Carlsen Escapes; Caruana, Nakamura, Keymer Also Reach Semifinals
GMs Magnus Carlsen, Fabiano Caruana, Hikaru Nakamura, and Vincent Keymer advanced to the Semifinals of the 2025 Paris Freestyle Chess Grand Slam. The day started with an awkward setup as IM Danny Rensch drew position 73 for the second round of the Quarterfinals.
It was not an easy position to play and Rensch noted that neither the white nor black huddles seemed to come up with a cohesive opening plan during their prep times. Even Carlsen struggled to reach a playable middlegame out of the opening. When Steil-Antoni asked him if the starting setup caused his difficulties, Carlsen explained, "I feel like it's mostly a skill issue, to be honest," adding, "It's supposed to be hard—that's why we played like this."
It's supposed to be hard—that's why we played like this.
—Magnus Carlsen
- Standings
- Nepomniachtchi - Keymer
- Abdusattorov - Carlsen
- Nakamura - Arjun
- Caruana - Vachier-Lagrave
- 9th-12th Place Matches
Nepomniachtchi 1.5 - 2.5 Keymer
The first shock of the day was Keymer's amazing 6...c4, which likely surprised GM Ian Nepomniachtchi, who had only spent about half a minute on the previous move. The surprise allowed Keymer to recover from a difficult position.
Keymer explained in the confessional that, "I assume that he must have blundered that after 5.fxg5 Qxg5 6.Be3 there's this c4-move. I think if he just plays f5 instead of fxg5 his position must be somewhere between better and clearly better, and now after c4 I'm quite happy with my position. Unless I've blundered something quite big I think my position can't be worse."
Commentator GM Peter Leko is also Keymer's coach, and was clearly proud of his student, remarking, "These are the beauties that as a player you treasure so much."
These are the beauties that as a player you treasure so much!
—Peter Leko
Keymer's sacrifice earned him an easy draw with Black, sending the match to rapid tiebreaks.
Once the tiebreak position was revealed, commentators Leko and GM Judit Polgar discussed that queens on the b- and g-files can be difficult to develop in freestyle chess. In the first tiebreak game Nepomniachtchi played in a King's Gambit style to activate the queen on the g1-a7 diagonal, but he soon ran into trouble after exchanging bishops on e6. By capturing with the f7-pawn, Keymer was able to activate his queen on the f7. White's king got stuck in the center and the a1-rook spent most of the game in the corner. Keymer played quickly and well, taking over the game and scoring a valuable win.
Needing a win with Black in the second tiebreak game, Nepomniachtchi sacrificed a pawn in the opening, in the style of the From's Gambit. However, like that dubious gambit, there was never quite enough compensation for the pawn. Requiring only a draw, Keymer played into a safe endgame. Black eventually won the pawn back and had some extra time on the clock, but Keymer never ran into trouble on the board as he secured his spot in the Semifinals.
Abdusattorov 0.5 - 1.5 Carlsen
Carlsen needed only a draw with Black to advance to the Semifinals, but he fell into immediate trouble against GM Nodirbek Abdusattorov. White had a more active position out of the opening and used a fork in the middlegame to win an exchange. Carlsen had insufficient compensation for the lost material, but Abdusattorov made a questionable choice of recapturing on c5 on move 33, reaching an endgame with more material, but two sets of doubled-isolated pawns.
During his 2016 world championship match, Carlsen famously explained that he didn't believe in fortresses in chess, meaning that there's usually a way for the attacking side to break them apart. Today, Carlsen relied on a fortress to hold the draw, as there was no way for White to make progress.
magnus: I don't believe in fortresses.
— Take Take Take (@TakeTakeTakeApp) April 10, 2025
meanwhile magnus: pic.twitter.com/Sf6hjtX6SJ
Carlsen summarized the action with, "I think he did a fantastic job today putting a lot of pressure on me, but yeah, I kept fighting and I don't know how, but somehow I escaped."
I think he did a fantastic job today putting a lot of pressure on me!
—Magnus Carlsen on Nodirbek Abdusattorov
Carlsen advances to play Caruana in the Semifinals tomorrow.
Nakamura 1.5 - 0.5 Arjun
For the second day in a row, Nakamura and GM Arjun Erigaisi played a back-and-forth battle. Early on, both players placed as much as they could near the center, particularly on the c- and f-files.
Our commentators @GroverSahaj and @chess_assist mentioned that we have a rare event: Both - 'f' and 'c' files are occupied by pieces in the game between @ArjunErigaisi and @GMHikaru!https://t.co/rzPkmWyrhw#FreestyleChess pic.twitter.com/6xB84p0vxo
— Chess.com - India (@chesscom_in) April 10, 2025
It looked like Arjun might take over after the temporary sacrifice 17...Nxc4!! gave him a small advantage. However, Nakamura was able to stabilize the position and then steal a pawn with 38.Bxa7. Nakamura converted precisely, using the bishop pair against two knights to win another pawn and the game.
You know you're in trouble when @GMHikaru does this. @chess_freestyle pic.twitter.com/nGWURzJoOo
— Take Take Take (@TakeTakeTakeApp) April 10, 2025
Caruana 1.5 - 0.5 Vachier-Lagrave
After the opening, GM Maxime Vachier-Lagrave admitted in the confessional booth that he regretted his advance, 9...g5. Sure enough, it weakened his kingside and Caruana soon had the safer king along with a grip on the central dark squares. In a difficult position, Vachier-Lagrave sacrificed an exchange on move 24, but it wasn't enough to save the game. It was a very precise game by Caruana and helped him advance to the Semifinals to face Carlsen.
GM Rafael Leitao has analyzed the Game of the Day below.
9th-12th Place Matches
GM Praggnanandhaa Rameshbabu won yesterday to take the lead in his match with GM Vidit Gujrathi. Today he calmly finished off the match with a solid draw.
World Champion Gukesh Dommaraju had strong pressure out of the opening against GM Richard Rapport. However, 24.Bg6? allowed Rapport to equalize and advance to a match for ninth place against Praggnanandhaa.
The Semifinals start tomorrow with Carlsen vs. Caruana and Nakamura vs. Keymer.
The Freestyle Chess Grand Slam Paris is the second of five events on the multi-million dollar Freestyle Chess Grand Slam Tour. The 12 players first play each other once in 10+10 rapid chess, with the bottom four eliminated from the fight for first and the top players choosing their opponents in the Knockout. Each knockout round consists of two-game 90+30 matches. In case of a tie, two 10+10 games are played. If still tied, two 5+2 games are played, then a single Armageddon game. All games are played in freestyle chess.
Previous coverage:
- Quarterfinals Day 1: The Nepo Gambit Is Born, Only Carlsen Wins
- Round-Robin Day 2: Nepomniachtchi, Carlsen Tie For 1st, Gukesh Misses Out On Paris Quarterfinals
- Round-Robin Day 1: Carlsen, Abdusattorov Lead Paris Freestyle Grand Slam
- Play-in KO Day 2: Vidit Qualifies For Paris Freestyle Chess Grand Slam Honeymoon
- Play-In KO Day 1: Vidit, Rapport, Mamedov, Tabatabaei Fight For Final Spot In Paris
- Play-In Swiss: Tabatabaei, Nguyen, Mamedov, Pranesh In Hunt For Paris Freestyle Chess Spot
- Niemann Given Surprise Paris Freestyle Wildcard, Set To Face Carlsen
- Undefeated Keymer Wins Weissenhaus Knockout
