‘Not going to win every tournament but...’: Magnus Carlsen on third-place finish at Las Vegas Freestyle event

World No.1 Magnus Carlsen made a strong comeback to finish third at the Las Vegas leg of the Freestyle Chess Grand Slam on Monday. The five-time World Champion had a slow start to the tournament and suffered some early setbacks before making a comeback.

Carlsen lost crucial games to Indian chess prodigy R Praggnanandhaa and American-Armenian Grandmaster Levon Aronian in the classification round, which meant he missed out on the quarterfinals and could no longer fight for the title.

Carlsen: ‘I’m not going to win every tournament’

However, the Norwegian superstar didn’t give up and dominated the lower bracket, winning five matches in a row before defeating American GM Hikaru Nakamura in the third-place playoff match to win $100,000 prize (over Rs 86 lakh) and finish on the podium.

“I had one really bad day, and that cost me in the end. But winning five matches in a row, even if the stakes aren’t that high, feels really good,” Carlsen said about his performance at the Las Vegas Freestyle Chess Grand Slam.

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“It was a bit up and down but overall I’m fairly happy with my level in those few games. I felt like I finished off with a really nice win as Black. It builds confidence for my next event. Things obviously weren’t looking that rosy on Wednesday, and I was pretty hard on myself then as well.

“But now winning the last few matches is always nice. I’m not going to win every tournament but I’m very happy with the way I fought back. So, I will definitely take some positives from this tournament,” he added.

Aronian wins Las Vegas title

Meanwhile, Levon Aronian went on to win the event, beating American GM Hans Niemann 1.5-0.5 in the final to claim the $200,000 prize (Rs 1.7 crore). Aronian held firm in a tough first game before putting on a brilliant performance in the second to seal the victory.

Carlsen praised Aronian for his resilience and said he was the “deserved winner.” It is also important to note that Carlsen and Niemann have a tense history. Their relationship soured after Carlsen accused Niemann of cheating back in 2022, which created a huge controversy in the chess world.

Niemann later filed a lawsuit against Carlsen, seeking damages for defamation. Although the legal dispute was eventually settled, the rivalry between the two has remained tense.

“It was incredibly impressive, very well deserved as well. He faced a lot of adversity for sure, especially the second game against Hikaru, it took a lot of mental resilience to be able to continue to press after he had several little chances to win, but he didn’t take them. The way he fought in difficult positions against Arjun as well. Like, he was completely busted but came back,” Carlsen said.

“I’m very, very happy for Levon. Um, he is… I think he has probably been the biggest fan of freestyle among the top players for many years. There is always some consolation in having lost to the tournament winner. And clearly, you know, the deserved one,” he added.