 "Indian Grandmaster Gukesh Dommaraju in action on Day 2 of the Freestyle Chess Grand Slam Tour event in Weissenhaus, Germany: Image credit: Screengrab of Fresstyle Chess's live telecast on YouTube")
After an underwhelming start to the Freestyle Chess Grand Slam Tour with four draws and a defeat on Day 1 in Weissenhaus, Gukesh Dommaraju was hopeful of coming up with a much better performance on Saturday. Gukesh, after all, had been crowned the youngest chess world champion ever as recently as December, and he had a point to prove to those who had doubted his place among the elite of the sport.
As It Happened | Freestyle Chess Grand Slam Tour 2025, Weissenhaus Day 2
Day 2 of the Weissenhaus tournament, however, proved to be no different for the 18-year-old Indian Grandmaster, who collected three consecutive draws before losing his ninth and final game of the Round Robin stage to finish with a total of 3.5 points.
Gukesh began the day with a 61-move stalemate against Fabiano Caruana, who was in the joint-lead the previous day, and also shook hands with Vincent Keymer (42 moves) and Vladimir Fedoseev (63 moves).
That was followed by the most anticipated clash of the event – the showdown between Gukesh and world No 1 Magnus Carlsen. Gukesh had expressed his desire to test himself against the best in the world after being crowned world champion in Singapore, and finally got the opportunity on Saturday. However, the game quickly slipped out of Gukesh’s hand after a blunder in his 42nd move, resulting in the Indian GM resigning just four moves later.
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View AllCarlsen, meanwhile, had an underwhelming run on Friday after losing three out of five rounds, but bounced back in style the following day with three wins and a draw, finishing level on 5.5 points with American Grandmaster and popular streamer Hikaru Nakamura, the former finishing among the top four.
Despite not winning a single game so far in Weissenhaus, Gukesh managed to qualify for the quarter-finals that take place on Sunday and Monday with 3.5 points, the same as Uzbekistani GM Nodirbek Abdusattorov.
Vladimir Fedoseev (2.5 points) and Levon Aronian (1.5 points) were eliminated from the tournament after finishing ninth and 10th respectively at the end of the Round Robin stage, with the top-eight advancing to the knockouts.
Alireza Firouzja and Javokhir Sindarov finished as the joint-leaders at the end of the Round Robin stage with 6.5 points each out of a possible 9, both players collecting five wins and three draws along with a defeat. What’s even more impressive is the fact that Sindarov wasn’t even in the list of participants originally; he was brought in as a replacement after Indian legend and FIDE Deputy President Viswanathan Anand withdrew from the Weissenhaus tournament.
Freestyle Chess Grand Slam 2025, Weissenhaus Day 2 Standings
1. Alireza Firouzja – 6.5/9
2. Javokhir Sindarov – 6.5/9
3. Fabiano Caruana – 6/9
4. Magnus Carlsen – 5.5/9
5. Hikaru Nakamura – 5.5/9
6. Vincent Keymer – 4/9
7. Nodirbek Abdusattorov – 3.5/9
8. D Gukesh – 3.5/9
9. Vladimir Fedoseev – 2.5/9
10. Levon Aronian – 1.5/9
The schedule for the quarter-finals is yet to be announced, but will be taking place on Sunday and Monday. The semi-finals are scheduled for Tuesday and Wednesday while the two finals are on Thursday and Friday.