Carlsen was the early frontrunner in the second leg of the Freestyle Grand Slam in Paris, from which both Alireza Firouzja and Niemann withdrew shortly before the start
Magnus Carlsen, the world No 1, was an early front runner in the $375,000 second leg of the Freestyle Grand Slam in Paris. The 34 year-old tied for first with Russia’s Ian Nepomniachtchi in the 12-player round robin which decided Thursday’s quarter-finalists, and which proved a disaster for India. Three of their four contenders were eliminated, headed by the 18-year-old world champion, Gukesh Dommaraju, who also failed in the first Grand Slam leg in Germany. Friday’s semi-final pairings are Carlsen (Norway) v Fabiano Caruana (US) and Hikaru Nakamura (US) v Vincent Keymer (Germany).
Gukesh could have qualified by beating Nepomniachtchi in the final round, but instead was brutally defeated in only 21 moves.
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