Chess King Magnus Carlsen (left) could not defend his title after losing both games in the tie-break - Photo: ChessBase India
The Freestyle Chess tournament with 16 participating players is creating dramatic developments in Las Vegas (USA).
Players are divided into two groups of eight players each, playing a round-robin format. The four players with the highest scores in each group will advance to the winners' bracket of the double elimination round, while the remaining four will go to the losers' bracket.
Here, a player who loses a match in the winners' bracket will be dropped to the losers' bracket, while a loss in the losers' bracket will be eliminated. Notably, the final will be a confrontation between the two winners from the upper bracket, and anyone who has dropped to the losers' bracket can only achieve the highest position of third place.
The group stage was played in rapid format (10 minutes for each side, plus 10 seconds after each move). In the first group, Magnus Carlsen started quite smoothly with two wins against Vincent Keymer and Levon Aronian, then drew with Javokhir Sindarov.
However, the Norwegian player's nightmare really came when he unexpectedly suffered two consecutive defeats against two young talents Praggnanandhaa Rameshbabu and Wesley So. In the last two games, Carlsen drew with Nodirbek Abdusattorov and won against the only female player Bibisara Assaubayeva.
Carlsen finished the group stage with 4 points, tied with Aronian and in fourth place. Meanwhile, young talents Praggnanandhaa, Sindarov and Abdusattorov all scored 4.5 points, advancing to the winners' bracket. Carlsen and Aronian were forced to play a tie-break to compete for the final spot in the upper bracket.
The tie-break took place in a tense blitz format and unfortunately Carlsen lost both games, officially becoming the former champion.
Carlsen (left) lost to Aronian in both tie-breaks - Photo: ChessBase India
In the other group, Hans Niemann finished second in the group stage, qualifying for the upper bracket quarterfinals. He had four impressive wins against Arjun Erigaisi, Leinier Dominguez, Ray Robson and Vidit Gujrathi, only losing two games to Nakamura, Caruana, and drawing with Sam Sevian.
Hikaru Nakamura is in top form at the moment. He leads the group with 6 points, unbeaten with 5 wins and 2 draws. The other two players joining Nakamura in the winner's bracket from this group are Erigaisi and Caruana.
The quarter-finals will begin at 1am tomorrow, July 18 (Vietnam time). Each match will consist of two games with 30 minutes for each side, plus 30 seconds after each move. If the match is tied after two games, the players will play a tie-break to compete for the next round.
This Freestyle Chess Grand Slam will certainly welcome a new champion, because both previous champions Carlsen and Keymer no longer have a chance to compete for the top position as they both had to go down to the loser's bracket.
Source: https://tuoitre.vn/carlsen-bi-loai-khoi-cuoc-dua-vo-dich-freestyle-chess-ngay-ngay-mo-man-20250717130542037.htm
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