D Gukesh, see Gujrathi, Arjun Erigaisi and R Pragganandhaa (photo: Chessbase India) New Delhi: Another Grand Slam Freestyle Chess tournament closed and Indian chess fans remained disappointed again.
Of the twelve players who competed at Pavillon Chesnaiu du Roy in Paris, they were four Indian.
The chess Olympics Gold coach GM Srinath Narayanan, who will be the captain of the MGD1 team at the upcoming FIDE 2025 World Championship, believes that Indian grandmothers need more time to adapt to the format of Freestyle.
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“It is too early to draw extensive conclusions based on only two tournaments. In addition to the format, it is also important to consider an exceptionally high level of opposition, with almost all the best players in the world,” Srinath said, “Srinath said Timesofindia.com during exclusive interaction.
Freestyle Chess, inspired by Fischer Random’s principles, is still in the developmental phase.
Created by World No. 1 Magnus Carlsen and German entrepreneur Jan Henric Buettner, disrupts the traditional opening theory by chance of starting positions and forces players to rely more on creativity and adaptability.
The first leg was won by Vincent Kemer in Germany, while Carlsen dominated the Parisian leg without needing a single break.
“Magnus was just brilliant. He has done so many times and still does it. He remains the best player of our time and one of the greatest time,” Srinath added.
From the Indian contingent, only Arjun Erigaisi proceeded around the qualifying phase just to remove the eventual runner of Hikaru Nakamura with a score of 1.5-0.5 in the quarterfinals. The rest of the Indian contingent led badly.
Arjun’s fifth place, emphasized by his victory over Ian Nepomniachtchi and Maxure Vachier-Lagrave, has evoked discussing whether the 21-year-old is the most powerful Indian candidate for freestyle chess.
“Arjun is very strong in faster formats, and it benefits from the qualification phase of freestyle chess is fast. Arjun’s versatility is excellent,” Srinath continued. “Limited opportunities in elite levels, such as the Grand Chess Tour, have shaped Arjun to adapt and make the most of every chance they get.”
The cut-off to reach the quarterfinals was 4.5 points, a score that Fabiano Caruan, who later defeated Germany Vincent Kemer, ended up third behind Magnus Carlsen and Nakamura.
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Gukesh Dommaraju world, see Gujrath and Rameshbaba Pragggnanandhaa failed to secure a place in the first eight during the round Robin phase, which was a quick time check of 10 minutes plus a 10 -second addition to movement.
Gukesh and See ended up tied to 11.
“I feel that Gukesh has not yet paid much attention to freestyle format. At the only standard tournament he played, he finished the joint (with Pragg crowned champion) in Wijk Aan Zee,” Srinath said.
“There’s nothing wrong with his game. Most of the work he has done on the openings for the World Championship match is not very useful in freestyle format.”
In the match for the ninth place of Pragggnanandhaa, Richard Rapport defeated for two days and ended just before the quarterfinal holder in his debut performance Freestyle Chess Grand Slam. This was also the first Grand Slam for Arjun and see.
For someone like Gukesh, however, success in freestyle chess remains elusive.
Despite the strong victory over Arjun, Pragg and Keymer in Paris, he failed to proceed after the qualifying phase after the performance without victory in Germany.
So aren’t Indian players simply suitable for freestyle chess?
“It is too early to draw conclusions on the basis of only one or two tournaments. When they play more and start taking freestyle chess more seriously, I’m sure they will adapt much better,” said the 31 -year -old Grand Master.
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