Arjun Erigaisi beats Magnus Carlsen in Freestyle Chess World Championship but fails to qualify for semis
Arjun Erigaisi beat Magnus Carlsen yet failed to reach the semifinals of FIDE Freestyle Chess World Championship, in Wangels, Germany.
Erigaisi beat Carlsen in the classification round, then beating Vincent Keymer and FIDE World Cup winner Javokhir Sindarov. For Carlsen, currently the World No. 1 in classical chess, it was his only loss in that round as he finished with a score of 4.5 out of 7.
However, Erigaisi failed to maintain his momentum, losing the remaining four games in that round to finish sixth and get eliminated from the title race.
Carlsen recently lost to Erigiasi at the FIDE World Blitz Championship 2025, infamously slamming the table in frustration, and another consecutive loss — at Weissenhaus — would definitely sting for the Norwegian.
After the classification round, Carlsen, Keymer, Fabiano Caruana and Nodirbek Abdusattorov progressed to the semifinals.
Published on Feb 14, 2026