World Champion D Gukesh advanced to the knockout stage of the Freestyle Grand Slam Tour‘s first event despite losing to Magnus Carlsen of Norway in the final qualifying round. Gukesh finished with 3.5 points, securing seven draws and two losses without a single victory.
The ten-player tournament featured modified initial piece positions, making it one of the strongest chess competitions.
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Playing with white pieces against Carlsen, Gukesh had chances to draw but pursued a win, ultimately leading to his defeat.
“He (Gukesh) made seven draws, he was winning some and losing some, and it needs to be studied,” Carlsen said.
Alireza Firouzja, the Iranian-turned-French Grandmaster, and Uzbekistan’s Javokhir Sindarov led the standings with 6.5 points from nine rounds. The rapid format allowed players ten minutes each, plus a ten-second increment per move.
American Fabiano Caruana claimed third place with 6 points, while Carlsen finished fourth with 5.5 points. Carlsen recovered from early setbacks to win three games and draw one in his final four matches.
Hikaru Nakamura of the United States also scored 5.5 points. German player Vincent Keymer finished sixth with 4 points.
Uzbekistan’s Nodirbek Abdusattorov and Gukesh shared seventh place with 3.5 points, both qualifying for the knockout stage.
Vladimir Fedoseev of Slovenia and American Levon Aronian finished last and will compete for ninth place.
The tournament offers a total prize pool of $750,000, including a $150,000 bonus for the Grand Slam’s overall winner.
Final Standings:
1-2. Alireza Firouzja (Fra, 6.5), Javokhir Sindarov (Uzb, 6.5)
3. Fabiano Caruana (USA, 6)
4-5. Magnus Carlsen (Nor, 5.5), Hikaru Nakamura (USA, 5.5)
6. Vincent Keymer (Ger, 4)
7-8. Nodirbek Abdusattorov (Uzb, 3.5), D Gukesh (Ind, 3.5)
9. Vladimir Fedoseev (Slo, 2.5)
10. Levon Aronian (USA, 1.5).
