Freestyle Grand Slam Tour Paris: Nakamura outmanoeuvres Erigaisi to reach semifinals; Gukesh finishes 11th

Arjun Erigaisi put up a determined fight but ultimately fell short against the experienced Hikaru Nakamura in a hard-fought second leg duel that lasted 62 moves on the second day of the quarterfinals of the Freestyle Chess Grand Slam tournament in Paris on Thursday.

Playing with white, Nakamura opened with the English (c4), with both players mirroring each other through much of the early game, even castling in tandem on move seven. The first 15 moves saw balanced, cautious play, with neither side taking undue risks.

As the middlegame unfolded, Nakamura gradually took control, applying consistent positional pressure and steadily breaking down Erigaisi’s defences. Despite his earnest efforts to stay in the game, the 21-year-old Indian was eventually compelled to resign, recognising the inevitability of his position as time pressure mounted.

With this win, Nakamura sealed his place in the semifinals.

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In other results, Magnus Carlsen advanced after drawing the second leg of his match against Nodirbek Abdusattorov, having won the first. Fabiano Caruana also progressed, defeating Maxime Vachier-Lagrave in their second encounter following an earlier draw.

The final semifinal spot remains undecided, with Ian Nepomniachtchi and Vincent Keymer currently playing tiebreaks after two drawn games.

In the 9th-12th place playoff, Richard Rapport won the match against current world champion D. Gukesh with a score of 1.5-0.5 after drawing the second game on Thursday. Gukesh had lost the first match a day earlier and after today’s result, the 18-year-old finishes the 12 man tournament at 11th place.

R. Praggnanandhaa clinched his 9th-12th place minimatch win over compatriot Vidit Gujrathi. He secured victory by defeating Vidit in first game and holding a confident draw in the second game, taking the match with a score of 1.5-0.5.

In the semifinals, Nakamura awaits the winner of the Keymer vs Nepomniachtchi game, while Caruana and Carlsen are set for a heavyweight clash in the other bracket.