Freestyle Grand Slam Tour Stage 1 SF: Vincent Keymer stuns Magnus Carlsen
Vincent Keymer (GER) stunned Magnus Carlsen (NOR) in the first game of the Semifinals at Freestyle Grand Slam Tour Stage 1. The Germany no.1 got an advantage early in the game. However, the World no.1 managed to equalize. Eventually, Carlsen made a positional inaccuracy which his opponent capitalized on and won the game. Javokhir Sindarov (UZB) missed a win against Fabiano Caruana (USA). The opportunity arose for the Uzbek in the endgame. He was unable to spot it and the game ended in a draw. Carlsen is in a must-win situation in the second Semifinals to force tie-breaks. Game 2 starts today from 1 p.m. local time, 5:30 p.m. IST. Photo: Abhyudaya Ram
Carlsen in a must-win situation
Vincent Keymer is no stranger to beating Magnus Carlsen in the Knockout stages. In FIDE World Cup 2023, Keymer handed the World no.1 his sole loss of the event in Round of 16. It was the solitary occasion where Carlsen was on the brink of elimination at that event. After losing the first game, he was on the verge of losing the second one too. A draw was also there. However, Keymer lost that game and Carlsen won the tie-breaks and eventually won his first World Cup. In a battle of 5th to 8th place matches, both games between Nodirbek Abdusattorov (UZB) and Alireza Firouzja (FRA), Hikaru Nakamura (USA) and D Gukesh ended in draws.
Keymer - Carlsen: 1-0
Vincent Keymer (GER) lost the Rapid game against Magnus Carlsen (NOR) in the Round-Robin stage. It was time for him to settle the score. He got himself a good position in the early stage of the game.
White got an advantageous position early after 9.e4. However, Carlsen managed to equalize and get back in the game.
Black's final mistake was 37...c6? 38.Qa3+- Rxe6 39.dxe6 Rc8 and White won.
Caruana - Sindarov
Fabiano Caruana blundered 46.h4?? Ne3+ 47.Kh2 Rf1 is what Javokhir Sindarov needed to play. The idea is to attack the white king via the back rank Raa1, Rf2+ etc. and so on. 47...Rfa5? was played in the game and Black missed his opportunity to win the game.
Replay live stream
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
Replay 5th - 8th place games
Semifinals place results
| No. | Name | FED | Game 1 | Game 2 | Game 3 | Game 4 | Pts. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Semifinal - Round 1 (2025/02/11) | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| 3 | GM | Keymer Vincent | GER | 1 | 1 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| 1 | GM | Carlsen Magnus | NOR | 0 | 0 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| 2 | GM | Caruana Fabiano | USA | ½ | ½ | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| 4 | GM | Sindarov Javokhir | UZB | ½ | ½ | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
5th -8th place results
| No. | Name | FED | Game 1 | Game 2 | Game 3 | Game 4 | Pts. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Semifinal - Round 1 (2025/02/11) | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| 3 | GM | Abdusattorov Nodirbek | UZB | ½ | ½ | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| 4 | GM | Firouzja Alireza | FRA | ½ | ½ | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| 1 | GM | Nakamura Hikaru | USA | ½ | ½ | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| 2 | GM | Gukesh D | IND | ½ | ½ | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
