 "Magnus Carlsen feels Gukesh could 'struggle' at Paris leg of Freestyle Chess Tour: 'Everyone's at risk'")
Magnus Carlsen did not mince words when he said that chess world champion D Gukesh could “struggle” in the upcoming Paris leg of the Freestyle Chess Grand Slam Tour 2025. Gukesh, 18, is the youngest world chess champion, but his victory came in the classical format.
The Chennai Grandmaster is still to make a name for himself in the freestyle chess which is also known as Fischer Random chess or the faster version of the sport like rapid and blitz events. In the first leg of the inaugural Freestyle Chess Grand Slam Tour, Gukesh finished eighth in the standings after failing to win a single game.
He also lost his match against Freestyle Chess co-founder Carlsen, which was the first meeting between the new world champions and chess world No.1 since the World Championship in December 2024.
Carlsen feels Gukesh won’t make it to knockouts
The Paris leg of the Freestyle Chess Grand Slam Tour 2025 kicks off on 7 April with 12 Grandmasters including Arjun Erigaisi, R Praggnanandhaa and Vidit Gujrathi from India. Weissenhaus leg winner Vincent Keymer, Hikaru Nakamura, Fabiana Caruana, Ian Nepomniachtchi, Alireza Firouzja, Maxime Vachier-Lagrave and Hans Niemann will also be part of the tournament.
While discussing the upcoming event with Caruana during a Twitch stream on Thursday, Carlsen picked Gukesh among the four names that may fail to qualify for the knockouts in Paris.
After a two-day round-robin phase, only eight GMs will qualify for the knockouts.
“Everyone’s at risk, of course. But Gukesh, Niemann, Vincent, Maxime… Vidit on paper is going to struggle a bit,” Carlsen was quoted as saying by onmanorama.com.
Carlsen explains why Keymer may not win Freestyle Chess Paris leg
Caruana and Carlsen though gave some benefit of the doubt to Gujrathi, who got married earlier this week . “But he is on his honeymoon. What is the data on playing on honeymoon?” asked Caruana.
To this, Carlsen replied: “I haven’t tried yet. I think he (Vidit) should be alright. He is very happy, in a good spirit.”
Explaining why he feels Keymer may make an early exit in Paris despite winning the first leg, Carlsen said: “If you look at the field, look at Vincent; he won the last tournament, but there is a chance that he could be out. Maybe we’re underestimating him. But getting through this field, not being bottom four here in rapid is tough.”
World No.3 Gukesh will be looking to prove Carlsen and his critics wrong in Paris as he aims to improve his game in all formats. Besides Gukesh, Arjun Erigaisi and R Praggnanandhaa have immense potential to upset the apple cart in Paris.
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