Gukesh Advances in Freestyle Chess Grand Slam

World Champion D Gukesh has advanced to the knockout stage of the Freestyle Chess Grand Slam Tour despite not winning any matches in the preliminary rounds, finishing with 3.5 points, seven draws, and two losses including one to Magnus Carlsen. Gukesh will compete against Fabiano Caruana in the quarter-finals, while Carlsen faces Nodirbek Abdusattorov. The tournament, featuring an innovative Chess960 format and a prize pool of $750,000, included top players like Alireza Firouzja and Javokhir Sindarov, with Firouzja leading the standings at 6.5 points. The event has been marked by controversies, including a dispute between FIDE and Freestyle Chess organizers over the tournament's classification. Despite these issues, the tournament continues with high participation from elite players.