Freestyle Chess Grand Slam Highlights: Hikaru defeats Gukesh in rapid tie-breaks; Keymer faces Caruana in final

Javokhir Sindarov’s inspirational run in the Weissenhaus leg of the Freestyle Chess Grand Slam Tour finally comes to an end as he resigns in the Armaggeddon showdown against Fabiano Caruana, in which he was playing with white pieces, after 36 moves!

Which means Caruana will be up against Vincent Keymer, who had defeated Magnus Carlsen in the other semi-final earlier today, in the final starting tomorrow! Sindarov, on the other hand, will face Carlsen for the third place.

That means we have the first Armaggeddon game in Weissenhaus! Fabiano Caruana is playing with black pieces and will advance to the final if he secures a draw against Javokhir Sindarov, who will get extra time on the clock for playing with white pieces.

The semi-final meeting between Javokhir Sindarov and Fabiano Caruana finally witnesses a result with the former prevailing in Game 1 of the blitz tie-breaks – which have a time control of five minutes with two-second increments for each move.

D Gukesh’s winless run in the Weissenhaus leg of the Freestyle Chess Grand Slam Tour continues as he loses Game 2 of the rapid tie-breaks against Hikaru Nakamura in 33 moves following a series of bad decisions.

Nakamura will now face Nodirbek Abdusattorov in the 5th-place playoff while Gukesh will get one last shot at signing off with a victory in the 7th-place playoff against Alireza Firouzja.

The evaluation bar was leaning in favour of Gukesh at one point in Game 2 of the rapid tie-breaks. Gukesh, however, has negated that advantage with a couple of blunders (16. Qg4 and 21. Rxf4) along with a couple of other questionable moves (17. Rce1 and 18. Nxc5).

Will Hikaru seal his place in the fifth-place playoff in this Game?

Gukesh is playing with white pieces in this game. Can he finally snap his winless run in Weissenhaus in this game and book his spot in the 5th place playoff against Nodirbek Abdusattorov?

Game 2 begins with c4 Ng6, and both players opt to castle inside the first three moves.

Boy was that some battle between D Gukesh and Hikaru Nakamura in Game 1 of the rapid tie-breaks, with the two players shaking hands after 103 moves – which has to be among the longest games in recent memory! The two players were left with their kings at the end of the game, at which point a decisive result wasn’t possible.

The second game of the rapid tie-breaks will begin shortly and whoever wins that game shall join Nodirbek Abdusattorov in the 5th place playoff.

Neither Gukesh nor Hikaru are willing to cede an inch in what is turning out to be a thrilling Game 1 of the rapid tie-breaks, which has now lasted 90 moves. Both players have made blunders along the way, but have somehow managed to keep themselves intact. The eval bar is also balanced at the moment.

In the other tie-breaker between Fabiano Caruana and Javokhir Sindarov, Game 1 of the rapid tie-breaks ends in a draw.

Both Hikaru Nakamura, playing with white pieces, and D Gukesh have made questionable decisions in Game 1 of the rapid tie-breaks. The former, however, finds himself in a slightly better position at the moment.

The tie-breaks in the 5th-8th classification match between D Gukesh and Hikaru Nakamura are underway with the latter playing with white pieces. Also playing tie-breaks are semi-finalists Fabiano Caruana and Javokhir Sindarov.

Recap of tie-break rules: The first two games will be playing in rapid format with a time control of 10 minutes+10-second increment per move. If the scores are still tied, two blitz games will follow with time control of 5 minutes and 2 seconds per move. If still tied, the winner will be decided through an Armageddon Game – in which Black wins if the game ends in a draw, but starts with less time on the clock.

Firouzja has undergone a dramatic decline in fortunes in the Weissenhaus leg of the Freestyle Chess Grand Slam Tour. After losing 0.5-1.5 against Vincent Keymer in the quarter-finals, the Iranian-French Grandmaster has now lost to Uzbekistani GM Nodirbek by a similar margin in their 5th-8th classification match, resigning in 43 moves.

Nodirbek will now face the winner of the D Gukesh vs Hikaru Nakamura match for the fifth spot while Firouzja will face the loser for the seventh position.

Keymer’s fairytale triumph over Carlsen is complete with the German Grandmaster holding the world No 1 to a draw in Game 2 to complete a 1.5-0.5 triumph and advance to the final of the Weissenhaus leg of the Freestyle Chess Grand Slam Tour!

Another contest will be decided by tie-breaks today, with Game 2 of the 5th-8th classification match between D Gukesh and Hikaru Nakamura also ending in a stalemate – this one lasting 66 moves!

The semi-final clash between Javokhir Sindarov and Fabiano Caruana, who had knocked D Gukesh out in the quarter-finals, is set to be decided in tie-breaks that will be played in rapid and blitz formats before being decided in a one-off Armageddon battle. This after their second Classical game in the semi-final also ended in a draw.

Gukesh claws his way back in Game 2 against Hikaru thanks to a blunder by the latter, who decides to move King to C7 in his 34th move. Gukesh then follows it up with a couple of solid moves of his own (35. Rxf4 and 37. Ne5).

The evaluation bar powered by the Stockfish engine suddenly is leaning heavily in favour of Nakamura after a couple of questionable decisions by Gukesh (21. Rf3 and 25. b5), with the American GM further solidifying his position by moving his knight to Nc5.

Here’s a summary of all the moves that have been made so far in Game 2 of the classification match between D Gukesh and Hikaru Nakamura, in which the Indian Grandmaster decided to castle in his 15th move:

1. f4 f5

2. c3 g6

3. g3. e5

4. fxe5 Bxe5

5. e4 Bg7

6. Nde3 fxe4

7. Bxe4 c6

8. Qc2 Qc7

9. Bg2 Qa5

10. a4 Nf7

11. Bf2 d5

12. d4 Nd6

13. Nd2 Bh6

14. Qd3 Be6

15. 0-0 Nd7

16. b4 Qc7

17. g4 Bf4

18. Bg3 Bxg3

It’s an even contest in Game 2 of the Gukesh vs Nakamura classification game with both players having more than 40 minutes left on the clock after playing 14 moves. Here’s what the board looks like after 14 moves:

The f4-f5 opening that got the Gukesh-Nakamura game underway is also used in Game 2 of both semi-finals – between Magnus Carlsen and Vincent Keymer and Fabiano Caruana and Javokhir Sindarov respectively.

Alireza Firouzja and Nodirbek Abdusattorov, however, opt for a different opting from the rest – the former starting with e4, with the Uzbekistani responding with c6.

Here’s what their board looks like after Firouzja’s 10th move:

D Gukesh, playing with white pieces, opts for an f4 opening, and Hikaru Nakamura responds by moving his pawn along the same file. Gukesh decides to go on the offensive by capturing Hikaru’s pawn at e5, and the Japanese-American GM retaliates by capturing Gukesh’s piece with his dark-squared bishop, which is stationed at one end of the board.

Here’s what the board looks like for all the fixtures today, with the King placed along the ‘C’ file, standing between Queen and Knight. What’s interesting to note is the fact that Gukesh, who is playing with white pieces today, has a slight advantage over Nakamura on the evaluation bar even before a single move is made.

For starters, D Gukesh will remain winless if he loses Game 2 of the 5th-8th classification match against Hikaru Nakamura that will get underway in about half-an-hour. The defeat, however, won’t mark the end of his campaign, as he will get one more opportunity to register a win before leaving the private seaside resort located along the Baltic coast in northern Germany.

In such a scenario, he will be facing the loser of the Alireza Firouzja vs Javokhir Sindarov for the seventh spot. It will be disappointing. But the kind of tournament that he has had in Weissenhaus, he will be happy to sign off on a winning note.

Here’s the summary of results from Day 5, which saw two semi-finals and two 5th-8th classification matches take place in Weissenhaus:

— D Gukesh vs Hikaru Nakamura, 5th-8th classification match, Game 1: Draw

— Alireza Firouzja vs Nodirbek Abdusattorov, 5th-8th classification match, Game 1: Draw

— Fabiano Caruana vs Javokhir Sindarov, semi-final, Game 1: Draw

— Magnus Carlsen vs Vincent Keymer, semi-final, Game 1: Vincent Keymer won

Here’s a summary of Gukesh Dommaraju’s results in the five days’ worth of action that we have witnessed in the Weissenhaus event since it got underway last Friday:

Day 1

Round 1: Drew against Nodirbek Abdusattorov

Round 2: Lost to Alireza Firouzja

Round 3: Drew against Levon Aronian

Round 4: Drew against Javokhir Sindarov

Round 5: Drew against Hikaru Nakamura

Day 2

Round 6: Drew against Fabiano Caruana

Round 7: Drew against Vincent Keymer

Round 8: Drew against Vladimir Fedoseev

Round 9: Lost to Magnus Carlsen.

Day 3

Quarter-final, Game 1: Lost to Fabiano Caruana

Day 4

Quarter-final, Game 2: Lost to Fabiano Caruana

Day 5

5th-8th classification match, Game 1: Drew against Hikaru Nakamura