How Magnus Carlsen's triumph and Arjun Erigaisi's 5th-place finish in Paris affects Freestyle Grand Slam Tour standings

Magnus Carlsen defeated Hikaru Nakamura in a blockbuster final in Paris to be crowned champion after falling short in Weissenhaus while Arjun Erigaisi impresses on debut, finishing fourth at the end of the round-robin stage and fifth in the final standings in the second event.

The Paris leg of the Freestyle Chess Grand Slam Tour concluded on Monday with a dream final between Magnus Carlsen and Hikaru Nakamura, and all it took was one blunder to help the former win by a 1.5-0.5 scoreline and take home the $200,000 cash prize. Nakamura was doing a decent job steering the game towards a stalemate while playing with black pieces in Game 1 on Sunday when his decision to advance his bishop in his 35th move proved to be his undoing.

Despite playing with white pieces in Game 2 on Monday, Nakamura was unable to mount a serious challenge against Carlsen as the world No 1 sealed his triumph with a comfortable draw.

Fabiano Caruana and Vincent Keymer were the finalists in the opening leg of the Grand Slam Tour in Weissenhaus in February, with the latter completing a fairytale triumph in the final after pulling off a stunning victory over Carlsen in the semi-finals.

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