D Gukesh, R Praggnanandhaa, Arjun Erigaisi’s participation confirmed for Paris Freestyle Chess Grand Slam event

Freestyle Chess confirmed D Gukesh, R Praggnanandhaa and Arjun Erigaisi's participation in Paris.

The upcoming Paris Freestyle Chess Grand Slam event will see a strong three-member Indian contingent headlining the field along with the likes of Magnus Carlsen and Fabiano Caruana. D Gukesh, Arjun Erigaisi and R Praggnanandhaa, India’s top-three GMs, will be travelling to Paris in April to participate in the second Freestyle Chess Grand Slam of the year.

D Gukesh, R Praggnanandhaa and Arjun Erigaisi will participate at the Paris Freestyle Chess Grand Slam.

Arjun’s participation has already been confirmed by an official social media post from Freestyle Chess.

Participation confirmed

Speaking to Hindustan Times, Freestyle Chess confirmed Gukesh and Praggnanandhaa's participation in Paris. Gukesh was in action in the first leg at Weissenhaus, where he had a winless run and finished in eighth position. The Weissenhaus Grand Slam event was won by German GM Vincent Keymer, who beat Caruana in the final. Meanwhile, World No. 1 Magnus Carlsen lost to Keymer in the semi-finals and ended in third position.

The Paris event will also see American GM Hans Niemann participate, having qualified after winning the 2024 Grenke Chess Open. Niemann’s introduction has created controversy, as he was involved in an infamous scandal with Carlsen in 2022, where the Norwegian accused him of cheating. In response, Niemann filed a lawsuit against the likes of Carlsen, Chess.com and Hikaru Nakamura. Later all parties reached an agreement and the lawsuit was dropped.

The inclusion of Praggnanandhaa, Arjun and Gukesh in the same Grand Slam event is expected to receive plenty of attention from Indian fans. In the FIDE ratings published recently, Gukesh is fifth with a 2777 rating, behind Arjun Erigaisi (2801).

But in the live Elo ratings, Gukesh has already toppled Erigaisi and is World No. 3 (2787.2). Meanwhile, Erigaisi has fallen to fifth spot with a rating of 2776.7. Also, Praggnanandhaa is India No. 3 in live ratings, but in the published FIDE standings, he is India No. 4.

Praggnanandhaa is in good form, having beaten Gukesh in the tie-breaker decider in Wijk aan Zee this year, to win the Tata Masters. His inclusion in Paris will create plenty of excitement for fans.