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6 Things We Learned — Julius Baer Generation Cup 2024

6 Things We Learned — Julius Baer Generation Cup 2024

AnthonyLevin
NM AnthonyLevin
| 46 | Chess Event Coverage

GM Magnus Carlsen just won the 2024 Julius Baer Generation Cup, meaning he's won two out of the four Champions Chess Tour events this year. We also saw GM Wesley So win Division II and GM Fabiano Caruana Division III. Let's go over what we've learned from this event in the last week.

  1. Banning The Draw Offer Means More Fights, More Blunders
  2. Grischuk, Aronian Show They've Still Got It
  3. Carlsen Vs. Firouzja Rivalry Continues
  4. No Misfortune Can Stop Wesley So
  5. Caruana's Preparation Sometimes Sits For Years...
  6. CCT Finals Lineup Is Set

1. Banning The Draw Offer Means More Fights, More Blunders

At the end of last year, Chess.com banned the draw offer before move 30 in several prize events. What we used to see was top players accrue several wins in the first half of a tournament and then agree to quick draws later on in order to safely claim prizes. 

We saw this rule impact the tournament on the very first day, however, in the final round of the Play-in. Wesley So led the tournament with seven points and would have likely been content with a draw, even with the white pieces. In a Petroff Defense, though, he blundered a pawn shortly after the opening and it was GM Vladimir Fedoseev who won the first stage—thus earning a bye in round one of the next one.

If not for this win, Fedoseev might not have made it into Division I, where he reached the Losers Quarterfinals and earned $10,000.  

2. Grischuk, Aronian Show They've Still Got It

GMs Alexander Grischuk and Levon Aronian made their mark in Division I in a strong showing for the older guard. In fact, by reaching the Losers Final, Aronian earned enough tour points to make the last spot for the Finals. 

Along the way, Aronian defeated GMs Maxime Vachier-Lagrave (twice), Fedoseev, and only lost to GM Alireza Firouzja and Carlsen. Grischuk had a shorter journey, but in the very first round of Division Play he knocked out the rapidly rising GM Arjun Erigaisi, who was world number-three on the live rating list at the time.

He did lose both matches that followed, against Firouzja and then Vachier-Lagrave.

Two legendary players who are slightly older that deserve a shoutout are former World Championship Challengers Boris Gelfand and Gata Kamsky. Gelfand, in his first CCT event this year, finished 13th in the Play-in and got as far as the Losers Semifinals in Division III, and he could have gone even further. He was up a piece against GM Vincent Keymer in the armageddon tiebreak but lost on time. He defeated, in order, GMs Alexandr Predke, Anton Korobov (twice), Bassem Amin, Kamsky, Nikolas Theodorou, and Hans Niemann.

Kamsky, on the other hand, could have been in Division I this year, but that opportunity mouse-slipped away in the Play-in phase. Had he won this game, it would have been him in Division I Placement and not GM David Anton.

He defeated GMs Andrey Esipenko and Haik Martirosyan before Gelfand eliminated him.

3. Carlsen Vs. Firouzja Rivalry Continues

This is nothing new, but the rivalry grows with further chapters as nearly every CCT Grand Final features these two players. Before this event, Firouzja had won three matches against Carlsen (if counting the Grand Final Reset as a separate match) and Carlsen had only won one. With a second match victory now, Carlsen in fact said this was his best match against Firouzja yet. 

We won't have to wait long for another showdown. They'll meet again in the CCT Finals in December!

4. No Misfortune Can Stop Wesley So

Although they say there's no luck in chess, there's definitely misfortune when playing online. So faced several obstacles, including an almost catastrophic mouse slip, but he still ended up winning the second division. 

After finishing second in the Play-in (because he hung that pawn against Fedoseev), So was bumped down to Division II by his loss to Arjun in Division Placement. From there on, however, he took destiny into his own hands, winning every match for the rest of the event. Even if, on the verge of winning the Grand Final, he mouse slipped and allowed a checkmate in one move...

Luck or no luck, he won the final game with a tremendous bishop sacrifice, the salvo to a crushing attack, and claimed the $15,000 prize. He will also see the others in Oslo this December.

5. Caruana's Preparation Sometimes Sits For Years...

Caruana had a disastrous Play-in, losing four games and finishing 61st, barely managing to get into Division III Placement. From there on, however, he dominated the field. It was just win after win after win—until he finished first in the entire division.

The most memorable part of his tournament, however, is the opening novelty he uncorked against Keymer on day four—and it's been selected as our Brilliant Move of the Tournament. GM Rafael Leitao annotated the game, and you can read his notes below.

In one of his latest podcast episodes, Caruana explained that this move had been sitting around since 2019. He had a few opportunities to play it in classical games, but he didn't want to take that risk. His opponents are capable of refuting it, if given enough time. In a rapid game, however, he figured that his opponent would be much less likely to find his way through the deep dark forest, even if the engine says Black is better. 

It was a reasonable gamble and it worked to perfection. Caruana won convincingly and astounded the chess world with his creativity as well.

6. CCT Finals Lineup Is Set

With the four events behind us, we are set for the grand finale of this year's Champions Chess Tour, which will take place in Oslo from December 17 to 21. Everyone on the list is capable of earning the $200,000 first prize, but we'll certainly be asking ourselves, is Carlsen going to win another?

The top eight players from the leaderboard below will be there. Firouzja, Carlsen, Vachier-Lagrave, So, and Lazavik return to the Finals from last year, which they played in Toronto. 

You can check out our video explainer about how the Champions Chess Tour works (for the whole year) and you can also purchase tickets to watch the Finals live here!

What was your biggest takeaway from the Julius Baer Generation Cup? Let us know in the comments below!

How to watch?
You can watch the event on Chess.com/TV. You can also enjoy the show on our Twitch channel and catch all our live broadcasts on YouTube.com. GM Hikaru Nakamura also streamed on his Twitch and Kick channels. Games from the event can be viewed on our events page.

The live broadcast was hosted by GM Robert Hess and GM David Howell.

The 2024 Julius Baer Generation Cup is the last of the Champions Chess Tour's four events and determines one of the players who'll make it to the in-person CCT Finals. The event starts on September 25 at 11 a.m. ET / 17:00 CEST / 8:30 p.m. IST and features a $300,000 prize fund.

Previous coverage:

AnthonyLevin
NM Anthony Levin

NM Anthony Levin caught the chess bug at the "late" age of 18 and never turned back. He earned his national master title in 2021, actually the night before his first day of work at Chess.com.

Anthony, who also earned his Master's in teaching English in 2018, taught English and chess in New York schools for five years and strives to make chess content accessible and enjoyable for people of all ages. At Chess.com, he writes news articles and manages social media for chess24.

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