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Half the field of eight players was eliminated on day four of the 2023 Champions Chess Tour Finals. GMs Alireza Firouzja and Denis Lazavik exited in the round-robin, while GMs Maxime Vachier-Lagrave and Hikaru Nakamura bid goodbye in the Survival Stage.
By finishing first and second in the round-robin, GMs Magnus Carlsen and Wesley So had already clinched their spots in the Semifinals on the previous day. GMs Fabiano Caruana and Nodirbek Abdusattorov kept their tournament alive after winning in the Survival Stage.
The Semifinals commence on Wednesday, December 13, starting at 12 p.m. ET / 18:00 CET / 10:30 p.m. IST.
Round-Robin Round 7: Nakamura Stays Alive, Firouzja And Lazavik Eliminated
So and Carlsen had already guaranteed their spots in the Semifinals—even if, hypothetically, they chose not to show up to play.
The most important question was which two players would be eliminated; Nakamura, Lazavik, Firouzja, and Vachier-Lagrave, at the bottom of the leaderboard, were on the edge of a cliff.
Final Standings | Round-Robin
Nakamura 2-0 Lazavik
One more loss would send Nakamura or Lazavik home; it was a must-win match for both players. The American GM and streamer started his day with a sweep.
With clock times low in game one, Nakamura found an exchange sacrifice to survive a difficult position. They say a blitz game isn’t over as long as a knight’s on the board and Nakamura showed why:
Hikaru wins with the knight against rook after a juicy🍴!
… But, even if he wins this match, he will be eliminated if Alireza draws his next game.#CCTFinals pic.twitter.com/H1MRyvov0G
— chess24.com (@chess24com) December 12, 2023
Nakamura won the second game too, though he only needed a draw. Had Firouzja defeated Carlsen on the nearby table, the American GM would also have been eliminated, but Carlsen saved him in that match.
Magnus saves Hikaru from CCT Finals elimination, colorized #CCTFinals pic.twitter.com/8E9kCjNp1e
— Chess.com (@chesscom) December 12, 2023
Lazavik exits having made $12,000 just for making it to the Finals, plus another $1,000 for his match win.
After making it to the Survival Stage, Nakamura joined his stream to say: “Sorry you guys, that means I don’t get to stream Titled Tuesday!” Curiously, it was Lazavik who did play and finish first in the late tournament though!
Sorry you guys, that means I don’t get to stream Titled Tuesday!
—Hikaru Nakamura
Carlsen 2-1 Firouzja
This was a must-win situation for Firouzja, while Carlsen had no pressure, besides pride, to win.
Carlsen lost game one with White in a tempestuous battle where both players were winning at various points. But, on demand, the former world champion came through with the black pieces by winning the infamous theoretically drawn rook and bishop vs. rook endgame.
Carlsen then won with White in the armageddon to end Firouzja’s tournament. The French number-one earns $15,000 for finishing in seventh plus another $2,000 for his match wins.
So 1-2 Caruana
This was the friendliest match as the American countrymen drew their first two games in under 10 minutes each. The third game, armageddon, decided the match.
“I’m just rooting for Wesley to go 7-0 against this field because that would be the most GANGSTER performance, maybe, of 2023!” (@GothamChess)#CCTFinals pic.twitter.com/gwmjH0u1sg
— chess24.com (@chess24com) December 12, 2023
After applying pressure for a long time in the heavy-piece endgame, the U.S. number-one finally won his opponent’s queen. That ended So’s perfect streak, though the still-“gangster” 6/7 score was still enough to finish first in the round-robin.
Caruana ends the leader’s unbeaten streak with a killer pin!
44…Rd6 instead would have kept the game going, though it was already difficult to play with such an exposed black king.#CCTFinals pic.twitter.com/cc0BTMaoJS
— chess24.com (@chess24com) December 12, 2023
Abdusattorov 2-1 Vachier-Lagrave
Abdusattorov achieved a strategically winning endgame against his opponent’s beloved Grunfeld Defense in game one but was unable to capture the full point. They made another draw in game two, but the Uzbek phenom struck gold with a crushing attack in the armageddon.
24…Ng4! was the winning shot after White missed the relatively sturdier 25.Kg1! defense.
Survival Stage: Caruana And Abdusattorov Advance, Nakamura Comes Close
First and second place (So and Carlsen) earned a direct path to the Semifinals, while places three through six moved to the Survival Stage. It was a double-elimination tournament that sent two more players home.
The first round was dramatic as, after losing their first games, Abdusattorov and Nakamura both won on demand in the second to reach an armageddon. But only Nakamura was able to prevail in the armageddon, against Vachier-Lagrave.
Winners Bracket: Caruana 2-1 Abdusattorov
All three games in this match were decisive fights. Caruana won the first with a vice-grip positional squeeze, “Spanish-torture” style with White in the Ruy Lopez. GM Rafael Leitao analyzes this instructive game in our Game of the Day analysis below.
After succumbing to an opposite-color bishop attack in game two, Caruana nevertheless won the armageddon.
“I don’t think it’s gonna be good for my health to play so many armageddons!” said Caruana, who’s already played five armageddon games, after the match. With this victory, Caruana made it to the Semifinals, while Abdusattorov still had a second life in the Losers Final.
I don’t think it’s gonna be good for my health to play so many armageddons!
—Fabiano Caruana
Losers Bracket: Nakamura 2-1 Vachier-Lagrave
Vachier-Lagrave first won in an endgame with bishop against knight, but the American GM won on demand after finding the only winning move to punish a blunder:
Nakamura wins on demand to force armageddon!
The decisive moment was 26…Bb7?? 27.Bh3! the only winning move. Suddenly, White removes the defender of the e5-pawn.#CCTFinals pic.twitter.com/jcLRz3prpt
— chess24.com (@chess24com) December 12, 2023
The most dramatic moment of the armageddon was when both players missed a forced checkmate for Black.
Despite missing that with two minutes on his clock, the five-time U.S. champion went on to win his first armageddon in the tournament. Vachier-Lagrave finished the tournament in sixth.
Vachier-Lagrave ends the tournament in sixth place with $20,000 plus another $2,000 for match wins.
Losers Final: Nakamura 1-2 Abdusattorov
It was going to be a heartbreaker one way or another, as both players made an incredible comeback to even reach this stage.
In game one, Abdusattorov had a big chance in the opposite-color bishop endgame, but Nakamura found a fortress to draw. Game two featured a quick queen trade and an uneventful draw.
Abdusattorov claimed the match point by making a draw with Black. Howell pointed out a “shaky patch” in the game where Nakamura had a chance in the clip below, but the game was overall more than convincing.
Abdusattorov reflected: “When I played against him with White, I didn’t get like any advantage out of the opening… I just reconsidered my decision and I just chose the black pieces” by bidding a low 9:35—a decision that paid off in the end.
It was a very close call for Nakamura, who nearly made a great comeback, but he exited the tournament in fifth place with $25,000 plus another $2,000 by match wins.
“It’s better than I expected from the start. Ultimately, it came down to one critical game… that’s just how it goes,” said the U.S. player after the game. He added that he’s not unhappy about the result, considering he played well on the last day.
So Picks Opponent
For finishing first in the round-robin, So earned the right to choose his opponent in the Semifinals. At first, he jokingly picked Carlsen.
But ultimately he went with Abdusattorov.
We’ll see if that pick will pay off, while Caruana receives the honor and pleasure of playing Carlsen for a second time in this tournament.
The 2023 Champions Chess Tour Finals (CCT Finals) is the closing event of the Champions Chess Tour, Chess.com’s most important event to date. The players meet in Toronto, Canada, in a thrilling last clash for the title. The Finals feature a $500,000 prize fund.
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