Freestyle Grand Slam Tour Stage 1: Caruana handpicks World Champion Gukesh as his Quarterfinals opponent

by Shahid Ahmed - 09/02/2025

Alireza Firouzja (FRA) scored an unbeaten 3/4 on the second day to top Freestyle Grand Slam Tour Stage 1. He was on the verge of beating Magnus Carlsen (NOR) in Round 7. However, he missed it and the game ended in a draw. Firouzja defeated the sole leader Javokhir Sindarov (UZB) in Round 9 to finish first in the Round-Robin stage. The ranking in the round-robin stage does not have a lot of consequence, except for choosing their opponent. The winner gets a choice from the bottom four out of top eight, then runner-up picks from the remaining three and so on. Thus, the QF lineup turned out to be: Firouzja - Vincent Keymer, Sindarov - Hikaru Nakamura, D Gukesh - Fabiano Caruana and Magnus Carlsen - Nodirbek Abdusattorov. Quarterfinals Game 1 starts today from 1 p.m. local time, 5:30 p.m. IST. Photo: Lennart Ootes

Firouzja tops the Round-Robin stage, chooses Keymer

In case you are wondering, why Alireza Firouzja (FRA) is not facing D Gukesh in the Quarterfinals, the reason is - players are given an option to handpick their Quarterfinals opponent. Which other sport allows that from Round-Robin to Knockout stage? It is difficult to recollect. Firouzja chose Vincent Keymer (GER). The Germany no.1 opted for Black in the first game. Javokhir Sindarov (UZB) surprised everyone and chose the reigning World Fischer Random champion, Hikaru Nakamura (USA) as his Quarterfinals opponent. The 44th Olympiad Gold medalist opted for the white pieces in Game 1. Fabiano Caruana. Magnus Carlsen (NOR) and Nodirbek Abdusattorov (UZB) were the only two left. Carlsen chose the white pieces for the first game.

Alireza Firouzja (FRA) finished at the top of the Round-Robin stage scoring 6.5/9 | Photo: Lennart Ootes

Round 6: Fedoseev - Firouzja: 0-1

Alireza Firouzja (FRA) started the day with a win over Vladimir Fedoseev (SLO).

Magnus Carlsen (NOR) ended his losing streak by winning against Nodirbek Abdusattorov (UZB).

Caruana - Gukesh

Position after 33.e4

33...Qxe4 34.Qxe4 Nxe4 would have been fine for Black. Gukesh opted for 33...Nxe4 34.Rc4 Nxc5?? 35.Qh7+- Black landed himself in deep trouble. Soon he lost the knight. However, Fabiano Caruana (USA) could not manage to convert his advantage into a win and tenacious Gukesh escaped with a draw.

Round 7: Javokhir Sindarov won the All-Uzbek clash against Nodirbek Abdusattorov | Photo: Lennart Ootes

Firouzja - Carlsen, Round 7

Position after 36...Bxh4

Firouzja could have won the game if he played 37.Bg7+ Kg8 38.Rxd7 Rb5 39.Rg3! Instead, the game continued 37.Kg1?? walked into a perpetual Rc1+ 38.Kg2 Rc2+ 39.Kg1 Rc1+ 40.Kg2 Rc2+ and the game ended in a draw.

Fedoseev - Gukesh, Round 8

Position after 43.Ke3

43...Rb3 would have been winning for Black. 43...Rd8 44.Rc3 even now Rb3 was possible. Instead, 44.Rc3 Qb2? 45.dxc4 Rxd1 46.Bxd1 Rxe6 47.Qxe6 Qxc3+ the exchange of pieces only helped White to alleviate the pressure. Soon the bishops got traded and the queen endgame finished in a draw.

Round 9: Firouzja - Sindarov: 1-0

Javokhir Sindarov suffered his first loss of the event against Alireza Firouzja.

Gukesh - Carlsen

Position after 40...Rc7

Gukesh needed to play 41.Nd3+ to continue the fight. Instead, 41.Re2+ Kf5 42.Nd5?? spiralled things out of control Rb7-+ and Black went on to win the game.

D Gukesh - Magnus Carlsen, Freestyle Chess Round 9, Commentary by IM Sagar Shah | Video: ChessBase India

Interview with Magnus Carlsen after his win over D Gukesh | Video: ChessBase India

Gukesh fought well against Carlsen, only a blunder at the end cost him the game | Photo: Lennart Ootes

Magnus Carlsen, Javokhir Sindarov, Vincent Keymer, Nodirbek Abdusattorov and Vladimir Fedoseev seen to having a great time before a round | Photo: Lennart Ootes

Players choose their Knockout stage opponents | Video: ChessBase India

Replay live stream

Replay Round 6-9 live commentary by IM Sagar Shah, GM Harshit Raja and Amruta Mokal | Video: ChessBase India

Replay Round 6-9 games

Total prize fund

US$ 750000 per Grand Slam

Format

Time: Rapid and Standard

• Round robin: Rapid 10 minutes for the game + 10 seconds per move

• Knockout stage - Game 1+2 = 90’+30’’ / Game 3+4 = 10’+10’’ / Game 5+6 = 5’+2’’ / Game 7 = Armageddon

Schedule

7th and 8th February: Round-Robin stage - Rapid

9th and 10th February: Quarterfinals - Classical

11th and 12th February: Semifinals and Playoffs for 5th to 8th - Classical

13th and 14th February: Finals - Classical

Round 6-9 results

Round 6 on 2025/02/08 at 13:00
Bo.	No.	Rtg		White	Result		Black	Rtg	No.
1	10	2700	GM	Sindarov, Javokhir	½ - ½	GM	Nakamura, Hikaru	2802	8
2	9	2803	GM	Caruana, Fabiano	½ - ½	GM	Gukesh, D	2777	7
3	1	2731	GM	Keymer, Vincent	1 - 0	GM	Aronian, Levon	2745	6
4	2	2724	GM	Fedoseev, Vladimir	0 - 1	GM	Firouzja, Alireza	2760	5
5	3	2833	GM	Carlsen, Magnus	1 - 0	GM	Abdusattorov, Nodirbek	2766	4
Round 7 on 2025/02/08 at 14:00
Bo.	No.	Rtg		White	Result		Black	Rtg	No.
1	4	2766	GM	Abdusattorov, Nodirbek	0 - 1	GM	Sindarov, Javokhir	2700	10
2	5	2760	GM	Firouzja, Alireza	½ - ½	GM	Carlsen, Magnus	2833	3
3	6	2745	GM	Aronian, Levon	0 - 1	GM	Fedoseev, Vladimir	2724	2
4	7	2777	GM	Gukesh, D	½ - ½	GM	Keymer, Vincent	2731	1
5	8	2802	GM	Nakamura, Hikaru	1 - 0	GM	Caruana, Fabiano	2803	9
Round 8 on 2025/02/08 at 15:00
Bo.	No.	Rtg		White	Result		Black	Rtg	No.
1	10	2700	GM	Sindarov, Javokhir	½ - ½	GM	Caruana, Fabiano	2803	9
2	1	2731	GM	Keymer, Vincent	0 - 1	GM	Nakamura, Hikaru	2802	8
3	2	2724	GM	Fedoseev, Vladimir	½ - ½	GM	Gukesh, D	2777	7
4	3	2833	GM	Carlsen, Magnus	1 - 0	GM	Aronian, Levon	2745	6
5	4	2766	GM	Abdusattorov, Nodirbek	½ - ½	GM	Firouzja, Alireza	2760	5
Round 9 on 2025/02/08 at 16:00
Bo.	No.	Rtg		White	Result		Black	Rtg	No.
1	5	2760	GM	Firouzja, Alireza	1 - 0	GM	Sindarov, Javokhir	2700	10
2	6	2745	GM	Aronian, Levon	½ - ½	GM	Abdusattorov, Nodirbek	2766	4
3	7	2777	GM	Gukesh, D	0 - 1	GM	Carlsen, Magnus	2833	3
4	8	2802	GM	Nakamura, Hikaru	1 - 0	GM	Fedoseev, Vladimir	2724	2
5	9	2803	GM	Caruana, Fabiano	½ - ½	GM	Keymer, Vincent	2731	1

Details

Final standings after Round -Robin stage

Rk.	SNo		Name	FED	RtgI	Pts.	TB1	TB2	TB3
1	5	GM	Firouzja, Alireza	FRA	2760	6,5	1	5	25,25
2	10	GM	Sindarov, Javokhir	UZB	2700	6,5	2	5	24,50
3	9	GM	Caruana, Fabiano	USA	2803	6	0	4	24,75
4	3	GM	Carlsen, Magnus	NOR	2833	5,5	1	5	21,25
5	8	GM	Nakamura, Hikaru	USA	2802	5,5	2	3	23,25
6	1	GM	Keymer, Vincent	GER	2731	4	0	3	12,25
7	4	GM	Abdusattorov, Nodirbek	UZB	2766	3,5	0	1	14,00
8	7	GM	Gukesh, D	IND	2777	3,5	0	0	14,75
9	2	GM	Fedoseev, Vladimir	SLO	2724	2,5	0	2	8,75
10	6	GM	Aronian, Levon	USA	2745	1,5	0	0	6,25

Details

Quarterfinal pairings

No.		Name	FED	Game 1	Game 2	Pts.
Quarterfinal - Round 1 (2025/02/09 - 2025/02/10)

6	GM	Firouzja Alireza	FRA			0
7	GM	Keymer Vincent	GER			0

8	GM	Sindarov Javokhir	UZB			0
3	GM	Nakamura Hikaru	USA			0

4	GM	Gukesh D	IND			0
2	GM	Caruana Fabiano	USA			0

1	GM	Carlsen Magnus	NOR			0
5	GM	Abdusattorov Nodirbek	UZB			0

Details

Links

Official site

Weissenhaus

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