Freestyle Chess Grand Slam: Carlsen beats Pragg & Arjun, sets third-place showdown with Nakamura
After a chaotic first-round loss to Praggnanandhaa, the world number one ground down the Indian star to force tiebreaks and then reeled off five consecutive wins – including those over Arjun Erigaisi.
The clash between Carlsen and Praggnanandhaa started with an absolutely wild game. Praggnanandhaa built up a big advantage and when Carlsen missed a simple pawn push, he felt obliged to give up his queen for just two minor pieces. That shouldn't have been enough, but when the young Indian blundered a full piece, it was quite unclear again, Freestyle chess reports.
Praggnanandhaa, however, recovered well from his mishap and gradually outplayed his opponent after all in a highly complex position with a strong material imbalance.
Carlsen then won his must-win game smoothly in an endgame, in fact in similar style as how Praggnanandhaa had beaten Keymer the other day. The five-time world champion then won both 5+2 games, twice outwitting his opponent tactically in time pressure.
Carlsen later defeated another Indian Grandmaster Arjun 2-0 lower bracket semifinal. In a very quiet position in the first game, one small inaccuracy by Arjun was enough for Carlsen to get a chance, grab it, and use it to full effect.
Arjun got a better position out of the opening in game two, but then messed it up, and Carlsen won again, his fifth consecutive win in the tournament.
The penultimate day of the Freestyle Chess Grand Slam in Las Vegas ended with Magnus Carlsen and Hikaru Nakamura set to meet in Sunday's third-place match – a repeat of their showdown in the Paris Grand Slam final, though this time with USD 160,000 and the last podium spot at stake rather than the title.
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