In the match for third place, Fabiano Caruana beat Vincent Keymer, also scoring 1.5-0.5. After winning the first game, Caruana forced a draw with a move repetition from a close to winning position in game two. With his podium finish in Paris, Caruana qualified for the next Freestyle Chess Grand Slam, which has been announced to take place in Las Vegas in July.

Arjun Erigaisi finished his match with the same 1.5-0.5 score to claim fifth place, beating local hero Maxime Vachier-Lagrave, who came sixth. The Indian GM was under pressure today but could eventually avoid a tiebreak. Ian Nepomniachtchi finished seventh; he was never in danger either and even scored a second win against Nodirbek Abdusattorov (eighth), who resigned in a drawn position.

Today’s starting position, which had in common with yesterday’s that the bishops were on the c- and h-squares, wasn’t an easy one to create imbalances, so the players who needed a win had a tough task. As far as first moves were concerned, Nakamura, Caruana, and Arjun all went for 1.b4, while Nepomniachtchi played 1.Nf3 instead.

In his first of several sessions in the confession booth, Carlsen said about it: “I feel like the starting positions we are getting are kind of similar but there always seem to be different themes from game to game though. I think our team so to speak, the players playing Black this round, were not necessarily expecting to see the move 1.b4 on a lot of boards but the alternatives for White didn’t look that promising so I’m not shocked to see it. I think maybe the biggest issue for both players is how to develop the respective knights on d1 and d8; the rest of the pieces seem fairly harmonious.”

Nakamura vs. Carlsen ½-½

“It always felt like this was mine to lose,” said Carlsen after drawing Monday’s game while avoiding any serious trouble. In what was a game where both players reached an accuracy score of over 98 percent, Nakamura never got a serious chance for obtaining a sizable advantage, let alone getting to play for a win.

If there was one moment where Nakamura could have hoped for more, it was on move 25, but he would have had to allow a queen trade. His recapture with the bishop instead allowed 25…Bh3, when Carlsen was already comfortable, and ready for another confession.

“My play over the last six, seven moves or so hasn’t been the most ambitious,” he said then. “I think I definitely had some advantage at some point but I’ve been steering the game more or less towards what we have now which does give him a little bit of long-term potential but I think as for now my pieces are much too active.”

Commentator Peter Leko agreed: “I’m actually a little bit broken from the white perspective! I want Hikaru to be finding ideas but where are those ideas? This 25…Bh3 was such a quiet little killer. The computer probably doesn’t highlight it’s such an important move, but humanly speaking this kills our soul!”

Carlsen’s 32…g5 was another one of those quiet killer moves, which truly left no doubt anymore about how the game was going to end. All in all, it was a smooth affair on the final day in Paris for the tournament winner.

“I felt like I never really gave him any chances. I really liked the position that I got out of the opening, it seemed very sound and solid and it seemed that he was kind of struggling to find a way after that. I didn’t quite try and get the maximum out of the position I had which I think was a little bit better for me; I was more trying to be safe, liquidate and I think I did a good job staying active and sort of forcing him to trade more pieces and go for a draw.”

Nakamura commented: “It’s hard because obviously I just lost the match so what I say can shrewd as being negative but I think today especially it was a very difficult position to play, Magnus himself said that – tough to play from the white side, create anything. If after 4.f4 it’s already kind of nothing it’s really hard to be unhappy with the result.”

Carlsen was one of several players being somewhat under the weather this week, a situation where playing Chess960 was perhaps even more welcome to him: “Going to the board to play Freestyle compared to classical is just a completely different feeling, there is more of a childish joy of just playing chess rather than being worried about openings, rating points and all of those things that are important but don’t necessarily equate joy.”

Caruana vs. Keymer ½-½

Even more than in Nakamura’s case, it was clear almost from the start that Keymer wasn’t going to come back from his loss on Sunday. The fight for third place (and with it, the ticket to the next Grand Slam) was virtually decided a few moves into the game. While Keymer had impressed in Weissenhaus for grasping the opening positions perhaps better than any other player, he seemed to be struggling today.

During that opening phase, Caruana said in the confession booth: “I think this is the best possible opening I could have hoped for. Hikaru and I both have a similar development but I think Vincent played …d5 too early and as a result he can’t really play …c6 because his queen gets trapped. He has to waste some time, like, moving his bishop from c8, to develop his pieces or, I don’t know, his knight on d8 never develops. I think it’s very bad for Black.”

As it went, Caruana grabbed space on the kingside and Keymer had to give up an exchange in order to avoid that his queen would be trapped indeed. Instead of taking it, Caruana increased the pressure more and more, until Keymer decided to turn it into a queen sacrifice. He was never near saving the game until his opponent suddenly forced a draw by move repetition in what was still a close to winning position, securing match victory.

Arjun vs. Vachier-Lagrave ½-½

Unlike the other players who were in a must-win situation, Vachier-Lagrave did have some chances for a comeback, even though he “missed some ideas by Arjun” early on, as he noted in the confession booth around move 10.

“My pieces are a bit awkwardly placed and of course there are some tactical ideas with this queen and bishop battery but I feel like I’m defending and then if things go well in a few moves, if I consolidate, then I actually have a chance. I’m definitely hoping still to get a game if I do not lose in the next few moves through some blunder!”

Arjun had a very different opinion after his 11.Nf2. “I think my position is very promising because g4 is a huge threat and I’m not really sure how he can prevent it. He can play …h5 but I just go h3 and it’s the same. The point is after I get g4 and the bishop moves I get Ne4 and the d6-square is really weak.”

Soon after, Arjun mixed up his moves though, and suddenly he was worse for most of the remainder of the game. When MVL missed a detail in the endgame, Arjun was safe again.

Nepomniachtchi vs. Abdusattorov 1-0

In this game, which already looked like a fairly normal, classical game of chess by move 13, Nepomniachtchi was always in control. For a long time, the Russian GM had the advantage before he reached a roughly equal endgame with rooks and bishops.

The Russian’s decision to sacrifice an exchange was an interesting way to continue the game, but also quite practical as it was still equal and not difficult to play as White. Abdusattorov played on for long, and even got into some danger, but it was always a draw – including the final position, where he played the only move 70…Kg7 and then, a few seconds later, resigned the game! Apparently he preferred to go down in flames than leaving the match with a timid draw offer from his side…

Next on the program is the third leg of the Grand Slam, to be held mid-July in the USA, followed by the fourth leg in Delhi, India, in September. The 2025 Tour will conclude in December in Cape Town, South Africa, where double points can be earned. Stay tuned!