Freestyle Grand Slam 2025 Finals: Carlsen makes a comeback against Caruana to advance to the Semifinals
Arjun Erigaisi drew the first game of the Quarterfinals against Vincent Keymer at Freestyle Grand Slam Tour 2025 Finals. However, he lost the second game and the hopes of winning the tournament got dashed. Magnus Carlsen started the day with a loss versus Fabiano Caruana. Then he won the second must-win Rapid game, then won the next two Blitz games to win the match and advance to the Semifinals. The Blitz game by Carlsen was a masterpiece. FIDE World Cup 2025 winner, Javokhir Sindarov won Rapid games against Parham Maghsoodloo and Levon Aronian defeated Hans Niemann 3-1 to move to the Semifinals. It will be Sindarov v Carlsen and Keymer v Aronian in the Semifinals. It starts today at 1 p.m. local time, 4:30 p.m. IST. Photos: Aditya Sur Roy
Vincent Keymer beats Arjun Erigaisi, Sindarov v Carlsen and Keymer v Aronian in the Semifinals
Quarterfinals 1 and 2: Starting position - 305 and 1
Arjun - Keymer: 0.5-1.5
The first game between Arjun Erigaisi and Vincent Keymer (GER) ended in a draw. In the second game, Arjun got an advantage in the middlegame.
Keymer - Arjun, Game 2
17.f4? gave the upperhand to Black 17...Ne4 18.Rh3 Bf6? now Black needed to press further e5 19.d3 Qc8 20.f5 Ng5 21.Rg3 Rxf5 and so on. When Black played e5 after a few moves, the moment had passed and the tables got turned.
Replay Arjun - Keymer games
Carlsen - Caruana: 3-1
Fabiano Caruana (USA) struck in the first game against Magnus Carlsen (NOR).
Carlsen - Caruana, Game 1
22.Bh3? was an incorrect retreat g5 23.Nxg5 fxg5 24.Ne6 Rxf1+ 25.Rxf1 dxe6 26.d4 cxd4 27.cxd4 Ng6 and Black won.
Caruana - Carlsen, Game 2
26.Qe4?? turned things in Black's favor Qxe4 27.Rxe4 a6 28.Na3 axb5 29.axb5 Bxc6 30.bxc6 Rb3 and Carlsen went on to win the must-win game.
Tie-break starting position: 478 and 745
Caruana went wrong in the first 5'+2" Blitz tie-break game
Caruana - Carlsen, Tie-break 1
28.Rxf4 Nxd3 29.exd3 Rxd3 30.Kc1 Rxd2 31.Rxe4 Rxg2 32.Rxe8 Rxg1+ since it was Blitz, White missed it and opted for 28.Ngxf4?? Nxc4-+ 29.Rg7 Ncxd2 and Black went on to win in the next few moves. Carlsen played fantastic chess in the second Blitz tie-break to win the game, the match and advanced to the Semifinals.
Replay Magnus Carlsen - Fabiano Caruana games
For more Quarterfinal photos, please click here.
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Replay all Quarterfinal games
Schedule
8th December: Round-Robin stage - Rapid
9th December: Quarterfinals
10th December: Semifinals and 5th - 8th place
11th December: Finals, 3rd, 5th and 7th place
Time control
Knockout stage: Game 1+2 = 30’+15’’ / Game 3+4 = 5’+2’’ / Game 5 = Armageddon
Quarterfinal results
| 7 | GM | Maghsoodloo Parham | IRI | 2712 | 0 | 0 | 0 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| 8 | GM | Sindarov Javokhir | UZB | 2704 | 1 | 1 | 2 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| 3 | GM | Aronian Levon | USA | 2772 | ½ | ½ | 1 | 1 | 3 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| 6 | GM | Niemann Hans Moke | USA | 2717 | ½ | ½ | 0 | 0 | 1 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| 5 | GM | Erigaisi Arjun | IND | 2744 | ½ | 0 | ½ | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| 4 | GM | Keymer Vincent | GER | 2752 | ½ | 1 | 1½ | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| 1 | GM | Carlsen Magnus | NOR | 2923 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 3 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| 2 | GM | Caruana Fabiano | USA | 2797 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Semifinal pairings
| 4 | GM | Sindarov Javokhir | UZB | 2704 | 0 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| 1 | GM | Carlsen Magnus | NOR | 2923 | 0 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| 3 | GM | Keymer Vincent | GER | 2752 | 0 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| 2 | GM | Aronian Levon | USA | 2772 | 0 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
5th - 8th place pairings
| Semifinal - Round 1 (2025/12/10) | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| 1 | GM | Caruana Fabiano | USA | 2797 | 0 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| 4 | GM | Maghsoodloo Parham | IRI | 2712 | 0 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| 3 | GM | Niemann Hans Moke | USA | 2717 | 0 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| 2 | GM | Erigaisi Arjun | IND | 2744 | 0 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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