Freestyle Grand Slam 2025 Finals: Arjun Erigaisi beats Carlsen, will face Keymer in the Quarterfinals
World no.5 and India no.1, Arjun Erigaisi defeated Magnus Carlsen in the fifth round of Round-Robin stage at Freestyle Grand Slam Finals 2025. Arjun capitalized on the World no.1's rare positional mistake. Before that Arjun defeated Vincent Keymer and in the sixth round, he won against Parham Maghsoodloo to complete a hat-trick of wins. FIDE World Cup 2025 topped the Round-Robin stage scoring 5.5/7. He chose Parham for his Quarterfinals opponent. Parham lost all seven of his games on the first day. Levon Aronian scored 5/7 to finish second and opted for Hans Niemann as his KO stage opponent. Arjun and Carlsen scored 4.5/7 each to finish third and fourth respectively according to tie-breaks. Arjun selected Keymer and Carlsen was left with Caruana for the QF. Quarterfinals start today at 1 p.m. local time, 4:30 p.m. IST. Photos: Aditya Sur Roy
Sindarov starts the day with a win over Carlsen on his 20th birthday
Round 1: Starting position - 516
Sindarov - Carlsen
Magnus Carlsen (NOR) went wrong early in the game 11...Qd8?? His opponent, the new FIDE World Cup 2025 winner, Javokhir Sindarov (UZB) seized his opportunity 12.N3xd4+- Bxf5 13.Nxf5 g6 14.Nxe7 Nxe7 15.Be4 Bd6 16.Rd1 Bxa3 Black gave up his queen to gain some activity 17.Rxd8+ Rxd8 18.Bxb7 Nf5 19.0-0 and White went on to win the game eventually.
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Round 2: Starting position - 285
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Round 3: Starting position - 767
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Round 4: Starting position - 219
Keymer - Arjun
Vincent Keymer (GER) blundered 25.Qd3?? Arjun Erigaisi seized his opportunity 25...Rc3 26.Qa6 Qf5 27.Qxa5 Rc2+ 28.Ke1 Qxf3 and checkmate is unstoppable.
For more Round 4 photos, please click here.
Round 5: Starting position - 850
Arjun - Carlsen
21...c5? was the key positional mistake by Carlsen. 22.Bxa8 Rxa8 23.h4 Kc7 24.Rde2 Qxd3 25.Rxe5 Ng6 26.Rd5 Qg3 27.Qd2 Rad8 28.h5 Nf8 29.Rg5 f3 30.Ne4 Qg2 31.Qxg2 fxg2 32.Rg1 Ne6 33.Rf5 Nd4 34.Rf2 and White won.
For more Round 5 photos, please click here.
Round 6: Starting position - 21
Arjun Erigaisi seized his opportunity when his opponent Parham Maghsoodloo made a tactical error in the middlegame. Thus, Arjun completed a hat-trick of wins.
Round 7: Starting position - 146
Fabiano Caruana could not capitalize on Arjun Erigaisi's error early in the game.
Replay live stream
Replay all Round-Robin stage 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\
Standings after Round-Robin stage
| Rk. | SNo | Name | FED | Rtg | Pts. | TB1 | TB2 | TB3 | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 1 | GM | Sindarov, Javokhir | UZB | 2704 | 5,5 | 0 | 4 | 16,5 |
| 2 | 7 | GM | Aronian, Levon | USA | 2772 | 5 | 0 | 3 | 15,25 |
| 3 | 3 | GM | Erigaisi, Arjun | IND | 2744 | 4,5 | 1 | 3 | 12,75 |
| 4 | 8 | GM | Carlsen, Magnus | NOR | 2923 | 4,5 | 2 | 4 | 11 |
| 5 | 5 | GM | Caruana, Fabiano | USA | 2797 | 3 | 1 | 2 | 6,5 |
| 6 | 6 | GM | Niemann, Hans Moke | USA | 2717 | 3 | 2 | 2 | 7,25 |
| 7 | 2 | GM | Keymer, Vincent | GER | 2752 | 2,5 | 0 | 1 | 6,75 |
| 8 | 4 | GM | Maghsoodloo, Parham | IRI | 2712 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
Quarterfinal pairings
| 7 | GM | Maghsoodloo Parham | IRI | 2712 | 0 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| 8 | GM | Sindarov Javokhir | UZB | 2704 | 0 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| 3 | GM | Aronian Levon | USA | 2772 | 0 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| 6 | GM | Niemann Hans Moke | USA | 2717 | 0 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| 5 | GM | Erigaisi Arjun | IND | 2744 | 0 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| 4 | GM | Keymer Vincent | GER | 2752 | 0 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| 1 | GM | Carlsen Magnus | NOR | 2923 | 0 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| 2 | GM | Caruana Fabiano | USA | 2797 | 0 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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