Magnus Carlsen beats Alireza Firouzja to win Julius Baer Generation Cup

by Carlos Alberto Colodro
10/2/2024 – Magnus Carlsen secured victory in the Grand Final of the Julius Baer Generation Cup by defeating Alireza Firouzja with a 2½-1½ score. Carlsen, who had already triumphed in the winners' bracket, drew the first three games before clinching the win in the fourth. Firouzja and Carlsen finished at the top of the Champions Chess Tour standings, earning spots in the prestigious in-person final event, which will be held in December in Oslo. They will join six other qualified participants in the battle for the series' title.
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"My best match so far"

Magnus Carlsen and Alireza Firouzja have dominated this year’s Champions Chess Tour, reaching the Grand Final in three out of the four events. Carlsen bested his younger rival at the Chessable Masters in February, while Firouzja claimed victory over the former world champion at the Chess.com Classic in May. In their latest encounter at the Julius Baer Generation Cup, it was Carlsen who prevailed, securing a 2½-1½ victory in a tense deciding match.

Despite winning two out of their three Grand Finals, Carlsen currently sits second in the overall tour standings, as Firouzja's runner-up finish at the CrunchLabs Masters gave him a slight edge. That tournament was won by Maxime Vachier-Lagrave, while Carlsen was eliminated by Ian Nepomniachtchi in the semifinals of the losers' bracket. Firouzja and Carlsen, along with MVL, Nepomniachtchi, Wesley So, Denis Lazavik, Vincent Keymer, and Levon Aronian, have qualified for the in-person final event in Oslo this December.

Champions Chess Tour 2024

Tuesday's Grand Final was a tightly fought contest, with all three of the initial games ending in draws. The second game was particularly dramatic, as Carlsen managed to salvage a draw from a losing position. In the decisive fourth game, Carlsen outplayed Firouzja in a complex major-piece endgame, finding two critical pawn advances to gain a decisive advantage despite being low on time.

After sealing his victory, Carlsen reflected on his performance and future plans. He stated, "For the rest of the year, I will only be playing rapid and blitz, so it's good to see that I'm playing myself into shape. The Finals are going to be awesome, [it will feature a] good field and a rare chance to play a tournament in Oslo". Carlsen also remarked that this was probably his "best match so far" in the tour.

The Julius Baer Generation Cup also featured exciting action in its lower divisions. Wesley So triumphed in Division II, defeating Denis Lazavik in an Armageddon tiebreaker, while Fabiano Caruana won Division III with a convincing victory over Vincent Keymer.

Julius Baer Generation Cup 2024

Carlsen 1 - 0 Firouzja

Game 4

All games - Division I

Bracket - Division I

Division II

All games - Division II

Bracket - Division II

Division III

Bracket - Division III

Links

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.