Bengaluru: Twelve Grandmasters, eight of the world’s prime 10 – they embody three Indians – will ditch opening preparation and commerce staid enterprise fits for vibrant velvet jackets on the Paris leg of the Freestyle Chess Grand Slam Tour beginning on April 7.
India’s D Gukesh being felicitatated in New Delhi after being topped the world chess champion in Singapore late final yr. He leads India’s hopes within the Freestyle chess Paris leg, beginning April 7. (ANI File Photograph)
After a forgettable outing within the yr’s first Freestyle Chess match in Weissenhaus, Germany, India’s reigning world champion D Gukesh will participate within the second match of the collection. Other than the world No. 3, the opposite Indians within the discipline are R Praggnanandhaa, Arjun Erigaisi and Vidit Gujrathi.
Vidit, world No.25, joins the occasion days after his wedding ceremony. Arjun certified for the occasion, successful three Freestyle Fridays in a row. “In classical games, I sometimes take extra risks and go out of my way to create interesting positions. In Freestyle, those interesting positions arise naturally, even without me taking deliberate risks. Perhaps that suits me,” Arjun stated.
Freestyle Chess or Chess 960, which has randomised beginning positions, will see the 12 gamers tackle one another in round-robin matches the primary two days on the historic Bois de Vincennes in Paris. Eight will qualify for the classical time management knockouts and the ultimate will happen on April 14. The winner is assured a neat $2,00,000 in prize cash. Germany’s Vincent Keymer, who served as Gukesh’s second throughout final yr’s World Championship match, gained the yr’s first Freestyle occasion in Weissenhaus.
Freestyle Chess, which is backed by world No.1 Magnus Carlsen and German entrepreneur Jan Buettner, has been within the eye of a storm after a showdown with world chess governing physique, Fide. Fide has been insistent about holding unique authority over the ‘World Championship’ title, one which Freestyle Chess’ promoters had ambitions for.
No Carlsen vs Niemann
In a shock flip of occasions, the organisers introduced on Saturday that Hans Niemann had pulled out of the occasion. The Niemann versus Carlsen faceoff was an anticipated one, which is able to now not happen following the last-minute withdrawal. The American was handed a wildcard after he gained the Grenke Chess Open final yr.
The unhealthy blood between Carlsen and Niemann goes again to the 2022 Sinquefield Cup, the place the five-time world champion misplaced to Niemann with White, accused him of dishonest and pulled out of the match. It turned out to be one of the vital controversial episodes in trendy chess and the matter went to court docket earlier than it was settled privately. Niemann has been changed by the Uzbek world No.6 Nodirbek Abdusattarov in Paris. A few days in the past, French-Iranian Grandmaster Alireza Firouzja pulled out of the occasion. He was changed by Hungarian GM Richard Rapport.
The road-up: Magnus Carlsen, Hikaru Nakamura, Fabiano Caruana, D Gukesh, Arjun Erigaisi, R Praggnanandhaa, Nodirbek Abdusattarov, Richard Rapport, Vincent Keymer, Vidit Gujrathi, Ian Nepomniachtchi, Maxime Vachier-Lagrave.