The penultimate day of the Freestyle Chess Grand Slam in Las Vegas focused entirely on lower bracket matches, with the six remaining players battling for a chance to claim third place. At the end of the day's action, world number one Magnus Carlsen and world number two Hikaru Nakamura had both advanced and will now meet in Sunday's third-place match. Their encounter will be a rematch of the Paris final earlier this year, although this time the winner will secure third place and a $100,000 prize.
All matches on Saturday were played under the shorter 10+10 time control, with no classical games. The day began with two initial matchups: Hikaru Nakamura chose to face Wesley So, while Magnus Carlsen was paired with Praggnanandhaa Rameshbabu. Fabiano Caruana and Arjun Erigaisi, who had most recently dropped from the upper bracket following their semifinal losses, were waiting to face the winners of these two matches in the next round.
Carlsen's match against Praggnanandhaa started poorly for him, as he lost the first rapid game in a messy tactical battle. However, he hit back in the second game to equalise and then won both blitz tiebreak games, completing a 3–1 victory.
The third blitz game in the match against Pragg saw Carlsen finding a strong tactical sequence to claim the win. At that point both players were mostly relying on increments.
31...Qb1+ 32.Kd2 Qxd1+ 33.Kxd1 Ne3+, with a fork, 34.Kc1 Nxc4 35.Rxc4 and Black went on to win with his extra exchange.
In the next round, he met Arjun Erigaisi and delivered a more straightforward performance, winning both games to take the match 2–0 and secure his place in the third-place playoff.
It was a gruelling, hard-fought match between Magnus Carlsen and Praggnanandhaa Rameshbabu | Photo: Lennart Ootes
Nakamura's path to Sunday's match followed a different course. After drawing the first game against Wesley So, he won the second in just 22 moves to progress with a 1½–½ score.
Against Caruana, the match remained balanced through two close rapid games, both of which ended in draws. Nakamura, however, was sharper in the blitz tiebreaks, winning both games to claim a 3–1 match victory.
Sunday's final day of play will feature four placement matches. Hans Niemann and Levon Aronian will contest the Grand Final for the Las Vegas title and the $200,000 winner's prize. Carlsen and Nakamura will meet in the third-place match, while Caruana and Arjun Erigaisi will play for fifth place. The match for seventh place will be contested between Praggnanandhaa and Wesley So.
The final matches will conclude the first edition of the Freestyle Chess Grand Slam held on American soil, wrapping up a week of intense and varied formats in Las Vegas.
Hikaru Nakamura and Fabiano Caruana, the two highest-rated US players battling in Las Vegas | Photo: Lennart Ootes
