4/11/2025 – The quarterfinals of the Paris Freestyle Chess Grand Slam concluded on Thursday, with Magnus Carlsen, Fabiano Caruana, Hikaru Nakamura and Vincent Keymer advancing to the semifinals. While Carlsen, Caruana and Nakamura secured their places through wins in the classical games, Keymer needed tiebreaks to overcome Ian Nepomniachtchi. The German GM is now the only player from the younger generation left in the tournament. The upcoming semifinal matchups are Carlsen v. Caruana and Keymer v. Nakamura. | Photo: Stev Bonhage
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Only Keymer wins in tiebreaks
The quarterfinal stage of the Freestyle Chess Grand Slam in Paris concluded on Thursday, with Magnus Carlsen, Fabiano Caruana, Hikaru Nakamura and Vincent Keymer securing places in the semifinals. While three matches were decided in classical play, the final spot was determined via a rapid tie-break.
Magnus Carlsen, the only player to win his first classical game on Wednesday, safely held a draw in the return game against Nodirbek Abdusattorov, confirming his passage to the final four. Carlsen never allowed any serious counterplay, and the draw ensured his smooth progression to the next round.
Fabiano Caruana also avoided tiebreaks. After drawing the first game of his match against Maxime Vachier-Lagrave, the US grandmaster won the second to secure his place in the semifinals.
Caruana v. Vachier-Lagrave
Already in a difficult position, MVL decided to give up the exchange by playing 24...Bf6 here - Caruana needed only eight more moves to force the Frenchman's resignation
Top trainers strongly recommend regular study of well-explained classical games to improve your understanding of chess in the long term. 33 modern classics are explained in details on this video course.
Fabiano Caruana defeated Maxime Vachier-Lagrave | Photo: Stev Bonhage
Hikaru Nakamura followed a similar path, defeating Arjun Erigaisi in their second classical encounter after a draw in the first, thereby also reaching the semifinals without the need for additional games.
The most closely contested match was between Ian Nepomniachtchi and Vincent Keymer, which remained deadlocked after both classical games ended in draws. In the first tiebreak game, Keymer, playing Black, created strong pressure against the white king and converted his advantage into a win. He then held the second game to a draw in a balanced rook endgame, thereby advancing to the semifinals.
Keymer, the only semifinalist from the younger generation, will now face Hikaru Nakamura, while Magnus Carlsen and Fabiano Caruana are set for a rematch of their 2018 World Championship encounter.
Freestyle Chess GST Paris KO 2025 10.04.2025[Schulz, A]
In this starting position, only the queens and one pair of knights are "out of place".1.e4e52.Bc4Ne63.d3Bc54.Be3Nd45.Kd2The c2-pawn is not easy to defend.d66.f4Bb67.Nbc3Be68.Bxe6fxe69.Na4Qf710.fxe5dxe511.Qf2Qd712.Nxb6axb613.Rf1Nbc614.Nc30-0-0
15.Bxd4?!To bring the rook into play. White's play later suffers due to the trapped rook on a1.15.Rad1!?=15...exd416.Ne2Qd617.Qg317.h3??Rhf818.Qg1Qb4+19.Kc1Rxf1+20.Qxf1Rf821.Qg1Qc5-+17...Qb4+18.Kc1Rhf819.Rf3Rxf320.gxf3Rf8Threatening Rxf3 and Qe1.21.a3Qa522.Kb1g623.Qh3?23.Qg1!?=with the ideaRxf324.Nxd423...Qd224.Nc1Kb825.b4Qe126.Ka2Qc327.Kb1Ne5
White is in a very uncomfortable position.28.Qxe6Nxf329.Nb3Nxh230.e5Rf1+31.Nc1Rxc1+32.Kxc1Qxa1+33.Kd2Ka734.Qd7Threatens perpetual check via Qa4, but it is easily parried.c635.e6The passed e-pawn is dangerous, but Black gets there first.Qg136.c4Nf3+37.Kc2Qa10–1
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Ian Nepomniachtchi was taken down by Vincent Keymer | Photo: Stev Bonhage
In the placement matches, Praggnanandhaa Rameshbabu defeated his compatriot Vidit Gujrathi 1½–½, while Richard Rapport beat reigning world champion Gukesh Dommaraju by the same score. Pragg and Rapport will now play a match for 9th place.
Vidit and Gukesh are now eliminated from the event, as they finished in shared 11th place.
Carlos Alberto ColodroCarlos Colodro is a Hispanic Philologist from Bolivia. He works as a freelance translator and writer since 2012. A lot of his work is done in chess-related texts, as the game is one of his biggest interests, along with literature and music.
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