 "Arjun Erigaisi faces Hikaru Nakamura in Paris Freestyle Chess Grand Slam quarter-finals. Image: FIDE on X")
The quarter-final pairings for the Paris Leg of Freestyle Chess Grand Slam Tour 2025 have been revealed. Arjun Erigaisi, the only Indian Grandmaster to qualify for the knockouts will take on world No.2 Hikaru Nakamura of the USA in the last-eight clash. World No.1 Magnus Carlsen will face Uzbekistan sensation Nodirbek Abdusattorov.
Chess world champion D Gukesh will not be a part of the quarter-finals at the Paris Freestyle Chess Grand Slam as he failed to qualify for the knockouts after finishing 11th in the 12-player round-robin standings. Only the top eight players qualified for the knockouts.
Indian Grandmasters flop at Paris Freestyle Chess Grand Slam Tour
Besides, Gukesh, Indian Grandmasters Vidit Gujrathi (12th), R Praggnanandhaa (9th) and Richard Rapport (10th) also failed to progress to the quarter-finals.
Gukesh, Gujrathi, Praggnanandhaa and Rapport will now compete in a separate tournament to decide the 9-12 positions.
The 21-year-old Erigaisi from Warangal reached the knockouts as the fourth-best player as he secured 6.5 out of 11 points in the round-robin phase. The highlights of his campaign so far have been beating top players like Carlsen and Fabiano Caruana in the round-robin phase.
Norwegian Carlsen and Russia’s Ian Nepomniachtchi finished at the top of the standings with 8.5 points each while French GM Maxime Vachier-Lagrave came third with 7 points.
Freestyle Chess Paris 2025 standings:
| Ian Nepomniachtchi – 8.5 points |
|---|
| Magnus Carlsen – 8.5 points |
| Maxime Vachier-Lagrave – 7.0 points |
| Arjun Erigaisi – 6.5 points |
| Nodirbek Abdusattorov – 6.5 points |
| Hikaru Nakamura – 6.0 points |
| Vincent Keymer – 5.5 points |
| Fabiano Caruana – 4.5 points |
| Praggnanandhaa R – 4.0 points |
| Richard Rapport – 3.5 points |
| Gukesh Dommaraju – 3.5 points |
| Vidit Gujrathi – 2.0 points |
Paris Freestyle Chess Tour: Quarter-final pairings
Also making it to the next round are Abdusattorov (6.5 points), Nakamura (6 points), Vincent Keymer (5.5 points) and Caruana (4.5 points).
As is the rule in Freestyle Chess Grand Slam, the top four players can pick their quarter-final opponents. While Nepomniachtchi decided to go up against Kemyer, who won the Weissenhaus leg, Carlsen opted for Abdusattorov.
Vachier-Lagrave went for Caruana and Erigaisi chose Nakamura.
| Paris Freestyle Chess Tour quarter-final pairings |
|---|
| Ian Nepomniachtchi vs Keymer Vincent |
| Magnus Carlsen vs Nodirbek Abdusattorov |
| Maxime Vachier-Lagrave vs Fabiano Caruana |
| Arjun Erigaisi vs Hikaru Nakamura |
The quarter-finals will be played on 9 and 10 April in Paris. It will be played under Classical time controls.
Time control for knockouts:
Knockout stage: Game 1+2 = 90’+30’’ / Game 3+4 = 10’+10’’ / Game 5+6 = 5’+2’’ / Game 7 = Armageddon
The winner of the Paris Leg of Freestyle Chess Grand Slam Tour 2025 will receive a cash reward of $20,000.