Freestyle Grand Slam Tour Las Vegas: Praggnanandhaa beats Carlsen, advances to QF with Arjun Erigaisi
R Praggnanandhaa handed Magnus Carlsen (NOR) his first loss in the fourth round of Round Robin stage at Freestyle Grand Slam Tour Las Vegas 2025. The World no.1 played boldly and imploded. Even though he got a chance to get back in the game, he missed it. The result affected him so much that he lost the following game against Wesley So (USA) in a winning position. Later, Levon Aronian (USA) defeated Carlsen twice in tie-breaks to advance to the Quarterfinals. It means, Carlsen can maximum get a third place finish at this event by winning the Lower Brackets. Praggnanandhaa and Arjun Erigaisi are the two Indians to have advanced to the Quarterfinals. Quarterfinals Game 1 starts today at 11 a.m. local time, 10:30 p.m. IST. Photos: Aditya Sur Roy
Aronian defeats Carlsen twice in tie-breaks to eliminate him
R Praggnanandhaa, Nodirbek Abdusattorov (UZB) and Javokhir Sindarov (UZB) scored 4.5/7 each in the Group White Round-Robin stage. Only Sindarov remained undefeated among them. They are joined by Levon Aronian (USA) in the Quarterfinals from the same group. In Group Black, the reigning World Fischer Random champion, Hikaru Nakamura (USA) dominated the field by scoring an unbeaten 6/7. The remaining three Quarterfinalist from the same group are - Hans Niemann (USA) 4.5/7, Arjun Erigaisi 4/7 and Fabiano Caruana 4/7. Caruana is also undefeated so far.
Group White Round 4: Praggnanandhaa - Carlsen: 1-0
Magnus Carlsen (NOR) opted to play aggressively against R Praggnanandhaa in Round 4
11.Nxd4 cxd4? first mistake by Black 12.Nf5 Ra6 13.Qb4 Nc5 14.Nxd6+ Rxd6? 15.Qxc5+ Qc6 16.Ra8+ Kd7 17.Qxb5 Qxb5 18.cxb5 Kc7 Black had an opportunity to get back in the game 19.Ra7+ Kb6 20.Rxg7 Kxb5 21.Bc2 Rc6 22.Kb1 Ba2+? 23.Bxa2 Rxc2 the bishop trade only helped White and he went on to win the game. The loss affected Carlsen so much then he suffered his second consecutive defeat in the following round against Wesley So (USA).
Levon Aronian (USA) won two 5'+2" tie-break games against Magnus Carlsen to ensure the World no.1 has no possibility left to win the tournament. The highest rank he can attain is third by winning the Lower Brackets.
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Total prize fund
US$ 750000 per Grand Slam
Format
• Round robin: Top four players from each group go to the Upper Bracket, bottom four to the Lower Bracket. Time control: 10' + 10"
• Knockout stage time control: Game 1+2 = 30'+30", Game 3+4 = 10'+10", Game 5+6 = 5'+2", Game 7 = Armageddon
Schedule
16th July: Round-Robin stage - Rapid
17th July: Upper and Lower bracket Quarterfinals
18th July: Upper Bracket Semifinals and Lower Bracket Intermediate Match Red
19th July: Lower Bracket Intermediate Green & Semifinals
20th July: Upper & Lower Bracket Finals
Group White Round-Robin stage standings
| Rk. | SNo | Name | FED | Rtg | Pts. | TB1 | TB2 | TB3 | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 7 | GM | Praggnanandhaa, R | IND | 2773 | 4,5 | 0 | 3 | 13,50 |
| 2 | 2 | GM | Abdusattorov, Nodirbek | UZB | 2702 | 4,5 | 0 | 3 | 13,00 |
| 3 | 6 | GM | Sindarov, Javokhir | UZB | 2702 | 4,5 | 0 | 2 | 15,25 |
| 4 | 5 | GM | Carlsen, Magnus | NOR | 2909 | 4 | 1 | 3 | 12,00 |
| 5 | 8 | GM | Aronian, Levon | USA | 2737 | 4 | 2 | 4 | 12,50 |
| 6 | 4 | GM | Keymer, Vincent | GER | 2766 | 3 | 1 | 3 | 7,50 |
| 7 | 1 | GM | So, Wesley | USA | 2737 | 3 | 2 | 2 | 9,00 |
| 8 | 3 | IM | Assaubayeva, Bibisara | KAZ | 2506 | 0,5 | 0 | 0 | 2,25 |
Group White 4th place tie-break standings
| Rk. | SNo | Name | FED | Rtg | Pts. | TB1 | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 2 | GM | Aronian, Levon | USA | 2737 | 2 | 0 |
| 2 | 1 | GM | Carlsen, Magnus | NOR | 2909 | 0 | 0 |
Group Black Round-Robin stage standings
| Rk. | SNo | Name | FED | Rtg | Pts. | TB1 | TB2 | TB3 | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 5 | GM | Nakamura, Hikaru | USA | 2818 | 6 | 0 | 5 | 18,50 |
| 2 | 2 | GM | Niemann, Hans Moke | USA | 2722 | 4,5 | 0 | 4 | 12,25 |
| 3 | 7 | GM | Erigaisi, Arjun | IND | 2758 | 4 | 0 | 3 | 10,00 |
| 4 | 6 | GM | Caruana, Fabiano | USA | 2804 | 4 | 0 | 1 | 14,25 |
| 5 | 4 | GM | Dominguez Perez, Leinier | USA | 2749 | 3 | 0 | 1 | 10,75 |
| 6 | 8 | GM | Sevian, Samuel | USA | 2683 | 2,5 | 0 | 1 | 7,00 |
| 7 | 1 | GM | Robson, Ray | USA | 2687 | 2,5 | 0 | 1 | 6,25 |
| 8 | 3 | GM | Vidit, Santosh Gujrathi | IND | 2713 | 1,5 | 0 | 1 | 5,00 |
Quarterfinal pairings
| Quarterfinal - Round 1 (2025/07/17) | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| 1 | GM | Praggnanandhaa R | IND | 2793 | 0 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| 4 | GM | Caruana Fabiano | USA | 2804 | 0 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| 2 | GM | Abdusattorov Nodirbek | UZB | 2702 | 0 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| 5 | GM | Erigaisi Arjun | IND | 2758 | 0 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| 6 | GM | Aronian Levon | USA | 2737 | 0 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| 3 | GM | Nakamura Hikaru | USA | 2818 | 0 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| 7 | GM | Niemann Hans Moke | USA | 2722 | 0 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| 8 | GM | Sindarov Javokhir | UZB | 2702 | 0 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Quarterfinal Lower Bracket pairings
| No. | Name | FED | Rtg | Game 1 | Game 2 | Pts. | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Quarterfinal - Round 1 (2025/07/17) | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| 1 | GM | Carlsen Magnus | NOR | 2909 | 0 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| 5 | GM | Vidit Santosh Gujrathi | IND | 2713 | 0 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| 6 | GM | Robson Ray | USA | 2687 | 0 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| 2 | GM | Keymer Vincent | GER | 2766 | 0 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| 3 | GM | Dominguez Perez Leinier | USA | 2749 | 0 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| 8 | IM | Assaubayeva Bibisara | KAZ | 2506 | 0 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| 7 | GM | Sevian Samuel | USA | 2683 | 0 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| 4 | GM | So Wesley | USA | 2737 | 0 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
