Magnus Carlsen will struggle towards Levon Aronian to assert the South Africa leg of the Freestyle Chess Grand Slam Tour after defeating Javokhir Sindarov within the semi-finals in a conflict that went into tiebreaks. Carlsen has already secured the 2025 Grand Slam Tour title earlier within the occasion. Within the ultimate, Carlsen will tackle Aronian whereas Vincent Keymer and Javokhir Sindarov struggle for third place. In the meantime, India’s Arjun Erigaisi will face Fabiano Caruana for the fifth place spot and Hans Niemann will face Parham Maghsoodloo within the match for seventh spot.
Now, for a takeaway cheque of $200,000, Carlsen will face off towards the veteran Aronian, who additionally needed to defeat Vincent Keymer in tiebreaks.
Within the semi-final, Carlsen took the lead towards Javokhir Sindarov in recreation one. However the Uzbek grandmaster, who not too long ago gained the FIDE World Cup in Goa, got here again with victory in what was a must-win recreation 2 with black items, leveling the match and forcing the matter right into a blitz tiebreak. Carlsen gained the primary blitz recreation and produced a miraculous save within the vital second one.
Within the second semifinal, Vincent Keymer had Aronian below stress for lengthy stretches of their second recreation however missed his opponent’s extraordinary escape. The match moved right into a tiebreak, the place Aronian capitalized in blitz, profitable 2–0 to achieve his second Grand Ultimate of the season.
In Las Vegas in July, he gained the occasion in a ultimate towards Hans Niemann. This time, it will likely be world primary Carlsen he should overcome — “an awesome privilege,” Aronian stated after the tiebreaks.
With each semifinals determined, the position matches are set. Keymer and Sindarov will contest the match for third place, whereas Fabiano Caruana and Arjun Erigaisi meet within the match for fifth. Caruana defeated Parham Maghsoodloo within the decrease bracket, and Arjun beat Niemann after a powerful tiebreak efficiency.
Beneath are all matchups for Thursday:
Grand Ultimate:
• Magnus Carlsen vs. Levon Aronian
Match for third:
• Vincent Keymer vs. Javokhir Sindarov
Match for fifth:
• Fabiano Caruana vs. Arjun Erigaisi
Match for seventh:
• Hans Niemann vs. Parham Maghsoodloo