Freestyle Chess Grand Slam, Las Vegas 2025: Praggnanandhaa, Arjun Erigaisi enter quarterfinals; Magnus Carlsen eliminated from title contention
While Praggnanandhaa finished joint-top of Group White with 4.5 points, Erigaisi was placed third in Group Black.
Five-time world champion Magnus Carlsen could only finish fifth in Group White and is now out of the race for Las Vegas title.
ALL YOU NEED TO KNOW - Freestyle Chess Grand Slam, Las Vegas 2025
Praggnanandhaa's qualification was enabled by a stunning fourth-round win over Freestyle Chess Grand Slam tournament leader Carlsen with white pieces.
Carlsen had a chance to make a final push for a quarterfinal spot, after finishing level on points with Levon Aronian. But, the Norwegian stumbled in the playoff and can now only finish as high as third in Las Vegas.
Erigaisi claimed four points from his group, with three wins, including one over compatriot Vidit Gujrathi, who finished last in the standings.
The quarterfinals will happen on Thursday, with all knockout matches set to happen in a 30+30 classical time control.
Players to qualify for quarterfinals
Group White - R Praggnanandhaa, Nodirbek Abdusattorov, Javokhir Sindarov and Levon Aronian
Group Black - Hikaru Nakamura, Hans Niemann, Fabiano Caruana and Arjun Erigaisi
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Indian Express
7 hours ago
- Indian Express
Humpy or Divya – whoever wins will pocket $50,000, as compared to Open section World Cups rewarding $1,10,000 to champion
Either Koneru Humpy or Divya Deshmukh will earn, amongst other things like Elo ranking points, a prize cheque of $50,000 for winning the ongoing FIDE World Cup for women in Georgia. The coastal host city is beautiful with it's lovely food and cheese, and known for its chess mad populace, has seen the emergence of women's chess stars from India who both made final beating Chinese opponents. However, a pay disparity is their reality. Prize money for winner at FIDE World Cup (for open section – both men and women allowed) is $1,10,000. For the women's World Cup winner, it's $50,000 which is less than half, though both sets of tournaments are organised by FIDE. Chess remains far from pay parity for both events, and it can only be speculated how this gets justified. Typically, while an open World Cup has over 200 players, women's world cup might have just over 100 players. The women's only event resultantly witnesses one less round. The prize money at the 2023 World Cup, where R Praggnanandhaa lost to Magnus Carlsen in the final, saw the Norwegian pocket $1,10,000. However, the time control for both World Cups is the same. And unlike tennis – which too adopted pay parity – both sets of players in open and women's spend the same time. The time control for each game shall be: 90 minutes for the first 40 moves, followed by 30 minutes for the rest of the game with an increment of 30 seconds per move starting from move 1, as per FIDE rules. While women can play in the open World Cup if they qualify, many choose not to. At the open World Cup that will be hosted at Goa, women's World champion Ju Wenjun has a spot guaranteed because she is the women's world champion. However it remains to be seen if she will opt to travel and contend. The pay disparity can be gauged from these numbers – the total prize fund for FIDE World Cup (Open) in 2023 was USD 1,834,000 while total prize fund for FIDE Women's World Cup in 2023 and 2025 combined was USD 676,250, less than a third of the open events. Chinese star Ju Wenjun earned €300,000 ($ 403,080) after winning Women's World Championship this year while runner up Tan Zhongyi took home €200,000 ($ 268,720) for losing the world championship. In comparison, Gukesh earned $1,350,000 and Ding Liren took $1,150,000. The open winner (always men) take home three times more the dough than the women. At the FIDE Grand Swiss 2025 edition, where open and women's events will happen side by side, the prize fund has been set at one million euros. The total will be split between the Open and Women's events, with €700,000 allocated to the Open section — evenly divided between the Rapid and Blitz tournaments — and €300,000 for the Women's section, also split equally.
&w=3840&q=100)
First Post
4 days ago
- First Post
‘Only reason to do this is to get on social media': Vishy Anand slams Magnus Carlsen for heated reaction after Gukesh loss
Magnus Carlsen's shocking loss to World Champion D Gukesh at Norway Chess 2025 went viral after his dramatic table-slam reaction. Viswanathan Anand has finally reacted to the incident, which took the chess world by storm. read more Five-time World Champion Magnus Carlsen's shocking defeat to Indian teenage Grandmaster D Gukesh at the 2025 Norway Chess created a huge storm online. It wasn't just the loss that went viral, but Carlsen's dramatic reaction. Carlsen, who was completely dominating the game, made a huge blunder near the end and gifted Gukesh a comeback win. In frustration, the Norwegian legend slammed the table, and that clip went viral on social media. Indian legend Viswanathan Anand, who is the current Deputy President of FIDE, shared his thoughts on Carlsen's reaction while speaking to Anand said the loss was tough for the World No. 1 because he had the game fully under control. STORY CONTINUES BELOW THIS AD 'I would not call this totally undeserved (win for Gukesh). Magnus is famous for converting things perfectly. So he of all people should know (how to win this). But of course Gukesh was lucky that he could even survive this far. Magnus was basically 99% of the way. It's like falling and injuring yourself 2 metres before the finish line. That's what happened to him,' Anand said. Anand said he understood why Carlsen was so angry and that the table slam showed fans the emotions chess players go through. 'He was so angry that he hit the table. Quite understandable and even in a sporting sense he just produced a moment where everyone could see what what chess players are going through. People have this fixed image of chess players being very serious and suddenly they see emotions and enjoy it. So also it helps us break some stereotypes,' he added. Anand slams Carlsen's reaction However, Anand also questioned Carlsen's motive for such an over-the-top reaction. 'There was no point doing it. There weren't 20 cameras pointed at you. So what's the point? The only reason to do this is to get on social media now.' 'Even many non-Indians have seen this. So clearly they enjoy seeing chess players do that. I enjoyed it as well because you know it's drama. From Magnus's perspective also I understand it very well. He was winning the game. He wanted to beat Gukesh in a sporting sense. He wanted to really show and he had the opportunity in the palm of his hands. He was going to beat him twice at Norway Chess in two games and make a point.' Carlsen had beaten Gukesh in the opening round of Norway Chess but then suffered this dramatic loss in Round 6. Despite the heartbreak, Carlsen went on to win the event, while Gukesh finished third. It is important to note that Gukesh is the current World Champion but still hasn't been able to overcome the Carlsen challenge. STORY CONTINUES BELOW THIS AD
Hans India
5 days ago
- Hans India
Erigaisi, Gujrathi to headline Chennai Masters
Chennai: Grandmasters Arjun Erigaisi, Vidit Gujrathi and Anish Giri will headline the third edition of Chennai Grand Masters, starting here on August 6. India's most prestigious classical chess tournament will feature 20 players from across the Masters and Challengers categories. The latest edition will have a Rs one crore prize pool as competitors chase FIDE Circuit points, which are vital for qualifying for next year's Candidates Tournament. Organised by MGD1 and sponsored by Quantbox, the tournament will be split into two categories: Masters and Challengers. Besides Erigaisi, Gujrathi and Giri, the Masters field will comprise Jorden Van Foreest, Liang Awonder, Vincent Keymer, Ray Robson, Vladimir Fedoseev, and Pranav V, who steps up after winning the Challengers in 2024. 'Playing such a high-stakes tournament at home is always special. As the top-rated player here, I know the expectations are high, but the field this year is extremely competitive, and every game will demand my absolute best,' Erigaisi said. The Challengers category, introduced last year, will feature Karthikeyan Murali, Leon Mendonca, Vaishali R, Harika Dronavalli, Abhimanyu Puranik, Aryan Chopra, Adhiban Baskaran, Iniyan P, Diptayan Ghosh, and Pranesh M. The Masters champion will take home Rs 25 lakh, while the second and third place player will get richer by Rs 15 lakh and Rs 10 lakh , respectively. The Challengers' winner will receive Rs 7 lakh and a guaranteed place in the 2026 Masters. The tournament also carries FIDE Circuit points, with the winner earning 24.5 points towards the 2026 Candidates qualification. In the case of joint winners, each will receive 22.3 points, while second and third place finishers will earn 17.8 and 15.6 points, respectively.
