Chess
Freestyle Chess Grand Slam: Arjun Erigaisi beats Magnus Carlsen in Paris
Vidit Gujrathi, Gukesh Dommaraju, R Praggnanandhaa all had rough starts to the Freestyle Chess Grand Slam in Paris.
Arjun Erigaisi (Photo Credit: Michal Walusza/FIDE)
India's Arjun Erigaisi had a stellar start to the 2025 Freestyle Chess Grand Slam in Paris, taking down Fabiano Caruana and Magnus Carlsen in the first two preliminary matches on Monday.
Erigaisi, who had won back-to-back Freestyle Friday event on online platform chess.com, effortlessly carried his form to over the board in Paris.
Drawn to play with the white pieces, Erigaisi made the world take note as he took down Caruana in just 35 moves in the first match.
He followed it up with an even shocking 29-move win over five-time classical world champion Carlsen, one of the biggest proponents of freestyle chess.
Erigaisi's form, however, soon fizzled out as he lost his next two games before ending the day with a draw and a win over Germany's Vincent Keymer, who had won the Freestyle Chess Grandslam's Weissenhaus edition earlier in the year.
Erigaisi is placed sixth with 3.5 points after six rounds of rapid play in the competition. Carlsen leads the field with 5 points out of six, winning all his matches except his second round clash against Erigaisi.
Among the other Indians in fray, Praggnanandhaa Rameshbabu is placed seventh with 2.5 points after six rounds. The 2025 Tata Steel Masters Champion, started off with a loss against Richard Rapport.
He registered two wins – against Ian Nepomniachtchi in the second round and Vidit Gujrathi in the fourth round. He also drew with Erigaisi in the fifth round. His other two matches saw him go down against Maxime Vachier Lagrave and Carlsen.
The recently married Gujrathi, meanwhile, is placed last in the 12th spot. He could register only a solitary win in the day, beating Gukesh Dommaraju in the second round. He lost all his five other matches, including a heartbreaking 115-move game against Carlsen, after holding steady for most of it.
The reigning classical world champion Gukesh's struggles in freestyle chess continued as he could only muster 1.5 points in the first six rounds. He, however, finally registered a win in the format, beating compatriot Erigaisi. He is placed tenth currently.
Gukesh had ended the Weissenhaus leg of Freestyle Chess Grand Slam without a win earlier in the year.
The next six rounds of preliminary rapid chess will be played on Tuesday.
