AI Cup (Day 2): Carlsen Beats Nepomniachtchi After

Missing Mate But Swindling Stalemate

chess.com/news/view/2023-ai-cup-ko-day-2

Vanessa West

From Missing Mate To Swindling Stalemate, Carlsen Thwarts

Challenger

English‎

GMs Magnus Carlsen and Maxime Vachier-Lagrave are the last two players standing in the
Winners Bracket of the 2023 AI Cup.

With blazing attacking play in the final game, GM Ian Nepomniachtchi came within inches of
forcing a playoff vs. Carlsen. Yet, the world number-one sidestepped defeat with the help of
stalemate tricks. In the clash of attackers, Vachier-Lagrave's dynamic awareness overcame
GM Shakriyar Mamedyarov's aggressive attempts.

In the Losers Bracket, GM Anish Giri launched fireworks on the board to knock out GM
Hikaru Nakamura. Meanwhile, GM Alireza Firouzja found a state of strategic clarity to
eliminate GM Denis Lazavik.

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In Division II, GM Alexey Sarana scored a major upset vs. GM Fabiano Caruana.

In Division III, GMs Evgeny Alekseev and Rauf Mamedov defeated younger opponents and
will meet in the Winners Final.

The knockout tournament continues on Wednesday, September 26, starting at 11 a.m. ET

/ 17:00 CEST / 20:30 IST.

See what happened

You can re-watch the AI Cup on Chess.com/TV. You can also enjoy the show on our Twitch
channel and catch all our live broadcasts on YouTube.com/Chess. The games can also be
followed from our Events Page.

The knockout tournament was hosted by GMs David Howell and Simon Williams along with
IM Tania Sachdev.

Division I
Winners Match Scores - Day 2

Carlsen-Nepomniachtchi 2.5-1.5

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The five-time world champion vs. the two-time challenger. The model pragmatic, universal
player vs. the unbridled attacker. We have another chapter of Carlsen vs. Nepomniachtchi
and once again, it's the challenger with everything to prove. In their recent Speed Chess
Championship encounter, Carlsen didn't just win the match—he dominated in all three time
controls. Known for taking his competitive situations to heart, Nepomniachtchi was certainly
out for vengeance.

Ian Nepomniachtchi wins 15.5 to 14.5 over Arjun Erigaisi! 🙌⚡️

https://t.co/un8tjRNdpC pic.twitter.com/z4nkIe3U0l

— Chess.com (@chesscom) September 14, 2023

At the beginning of this match, Nepomniachtchi played from a dark room. Was this a display
of his pessimistic outlook vs. Carlsen?

In their first game, after Nepomniachtchi equalized in the opening, Carlsen generated
attacking play in the queenless middlegame, wrecking his opponent's kingside structure.

Even with the absence of queens, Carlsen has drummed up quite an attack and has
great chances to win game one!#ChessChamps #AICup pic.twitter.com/ucf7RNuhBe

— chess24.com (@chess24com) September 26, 2023

The players headed into a pawn-up ending for Carlsen, and the result seemed like a
foregone conclusion. Yet, Nepomniachtchi―despite the appearance of darkness all around
him on camera―kept hope alive and managed to slip into a drawn same-colored bishop
ending.

Nepomniachtchi defends like a lion and it looks like he's going to save this game now,
down a pawn!#ChessChamps #AICup pic.twitter.com/9qTJQnYunN

— chess24.com (@chess24com) September 26, 2023

In game two, the lights came on in Nepomniachtchi's playing room, paralleling the stroke of
luck that saved him from a blunder on the board. In a moment of mutual blindness between
the 16th world champion and his last challenger, Carlsen missed the opportunity to
checkmate in three moves.

You can see exactly the moment that each player realizes what happened on their cameras.

Despite the eventfulness of the first two battles, the players remained tied. In the
middlegame of game three, Carlsen brought his pieces to their ideal posts and like magic, a
slight edge grew into a raging attack. Carlsen redeemed himself for the previous slip by
creating a mating net in the rook ending.

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Nepomniachtchi next found himself in a must-win position. The final game was an absolute
clash of titans, a struggle between the distinct abilities of both competitors. When Carlsen
played the opening inaccurately, Nepomniachtchi crashed through with one sacrifice after
another as his pieces hovered around the open black king. Yet, Carlsen escaped into an
unbalanced and tricky ending.

Nepomniachtchi continued to press, marching all of his passers down the board to collect up
much of Black's remaining army. Finally, he reached a theoretically won queen vs. rook
ending on move 80. Yet, Carlsen fought on, creating every obstacle he could, including
setting fork and stalemate traps. In the end, he survived Nepomniachtchi's 129-move
onslaught to win the match without a playoff.

In the post-match interview, Carlsen shared what caused him to miss the mating combination
in game two: “When he played Bc3, I had the feeling that this move was a little bit wrong.
The thing is, I was fairly happy with Ne3; that’s why I didn’t look further…. That was insane.
Always look for captures and checks, kids.”

Vachier-Lagrave-Mamedyarov 3-1
While both competitors have been known to favor sharp, attacking play, Vachier-Lagrave's
approach tends to be more calculated and balanced while Mamedyarov's is more intuitive
and uncompromising.

After two draws, Mamedyarov played aggressively—despite many of his pieces being
undeveloped—against the uber-solid Ruy Lopez. Vachier-Lagrave countered sharply, taking
the fight head-on in the center, drawing the first blood of the match.

Vachier-Lagrave wins game three, putting his opponent into a must-win situation in the
final game of the match!#ChessChamps #AICup pic.twitter.com/jDXzCPgboz

— chess24.com (@chess24com) September 26, 2023

Suited to his style, Mamedyarov chose a hyper-combative approach to his all-or-nothing

situation. As the Azerbaijani grandmaster's queen and bishop stared down the longest
diagonal with vicious intentions against the black king, Vachier-Lagrave found a brilliant
intermezzo to give his own attacking play an extra tempo and clinch the match with a 28-
move victory.

As the last competitors remaining in the Winners Bracket, Carlsen and Vachier-Lagrave will
face off on Wednesday.

Losers Match Scores - Day 2

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Nakamura-Giri 0-2
For online chess, Nakamura tends to be the favorite against most players. Against Giri in
particular, he has a nearly 80-point edge in Chess.com rapid ratings and a 7-1 lead in their
head-to-head games.

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Nakamura is known for his inventive opening ideas, especially in online games. Giri has a
collected and flexible style, known for his precise opening preparation and his understanding
of a wide variety of positions.

In game one, Nakamura started with the unorthodox—yet common in his own games—1.b3.
When the American grandmaster's setup left his kingside loose, Giri jabbed at the structure
and dashed his minor pieces into the weak points around his opponent's king. Giving his
opponent no time to set up his defenses, Giri continued to rip open that side of the board,
creating a myriad of threats. Giri's explosive victory is our Game of the Day, analyzed by GM
Rafael Leitao below.

Nakamura was now on his last life, needing a win to trigger a playoff. We learn a lot about a
player from how they react with their back against the wall. Do they dive into an all-or-nothing
mentality? Do they play it calm and collected, aiming for an unconventional position where
they can gradually build up strategic play? Do they head into the types of positions they
know best and hope for a kind of home-court advantage?

Nakamura opted for a blend of the latter two: He chose the Hippo opening, avoiding main
line theory that Giri knows deeply while aiming for a conventional type of setup that the
American grandmaster favors.

Giri created a passer on the queenside and advanced it all the way to the seventh rank while
Nakamura pressed forward on the kingside with King's Indian Defense style attacking ideas
—seemingly exactly the kind of game that suits Nakamura in a must-win situation. Yet, Giri's
queenside pressure kept his opponent preoccupied, preventing Nakamura's attack from ever
really leaving the ground. In fact, the Dutch grandmaster even later took over the kingside by
conquering the light squares with his queen and bishop.

Giri, with an exemplary second game and a 2-0 final score, eliminates Nakamura from
the tournament!#ChessChamps #AICup pic.twitter.com/6t9xMIYF6p

— chess24.com (@chess24com) September 26, 2023

After the match, Giri shared his thoughts on Carlsen: "It looks to me that the margin is pretty
small, yet he wins almost everything."

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 Dear X, I just beat Hikaru.

— Anish Giri (@anishgiri) September 26, 2023

Firouzja-Lazavik 1.5-0.5
In the Julius Baer Generation Cup Losers Final, Firouzja and Lazavik faced off for the first
time in rapid. In a close match, Firouzja came out ahead but admitted that Lazavik "was a
better player today than me."

These two young competitors represent contrasts in playing styles. Lazavik is known for his
strategic and technical approach to the game while Firouzja thrives on his cunning ideas and
over-the-board improvisation.

Firouzja opted for an early queenside expansion, allowing him to shut out Black's a7-bishop,
effectively giving him an extra piece in the struggle. He also set up a preemptive rook lift that
he swung over to the kingside many moves later. After gaining great pressure on the
kingside, he traded queens, confident in his ability to convert the ending. With his extra piece
(in effect) and vast activity, Firouzja picked apart Lazavik’s queenside structure, creating an
unstoppable storm of connected passers.

In game two, Lazavik aimed for a position with a slow grind and a strategic comfort zone. In
the midst of the duel, Lazavik was able to imbue his style on the game, achieving a slightly
better ending where he could press without risk. Yet, the resourceful Firouzja ultimately held
the balance, winning the match.

The other match goes down to bare kings, and Firouzja eliminates
Lazavik!#ChessChamps #AICup pic.twitter.com/fvDEpq6XqH

— chess24.com (@chess24com) September 26, 2023

As the Losers Bracket progresses, Firouzja will meet Nepomniachtchi while Giri will play
against Mamedyarov.

Division I Standings

Division II
One of the biggest upsets was Sarana's victory versus Caruana. Tied after three rounds,
Sarana tipped the scales in his favor in the final game by creating a positional clamp over the
position and doubling his rooks on the seventh.

Sarana will face GM Vladimir Fedoseev in the Winners Semifinals.

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Division II Standings

Division III

Alekseev and Mamedov defeated their younger American opponents, GMs Sam Sevian and
Ray Robson, in the Division III semifinals. With a queen vs. a rook, a bishop, and a pawn,
Mamedov picked apart Robson's center structure in the time scramble, creating an
unyielding passer.

Division III Standings

The Champions Chess Tour 2023 (CCT) is the biggest online tournament of the year. It is
composed of six events that span the entire year and culminate in live in-person finals. With
the best players in the world and a prize fund of $2,000,000, the CCT is Chess.com's most
important event.

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