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Indian Grandmasters Arjun Erigaisi and R Praggnanandhaa finished at sixth and seventh position respectively in the Freestyle Chess Grand Slam Las Vegas. Grandmaster Levon Aronian of the United States won the championship on Sunday after overcoming GM Hans Niemann 1.5-0.5 in the final, according to chess.com.
Aronian held firm in an opposite-coloured bishop ending in the first, before putting on a masterclass to take the match. In his match today, Praggnanandhaa prevailed over Wesley with 1.5-0.5 score, marking the end of an impressive showing. Caruana-Arjun was a one-sided affair, and the former brought indomitable form that saw Arjun slump to a third straight 0-2 defeat, 24 hours after falling to Carlsen by the same margin. World number one Magnus Carlsen rallied after a disappointing first game to outplay Hikaru Nakamura of the United States to finish in third place in the play-off. Aronian took USD 200000 for winning the tournament, while Arjun secured USD 40000 for his effort. Praggnanandhaa also pocketed a total of USD 30000 after his final round win. GM Hikaru Nakamura finished in fourth, and Fabiano Caruana, after beating Arjun, finished his campaign on fifth position. Carlsen won USD 100,000 third prize, while Nakamura bagged USD 60,000 and Caruana took home USD 50,000. Earlier in the tournament, Praggnanandhaa defeated Carlsen in the first game of their freestyle chess match. The 19-year-old Indian chess prodigy beat Carlsen 1-0 in the opening game, playing with the white pieces. However, Carlsen bounced back in the second game to level the match and then went on to win both games in the blitz tiebreak, sealing a 2-0 victory and advancing to the final. During game one, Praggnanandhaa took down Carlsen with white pieces. But game two was won by the world number one, taking things to a tiebreak. Carslen went on to win the blitz tiebreak 2-0 to win the semifinal match. (ANI)
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