Magnus Carlsen was proved proper as D Gukesh’s Freestyle Chess struggles continued. The India No. 1 had a depressing exhibiting in Paris, settling for joint-Eleventh place with fellow Indian Vidit Gujrathi. Among the many Indians, Arjun Erigaisi had one of the best efficiency, coming fifth within the standings.
Magnus Carlsen had predicted D Gukesh and Arjun Erigaisi’s performances forward of the Paris Freestyle Chess occasion.(PTI/Reuters/FIDE)
In the meantime, R Praggnanandhaa got here ninth within the standings. Forward of the Paris Freestyle Chess Grand Slam occasion, Carlsen had predicted that Gukesh would miss out on qualifying for the knockout spherical. Talking with American Fabiano Caruana on Twitch, the World No. 1 stated, “Everyone’s at risk, of course. But Gukesh, Niemann, Vincent, Maxime.. Vidit on paper is going to struggle a bit.”
Analysing the contributors, Carlsen additionally felt that Weissenhaus winner Vincent Keymer may not qualify for the knockouts, which was proved fallacious.
In the meantime, Carlsen additionally labelled Erigaisi as a “very, very tricky” competitor. His prediction on Erigaisi proved to be proper as he additionally beat the Norwegian in Spherical 2 of the round-robin stage. Within the opening spherical, he defeated Caruana. Regardless of dropping to Erigaisi, Carlsen ended up successful the occasion, beating Hikaru Nakamura within the remaining. In the meantime, Caruana got here third.
Arjun Erigaisi soaks in glory and D Gukesh’s Freestyle Chess struggles proceed
Erigaisi additionally took house USD 50,000, and revelled in his success after beating Maxime Vachier-Lagrave within the fifth-place play-off. Chatting with Chessbase India, he stated, “This is one of the most fun tournaments I have had in the last few years.”
“No pressure. It was very easy to play,” he added.
Additionally talking to the official broadcaster after his win vs Maxime, he stated, “It was disappointing to not be able to play for first spot, but it’s practice for other freestyle tournaments. So I wouldn’t call it frustrating.”
“Losing to Hikaru was disappointing because I got a better position out of the opening in both games. After losing the first game to Nepo, I was not so optimistic,” he concluded.
Gukesh had a winless run in Weissenhaus, however he fared higher in that Grand Slam occasion, ending in eighth place. The Weissenhaus occasion was received by Vincent Keymer.