WR Masters Cup: Arjun and MVL advance to the finals

by Carlos Alberto Colodro
10/17/2024 – Arjun Erigaisi and Maxime Vachier-Lagrave secured their places in the final of the WR Chess Masters Cup after winning their semifinal matches on Wednesday. Arjun defeated fellow Indian Praggnanandhaa Rameshbabu, while MVL triumphed over Alireza Firouzja in an Armageddon tiebreaker. The final, set to take place on Thursday, will feature two games played at 11.00 and 18.00 CEST. | Photo: ChessBase India / Abhyudaya Ram

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Missed chances decide both matches

Arjun Erigaisi and Maxime Vachier-Lagrave have reached the final of the WR Chess Masters Cup after winning their semifinal matches in all-Indian and all-French encounters. Arjun defeated his compatriot Praggnanandhaa Rameshbabu, while MVL triumphed over Alireza Firouzja. The final will be played on Thursday, with game 1 starting at 11.00 CEST and game 2 at 18.00 CEST.

Arjun and Pragg, good friends and teammates in the Indian national chess squad, faced each other in a hard-fought match - the two youngsters often take long walks during tournaments, sharing thoughts and encouraging each other. Arjun won game 1 by outplaying Pragg in a complex knight endgame. In the second game, Pragg missed a key pawn push that could have led to a victory, resulting in a draw and sending Arjun to the final.

The all-French semifinal between MVL and Firouzja was decided in an Armageddon tiebreak after two classical draws. Vachier-Lagrave, playing black in the decider, used the sharp Najdorf Sicilian. Firouzja gained an advantage, but MVL's passed pawns created serious counterplay. A blunder by Firouzja on move 37 allowed MVL to turn the tables and win the match, with both players having only about a minute left on their clocks at that point.

Langham Hotel

The beautiful playing hall at the Langham Hotel in London | Photo: ChessBase India / Abhyudaya Ram

Arjun 1½ - ½

Game 1 was a 70-move struggle, which saw Arjun testing his opponent in a technical knight endgame. Arjun had an extra (doubled) pawn once only kings, knights and pawns were left on the board.

Arjun v. Praggnanandhaa

Converting such a small edge into a win is no easy task, especially against a player as resourceful as Pragg. Arjun managed, however, as he kept testing his opponent until a mistaken king manoeuvre on move 56 vastly improved his advantage.

Praggnanandhaa Rameshbabu

Praggnanandhaa Rameshbabu | Photo: ChessBase India / Abhyudaya Ram

In the second encounter, Pragg ably created imbalances while in a must-win situation. But when Arjun faltered on move 36, he failed to find the tricky refutation that would have likely given him the win he needed to take the match to Armageddon.

Praggnanandhaa v. Arjun

Pragg here went for 36.Qg5+, and a draw was agreed once he realised that the queen trade would lead to a completely balanced position.

Instead, 36.f5 is winning for White, when the threat of f5-f6-f7 is too much for Black to handle - e.g. 36.f5 Nd3 37.f6 Qd7 38.f7+ (diagram) Kh8 39.Qf6#

Analysis diagram

Of course, Black could play 36...Rf8 to deal with this potential line, but in that case 37.Rc8, deviating the defender, is devastating. The two contenders were visibly shocked once they saw this recourse right after the game.

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1.e4 3 e5 1:06 2.Nf3 5 Nc6 4 3.Bb5 6 a6 5 4.Ba4 4 b5 8 5.Bb3 5 Na5 4 6.0-0 59 d6 16 7.Re1 3:52 C70: Ruy Lopez: 3...a6 4 Ba4, Norwegian and Delayed Schliemann. Nxb3 2:21 8.axb3 5 g5 7 9.d3 2:14 g4 6:46 10.Nfd2 8 Qf6N 1:32 Predecessor: 10...h5 11.Nc3 c6 12.Nf1 Bg7 13.Ne3 Ne7 14.Ne2 Be6 15.d4 Qb6 16.d5 cxd5 17.Nxd5 Bxd5 18.exd5 ½-½ Mullick,R (2276)-Vardan,N (2415) Rilton Cup 48th 2018 (3) 11.Nc3 2:29 c6 1:29 12.Nf1 3:53 Ne7 2:06 13.Be3 1:15 Bg7 11:15 14.Qd2 1:41 Rb8 4:32 15.Red1 8:23 Qg6 7:00 16.d4 50 0-0 2:17 17.dxe5 2:06 Bxe5 5 18.Bf4 38 h5 4:55 19.Bxe5 1:27 dxe5 9 20.Qd6 1:10 Qxd6 10 21.Rxd6 4 Be6 1:58 22.Rxa6 3:04 Ra8 5 23.Rxa8 2:00 Rxa8 1 24.f3 1 gxf3 2:52 25.gxf3 2 Kg7 20 26.Kf2 34 Ra1 1:38 27.Rd1 4:47 Rxd1 26 28.Nxd1 2 f5 7 29.exf5 49 Bxf5 2:07 30.Nde3 0 Bg6 0 31.Ng3 11:42 Kf6 4:25 32.h4 5:31 Nc8 4:01 33.Ke2 3:29 Nd6 2:43 34.Kd2 2:24 Nb7 17 35.Kc3 59 Nc5 8 36.Kb4 1:30 Ne6 6 37.c3 2:02 Ke7 1:11 38.Ne4 1:03 Bxe4 4:27 39.fxe4 1 Kd6 6 40.Nf5+ 4:06 Kc7 12 41.Ng3 6 Nf4 2:20 42.Ka5 2 Ng2 1:49 43.Nf5 23 43.Nxh5 Nxh4 44.Nf6 Nf3 43...Ne1 2:01 44.c4 41 bxc4 9 45.bxc4 1 Nf3 11 46.c5 3:15 Nd2 3:58 47.Ng3 6 47.Nd6± 47...Kb7? 50       47...Nc4+= 48.Kb4 Nxb2 48.b4!+- 1:53 Less strong is 48.Nxh5 Nf3± 48...Nb3+ 3:26 49.Ka4 6 Nd4 23 50.Nxh5 0 Nf3 0 51.Nf6? 1:44 51.b5+- has better winning chances. Nxh4 52.Ng7 51...Nxh4± 6 52.b5 55 White should play 52.Ka5± 52...Nf3= 2:34 53.b6 3:37 Ng5! 2:55 54.Ka5 4:07 Ne6 45 55.Kb4 5 55.Nd7!? 55...Ng5! 39 56.Kc4 25 Ka6? 3:37       56...Kb8= 57.Kd3! 6:25 Ne6 45 58.Nd7 5 Kb7 2:00 59.Kc4! 9 Not 59.Nxe5 Nxc5+ 60.Kc4 Kxb6= 59...Ng5 5 60.Nxe5 51 Nxe4 2 61.Nf7 6 Nd2+ 2:58 62.Kb4 21 Kc8 5 63.Ne5 4 Kb7 4
64.Nc4! 8 Ne4 25 65.Na5+ 6 Ka6 4 66.Nxc6 5 Nf6 2 67.Ka4 26 Ne4 28
68.Nb4+! 5 Kb7 3 69.Kb5 4 Nc3+ 3 70.Ka5 4
1–0
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WhiteEloWBlackEloBResYearECOEventRnd
Erigaisi Arjun2797Praggnanandhaa R27461–02024WR Chess Masters Cup 20243.1
Praggnanandhaa R2746Erigaisi Arjun2797½–½2024WR Chess Masters Cup 20243.2

Vachier-Lagrave 2 - 1 Firouzja

The classical games in the all-French semifinal were quite balanced throughout, with Firouzja playing an Alapin Sicilian with black and MVL choosing his beloved Grünfeld in the rematch.

In the Armageddon, MVL got the black pieces, draw odds, and a bit over 7 minutes on the clock (to Firouzja's 10 minutes). Not surprisingly, MVL played the Najdorf against Firouzja's 1.e4. A tricky middlegame saw Firouzja getting the upper hand, which he kept until move 37 - when a single mistake turned the tables in MVL's favour.

Firouzja v. Vachier-Lagrave

White has an extra bishop, but has to deal with Black's dangerous connected passers. The one move that keeps White's advantage here is 37.Nc2, and after 37...Ng3 38.Nxe3 Nxf1 39.Nxf1 (diagram), White should win with the two minor pieces against the rook, as his three connected passers on the queenside will soon become extremely powerful.

Analysis diagram

Perhaps considering that his bishop and knight would be able to kee an eye on the potential e3-e2 push, Firouzja went for the direct 39.b4, and resigned after 39...Rc1 40.Rxc1

The problem for White is that after 40...Kxc1 41.e2 (diagram), both captures are bad - 41...Nxe2 fails to 42.f1Q+, while 41...Bxe2 fails to 42.Nxe2+

Analysis diagram

Maxime Vachier-Lagrave

Maxime Vachier-Lagrave | Photo: ChessBase India / Abhyudaya Ram

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1.e4 3 c5 4 2.Nf3 3 e6 6 3.c3 7 Nf6 36 4.e5 7 Nd5 4 5.a3 5 b6 6:33 6.d4 40 cxd4 2:51 7.cxd4 42 Bb7 1:49 8.Bd3 3:06 d6 3:46 9.0-0 3:21 Nd7 6 10.Nbd2 6:41 Be7 1:57 11.exd6 11:19 Bxd6 7 12.Nc4 3 Be7 9:08 13.Bd2 14 0-0 22 14.Rc1 11 Rc8 37 15.Qe2 1:26 Rc7 4:44 16.Nce5 22 Nxe5 7:03 17.dxe5 17 Qd7 5:31 18.Ng5 6:26 h6 2:35 19.Ne4 3:08 Rxc1 1:15 19...Rd8 looks sharper. 20.Bb5 Qc8 21.Qg4 Kh8 20.Rxc1 5 Rc8 15 21.Rd1 6 Qc7 2:59 22.f4 5:17       b5 1:43 23.b4 4:30 a6 24 24.Qf2 17 Nb6 2:09 25.f5 54 Bxe4 8 26.Bxe4 6 Nc4 34 ...Rd8 is the strong threat. 27.Bf4 2:12 Rd8 15 Worse is 27...Nxa3 28.fxe6 Rd8 28...fxe6? too greedy. 29.Qg3+- 29.exf7+ Kf8 30.Rxd8+ Qxd8 31.h3± 28.Rf1 2:11
Strongly threatening fxe6. 28...exf5 54 Reject 28...Nxe5?! 29.fxe6 f6 30.Bb1 28...Qd7 seems wilder. 29.f6 Bf8 30.fxg7 Bxg7 31.Kh1 Nxe5 32.Qg3 Ng6 29.e6 40 Bd6 4 29...Qc8 30.Bxf5 fxe6 30.Bxd6= 0 The position is equal. Nxd6 0 31.Bxf5 3:12 Nxf5 1:17 32.exf7+ 30 Qxf7 1:21 33.Qxf5 4 Qxf5 4:11 34.Rxf5 14 KR-KR Rd3 7 35.a4 19 bxa4 7 36.Ra5 4 Rd4 24 37.Rxa4 3 a5 5 38.Rxa5 4 Rxb4 3 Weighted Error Value: White=0.06 (flawless) /Black=0.06 (flawless) . Mistake: --- Black=1 OK: White=11 Black=12 Best: White=3 Black=1
½–½
  • Start an analysis engine:
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WhiteEloWBlackEloBResYearECOEventRnd
Vachier-Lagrave,M2735Firouzja,A2767½–½2024WR Chess Masters Cup 20243.1
Firouzja,A2767Vachier-Lagrave,M2735½–½2024WR Chess Masters Cup 20243.2
Firouzja,A2767Vachier-Lagrave,M27350–12024WR Chess Masters Cup 20243.3

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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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