Chess
Paris Freestyle Chess Grand Slam: Arjun Erigaisi advances to quarterfinal
Meanwhile, D Gukesh, Vidit Gujrathi, and R Praggnanandhaa were eliminated from the preliminary stage.
Grandmaster Arjun Erigaisi (Photo Credits: ChaseBase India)
Grand Master Arjun Erigaisi continued his good form at the freestyle chess and booked his place in the quarterfinal of the Paris Freestyle Chess Grand Slam in Paris, France, on Tuesday.
Arjun is the only Indian player to reach the final eight, as the other three- D Gukesh, R Praggnanandhaa, and Vidit Gujrathi- were eliminated from the preliminary stage of the competition.
Arjun finished the first round in fourth place with 6.5 points out of 11 games, earning 3/5 points on the second day with two good wins against Nodirbek Abdusattorov of Uzbekistan and Vidit.
Magnus Carlsen of Norway and Ian Nepomniachtchi of Russia finished in tied top position with 8.5/111 points.
The competition will now move to the knockout stage, starting with the quarterfinals on Wednesday, where Arjun will now take on Hikaru Nakamura of the USA in his quarterfinal matchup.
The other three Indian players, Praggnandhaa (4/11), Gukesh (3.5/11), and Vidit (2/11) finished in 9th, 10th, and 12th positions, respectively.
They will now be competing in the 9th- 12th place playoff matches, where Praggnanandhaa will take on Vidit Gujrathi whereas World Champion Gukesh will be up against Richard Rapport of Hungary.
