Carlsen wins Paris leg of Freestyle Chess Tour after defeating Hikaru in final; Impressive Arjun finishes fifth

Magnus Carlsen holds Hikaru Nakamura to a draw in Game 2 to win the ‘El Chessico’ final in Paris by a 1.5-0.5 scoreline and pocket a prize money of $200,000. Arjun Erigaisi, meanwhile, finishes fifth on Freestyle Chess debut, beating Maxime Vachier-Lagrave to the spot.

Magnus Carlsen was crowned champion in the Paris leg of the Freestyle Chess Grand Slam Tour after holding Hikaru Nakamura to a draw in the second game of their blockbuster final on Monday. World No 1 Carlsen, as a result, defeated Nakamura with a 1.5-0.5 scoreline as a result of the stalemate, with the world No 2 having lost the opening game on Sunday after
committing a blunder in his 35th move.

Carlsen and Nakamura had suffered semi-final defeats in the opening leg of the Grand Slam Tour in Weissenhaus, Germany in February, losing to Vincent Keymer and Fabiano Caruana respectively. The Paris leg had the same semi-final lineup as Weissenhaus, only this time it was Caruana and Keymer’s turn to end up on the losing side.

Caruana had defeated Keymer with black pieces on Sunday and had the upper hand for the most part in Game 2, which eventually finished in a draw.

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