 "Freestyle Chess Las Vegas: Players, schedule, format, live streaming and everything else you need to know")
The Freestyle Chess Grand Slam Tour returns to action after a hiatus of nearly three months, with the fourth event of the tour set to get underway in Las Vegas on Wednesday. Norwegian chess icon Magnus Carlsen, co-founder the Freestyle Chess Grand Slam Tour, is currently on a winning streak, having emerged triumphant in the last two events in Paris and Karlsruhe.
The 34-year-old will be eyeing a hat-trick of victories in the American leg of the tour that gets underway less than 24 hours from now, which should further consolidate his position at the top of the standings.
Here’s everything you need to know about the Las Vegas Grand Slam:
When will the Las Vegas Grand Slam get underway? And how long with the event go on?
The Las Vegas leg of the Freestyle Chess Grand Slam Tour will be taking place from 16 to 20 July. Here’s the full schedule for the event:
16 July: Group round-robin
17 July: Quarter-finals
18 July: Upper bracket semi-finals
19 July: Lower bracket semi-finals
20 July: Finals
Where will the Las Vegas Grand Slam take place?
The Las Vegas Grand Slam will be taking place at Wynn Las Vegas, a luxury resort and casino located along the Las Vegas Strip in Paradise, Nevada.
Who are the players in action at the Las Vegas Grand Slam?
World No 1 Carlsen will be headlining the Las Vegas leg of the Grand Slam Tour along expected lines while the event will also feature American Grandmasters Hikaru Nakamura and Fabiano Caruana and Weissenhaus champion Vincent Keymer, who form the top four in the overall standings.
As for the Indians in action, Classical world champion D Gukesh has opted out after his underwhelming performances in Weissenhaus and Paris, with compatriots Arjun Erigaisi, R Praggnanandhaa and Vidit Gujrathi set to compete at the event. Also mssing , Ian Nepomniachtchi has also opted out of the event, due to personal reasons, and has been replaced by American GM Sam Sevian.
The event also features controversial American GM Hans Niemann, who has been making headlines for his feud with Carlsen more than anything else recently.
Here’s the full list of competitors in action in Las Vegas:
1. Magnus Carlsen.
2. Hikaru Nakamura.
3. Fabiano Caruana.
4. Levon Aronian.
5. Arjun Erigaisi.
6. Nodirbek Abdusattorov.
7. Leinier Dominguez Perez.
8. Ray Robson.
9. Wesley So.
10. Vincent Keymer.
11. Sam Sevian.
12. R Praggnanandhaa.
13. Hans Niemann.
14. Bibisara Assaubayeva.
15. Javokhir Sindarov.
16. Vidit Gujrathi.
What’s the format of the Las Vegas Grand Slam?
The fourth leg of the Freestyle Chess Grand Slam Tour has a format that’s slightly different from the previous events, with the 16 participants divided into two groups of eight players each. The group stage will then be played on a round-robin basis with each player facing the remaining members of his/her group once.
The top four players from each group then advance to the quarter-finals, with the top players getting to choose their last-8 opponent from the opposite group. The winners then advance to the semi-finals and the final, while the losers stay back for the classification matches that will decide the final positions for each player other than the two finalists.
The time controls for the group stage has been set at 10+10 while that for the knockouts is at 30+30 – including the final and the third-fourth place playoff, with the organisers opting against retaining Classical 90+30 time controls that was in place in earlier events.
What’s the total prize money on offer at the Las Vegas Grand Slam?
The prize fund for the Las Vegas Grand Slam stands at US$750,000 – $710,000 for the main event and $40,000 for the Play-In. The winner is set to win $200,000 while the runner-up and the player finishing third will win $140,000 and $100,000 respectively.
Here’s the full breakdown of the prize fund:
1st: $200,000
2nd: $140,000
3rd: $100,000
4th: $60,000
5th: $50,000
6th: $40,000
7th: $30,000
8th: $20,000
9th-12th: $10,000
13th-16th: $7,500
Where can I watch the Las Vegas Grand Slam LIVE?
The Las Vegas Grand Slam will be telecast on the website as well as YouTube channels of Freestyle Chess and Chess.com.
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