Freestyle Chess: Magnus Carlsen only to score win in first game of quarters; D Gukesh loses again in Paris

NEW DELHI: The knockout stage of the Freestyle Chess Grand Slam in Paris commenced on Wednesday with the quarterfinal matches. The top eight players from the preliminary phase are now engaged in head-to-head battles for a spot in the semifinals. Concurrently, the remaining four players are competing in a separate placement bracket to determine rankings 9, 10, and shared 11th place.In the quarterfinals, only World No. 1 Magnus Carlsen secured a victory against Nodirbek Abdusattorov after a strategic buildup that left him with a three-pawn advantage in the final position. The other three quarterfinal games ended in draws.Ian Nepomniachtchi's decision to face Vincent Keymer, the surprise winner of the Weissenhaus Grand Slam, raised eyebrows due to Keymer's proven strength in this format. Despite Nepomniachtchi's confident play, Keymer held firm, resulting in a draw.Earlier, Nepomniachtchi introduced a pawn sacrifice during the exploration of the randomised starting position, dubbed the "Nepo Gambit." While praised by Nepomniachtchi himself as "almost winning," it was Hikaru Nakamura and Fabiano Caruana who attempted it in their respective games.Nakamura faced Arjun Erigaisi and, despite being under pressure for most of the game, managed to reach a rook endgame with an extra pawn. However, his rook proved too passive, leading to a draw. Caruana's attempt with the same gambit against Maxime Vachier-Lagrave also resulted in a tense but balanced game that ended peacefully. In the placement bracket, Richard Rapport defeated World Champion Gukesh, while Praggnanandhaa emerged victorious against Vidit Gujarathi.Each match consists of two games with classical time control, and if tied 1–1, tiebreaks will follow. The second game is scheduled for Thursday.ALSO READ: How a room full of Grandmasters put an end to FIDE vs Freestyle Chess row