Freestyle Chess Tour Paris Leg, Day 2 Highlights

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The second day of the Freestyle Chess Tour Paris Leg concluded the round-robin stage and delivered dramatic wins and shocking eliminations. The tournament is being held at the Pavillon Chesnaie du Roy in Paris, France.  Magnus Carlsen and Nodirbek Abdusattorov took the lead and emerged as early leaders by scoring five out of six points each. 

Day 2 was marked by Magnus Carlsen continuing his reign despite suffering a loss in the first round. He finished tied for the first place with Ian Nepomniachtchi at 8.5 points after a stunning form in the second round. His impeccable queen sacrifice against Richard Rapport in round 9 was the highlight of the day. Arjuna Erigiasi emerged as the sole Indian qualifier for the knockout stage. Placed at the fourth position in the standings with 6.5 points from 11 games, he beat Magnus Carlsen, Vincent Keymer, and Fabiano Caruana in the tournament. 

The reigning world champion, Gukes D, suffered shocking eliminations despite his promising career. He finished in the 11th position after losing seven games in the round-robin stage, which means he will not qualify for the knockout stage now. Other shocking eliminations include the Tata Steel Chess Champion Praggnanandhaa R. and Vidit Gujrathi not making it to the qualifiers.

Freestyle Chess Tour Paris Leg: Full Results

Player Round 7 Round 8 Round 9 Round 10 Round 11
Vincent Keymer 1/2 0 1 1 1
Fabiano Caruana 1/2 1/2 1 0 0
Nodirbek Abdusattorov 0 0 1 1/2 0
Praggnanandhaa R. 0 1/2 0 0 1
Magnus Carlsen 1/2 1 1 1/2 1/2
Ian Nepomniachtchi 1 1 1 1/2 1
Hikaru Nakamura 1/2 1/2 0 1/2 1
Dommaraju Gukesh 1 1 0 0 0
Maxime Vachier-Lagrave 0 1/2 1 1/2 1/2
Richard Rapport 1 1/2 0 1 0
Vidit Gujrathi 0 0 0 1 0
Arjun Erigaisi 1 1/2 0 1/2 1

Freestyle Chess Tour Paris Leg: Standings

# Player Rating Pts.
1 Ian Nepomniachtchi 2758 8.5
2 Magnus Carlsen 2819 8.5
3 Maxime Vachier-Lagrave 2745 7
4 Arjun Erigaisi 2708 6.5
5 Nodirbek Abdusattorov 2732 6.5
6 Hikaru Nakamura 2734 6
7 Vincent Keymer 2649 5.5
8 Fabiano Caruana 2756 4.5
9 Praggnanandhaa Rameshbabu 2684 4
10 Richard Rapport 2709 3.5
11 Gukesh Dommaraju 2654 3.5
12 Vidit Gujrathi 2650 2

Also Read: Freestyle Chess Tour Paris Leg, Day 1 Highlights