New Delhi/Georgia, July 21 (H.S.):

India's chess players, Arjun Erigaisi and R Praggnanandhaa, secured sixth and seventh positions, respectively, at the Freestyle Chess Grand Slam in Las Vegas on July 21. The tournament title was claimed by Levon Aronian, who triumphed in the final against Hans Moke Niemann with a score of 1.5-0.5, winning a prize of USD 200,000.

In the battle for third place, Magnus Carlsen rebounded from a rocky start to defeat Hikaru Nakamura, also finishing with 1.5-0.5. Arjun faced tough competition and lost to Fabiano Caruana with a two-game score of 0-2. Conversely, Praggnanandhaa managed to secure victory against Wesley So with a score of 1.5-0.5, ensuring his seventh place finish among the last eight participants.

Despite their rankings, both Indian players earned significant prizes, with Arjun receiving USD 40,000 and Praggnanandhaa securing USD 30,000 following his final round win. Praggnanandhaa displayed solid performance, initially drawing the first game and then convincingly winning the second. This event coincided with the elimination of his sister, R Vaishali, from the FIDE Women’s World Cup in Batumi, Georgia.

Hindusthan Samachar / Jun Sarkar