Qxf6 12.a4 b4 13.Ra2 Ne5 14.Nxe5 Qxe5 15.b3 Bd6 16.f4 Qe7 17.Bc4 0-0 18.Qg4 Kh8 19.Re2 f5 20.Qg3 Rad8 21.Bb2 Bc7 22.h4 Bd5 23.Bxd5 Rxd5 24.e4 fxe4 25.Rxe4 Qf7 26.Rfe1 Bd6 27.Re8 Kg8 28.Qf3 Rd2 29.Rxf8+ Bxf8 30.Bc1 Rc2 31.f5 c4 32.bxc4 Qxc4 33.Bf4 Rc3 34.Qg4 Qd4+ 35.Kh2 Rc4 36.Rf1 Bd6 37.g3 Bxf4 38.Rxf4 Qd2+ 39.Kh3 Rxf4 40.gxf4 Qd7 41.Qe2 Qxf5+ 42.Kg3 Qg6+ 43.Kh2 Qc6 44.Qe5 Qc2+ 45.Kg1 Qc8 46.Qd6 a5 47.Qd5+ Kh8 48.Qxa5 Qb8 49.Qf5 b3 50.a5 h6 51.Qb1 b2 52.Kf2 Qxf4+ 0–1
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WhiteEloWBlackEloBResYearECOEventRnd
Carlsen,M2861Aronian,L27590–12022D27Julius Baer GenCup KO1
Aronian,L2759Carlsen,M28610–12022D41Julius Baer GenCup KO2
Carlsen,M2861Aronian,L27591–02022D23Julius Baer GenCup KO3
Aronian,L2759Carlsen,M28610–12022B30Julius Baer GenCup KO4

Le knocks out Niemann

Much like both aforementioned matches, Le Quang Liem and Hans Niemann traded wins in the first two games. Le, playing black, went on to draw game 3, and a win in the fourth encounter gained him the right to face Arjun in Friday’s semifinals.

A rapidplay specialist, Le correctly offered to simplify into a rook endgame in the following position arising from a Semi-Tarrasch variation.

 
Le vs. Niemann - Game #4

After 31...Bxd6 32.Rxd6, the Vietnamese grandmaster did not have much trouble converting the rook endgame — with a strong central passer — into a 44-move win.

 
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1.c4 c5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.g3 g6 4.Bg2 Bg7 5.Nc3 Nh6 6.d3 Nf5 7.0-0 d6 8.Qd2 h5 9.h3 Bd7 10.b3 Qc8 11.Bb2 Nfd4 12.Nxd4 cxd4 13.Nd5 Bxh3 14.Nc7+ Qxc7 15.Bxh3 0-0 16.b4 a6 17.a4 e6 18.Bg2 a5 19.b5 Nb8 20.Qf4 Nd7 21.Ba3 Be5 22.Qf3 Rab8 23.Rfb1 b6 24.Qc6 Qd8 25.f4 Rc8 26.Qf3 Bf6 27.Bxd6 Be7 28.Bxe7 Qxe7 29.e4 Nc5 30.e5 f5 31.exf6 Qxf6 32.Re1 Rc7 33.Re2 h4 34.Rae1 Qf5 35.gxh4 Qxd3 36.Rxe6 Qxf3 37.Bxf3 Nxe6 38.Rxe6 Rxf4 39.Be2 Kg7 40.Rxb6 Re7 41.Bd3 Re3 0–1
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WhiteEloWBlackEloBResYearECOEventRnd
Niemann,H2688Le,Q27280–12022A37Julius Baer GenCup KO1
Le,Q2728Niemann,H26880–12022E15Julius Baer GenCup KO2
Niemann,H2688Le,Q2728½–½2022A37Julius Baer GenCup KO3
Le,Q2728Niemann,H26881–02022D40Julius Baer GenCup KO4

Keymer wins battle of 17-year-olds

Two incredibly strong 17-year-old grandmasters were paired up against each other in the quarterfinals. With wins in games 1 and 4, Vincent Keymer prevailed over Praggnanandhaa Rameshbabu. The German star will face world champion Magnus Carlsen in the semifinals.

Keymer got to play a good-looking final move in the first game of the match.

 
Keymer vs. Praggnanandhaa - Game #1

The f7-pawn is protected by the d6-knight and the queen on c7. Nonetheless, after 43.Ngxf7+ Black can only resign, since 43...Nxf7 fails to 44.Ng6#. Game over. 

 
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1.d4 d5 2.Nf3 Nf6 3.e3 c5 4.Be2 Nc6 5.c3 cxd4 6.exd4 Bg4 7.Bf4 e6 8.Nbd2 Bd6 9.Bxd6 Qxd6 10.0-0 0-0 11.Re1 Qc7 12.a4 Rab8 13.h3 Bh5 14.Bd3 a6 15.Qe2 Rfe8 16.Qe3 Bg6 17.Bxg6 hxg6 18.Ne5 Nd7 19.Nd3 Na5 20.Nf3 Nc4 21.Qg5 a5 22.Rac1 Nd6 23.Qf4 Rec8 24.Ng5 Nf8 25.h4 b5 26.axb5 Rxb5 27.Qg4 Nd7 28.Qh3 Nf6 29.Re2 Rcb8 30.Rcc2 R5b6 31.Ne5 a4 32.g4 a3 33.bxa3 Rb1+ 34.Kg2 Ra1 35.Ra2 Rd1 36.Rab2 Ra8 37.Rb3 Ra1 38.h5 gxh5 39.gxh5 R1xa3 40.Rxa3 Rxa3 41.h6 Rxc3 42.h7+ Kh8 43.Ngxf7+ 1–0
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WhiteEloWBlackEloBResYearECOEventRnd
Keymer,V2693Praggnanandhaa,R26761–02022D04Julius Baer GenCup KO1
Praggnanandhaa,R2676Keymer,V2693½–½2022D41Julius Baer GenCup KO2
Keymer,V2693Praggnanandhaa,R2676½–½2022D04Julius Baer GenCup KO3
Praggnanandhaa,R2676Keymer,V26930–12022A08Julius Baer GenCup KO4

Julius Baer Generation Cup 2022


The nasty Nimzowisch Defence

Its primary focus is a version of the Pirc Defence after 1.e4 Nc6 2.Nf3 d6 3.d4 Nf6 4.Nc3 g6 where Black has avoided the sharpest variations, at the small cost of some flexibility, since his knight is already committed to c6.Christian Bauer will also reco


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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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