The Champions Chess Tour Chessable Masters 2024, held online, ended on February 7 with GM Magnus Carlsen adding another trophy to his burgeoning kitty. It was his 14th victory in 17 CCT finals, earning direct entry into Division I of the next event and the live Finals at the end of the year.
The Norwegian World No. 1 also earned $30,000 and gained 100 tour points, while runner-up GM Alireza Firouzja pocketed $20,000 and 80 tour points. The latter also progressed directly into Division I of the next event, scheduled for May 8-15.
For those unaware, the 2024 Chessable Masters is the first of four competitions preceding the Champions Chess Tour live Finals to be held in December, subject to ratified dates for the 2024 FIDE World Championship. Meanwhile, the Candidates Tournament 2024, which will determine the challenger and be an eight-player double round-robin tournament, is set to take place from April 2 to April 25 in Toronto.
This Chess tournament recorded 886.3K Hours Watched and 34.7K Average Viewers over 25 hours and 30 minutes of airtime, with 87.34K Peak Viewers making it the second most popular competition in this Chessable series. As expected, it was American GM and star streamer Hikaru Nakamura who emerged as the most successful individual channel to stream it, cementing his status as the top dog of the community after topping the charts in 2023.
In the Grand Final, French number-one Firouzja, who defeated GM Denis Lazavik 1.5-0.5 to win the Losers Bracket, actually made a great start. He won the first set pretty comfortably by clinching the first two games back-to-back to raise hopes of an upset, but Carlsen had other ideas.
Having won game three, he made a mistake in the next one and then decided to offer a draw, saying he just missed Be2, and since there were no winning chances, he would settle for the stalemate. After all, he would get white in the next game, where things start anew.
Begin afresh he did, claiming the match reset with a 2-0 sweep in dominating fashion as his 13-year-younger opponent seemed to lose steam. Carlsen said after his win:
"I really needed my extra life today, that's for sure. I don't know if he lost energy or got nervous, but it's hard to keep it up. It was not a sparkling event for me by any means, but it feels awesome to win."
To reflect how dominant the five-time World Chess Champion has been at the CCT, here's a stat: there have been 32 tournaments in total, and he has won 18 of them. Early qualification for the Live Finals will come as a relief for Carlsen, who can concentrate on other tournaments and his various other ventures outside of Chess.
Comparing the viewership stats of the Chessable series since it began in 2020
Fans of the game also won't have to wait long to see the two finalists in action, as they will meet in Germany at an event that starts on Friday. The 2024 Freestyle Chess G.O.A.T. Challenge will also see other illustrious participants, including reigning world champion Ding Liren.
