Freestyle Grand Slam Tour Stage 2: World champion Gukesh eliminated; Erigaisi only Indian in knockouts
World Champion D. Gukesh failed to make it to the knockout stage of the Freestyle Grand Slam Tour Stage 2 in Paris on Tuesday despite making a strong start on day 2.
He defeated compatriot R. Praggnanandhaa in a nail-biting finish in the seventh round. The 18-year-old also defeated Vincent Keymer, but lost to Nodirbek Abdusattorov, Richard Rapport and Ian Nepomniachtchi which eliminated him from knockout qualification hanging in contention with a round to spare. The Chennai-boy managed to get just 3.5 points across 11 rounds.
Apart from Gukesh, Indians Vidit Gujarati and Praggnanandhaa were also eliminated from the round robin stage. The only Indian who made it to the final eight was Arjun Erigaisi.
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The 21-year-old, who was sixth on the leaderboard after day 1, started day 2 with a win over Nodirbek Abdusattorov and then drew against Richard Rapport, Maxime Vachier-Lagrave before winning against Vidit. Arjun lost to table topper Ian Nepomniachtchi.
World No. 1 Magnus Carlsen also had a good day at the office, the Norwegian finished second on the points table with 8.5/11. Nepomniachtchi defeated Carlsen on Tuesday to top the table despite being level on point.
Final standings after round-robin stage
1. Ian Nepomniachtchi – 8.5 points
2. Magnus Carlsen – 8.5 points
3. Maxime Vachier-Lagrave – 7.0 points
4. Arjun Erigaisi – 6.5 points
5. Nodirbek Abdusattorov – 6.5 points
6. Hikaru Nakamura – 6.0 points
7. Vincent Keymer – 5.5 points
8. Fabiano Caruana – 4.5 points
9. Praggnanandhaa R – 4.0 points
10. Richard Rapport – 3.5 points
11. Gukesh Dommaraju – 3.5 points
12. Vidit Gujrathi – 2.0 points