Revealed: The Chess Player Who Beat Both King Magnus Carlsen and Nakamura at Freestyle Chess

The Freestyle Chess 2025 tournament has only been two days, but it has brought many surprises and drama. In particular, one player caused a stir when he defeated Magnus Carlsen and Hikaru Nakamura in turn.

Grandmaster Levon Aronian had two memorable days of competition, defeating both Carlsen and Nakamura at the Freestyle Chess tournament - Photo: Freestyle Chess

The tournament day (July 17) at Wynn Las Vegas went down in history as one of the longest days of top-level chess ever.

The nerve-wracking "Armageddon" match finally ended after more than 10 hours since the first game, marking a new milestone for the "chess marathon".

In the winners bracket, with the advantage of only needing a draw in the Armageddon game, grandmaster Fabiano Caruana brilliantly defeated prodigy Praggnanandhaa Rameshbabu to win a ticket to the winners bracket semi-finals. Joining him in the semi-finals were Hans Niemann, Levon Aronian and Arjun Erigaisi.

Notably, in the game between Aronian and Nakamura, player Levon Aronian initially had a slight advantage but made a mistake, creating an opportunity for Hikaru Nakamura to advance.

Nakamura defended brilliantly and seemed to have secured a ticket to the semi-finals, until his knight was unexpectedly trapped. The tie-break ended with the score 2.5-1.5 in favor of the 42-year-old.

Nakamura's white knight was completely neutralized - Photo: screenshot

The match was one of four that went to a tense tie-break, and for Aronian, it was the second day in a row he had to go through a dramatic tie-break.

Not only did he defeat the world's two best rapid players in two consecutive days, he also took away Nakamura's dream of winning his first Grand Slam title.

Tomorrow, all eyes will be on the winners' bracket, where two semi-final matches will take place. Fabiano Caruana will face Hans Niemann, while Levon Aronian will face "prodigy" Arjun Erigaisi.

These are sure to be uncompromising battles, where only the two best names can qualify for the final bracket, getting closer to the championship title.

In the remaining bracket, four players Magnus Carlsen, Wesley So, Vincent Keymer and Leinier Dominguez will advance to the intermediate round of stage 1. Here, they will face the "stumbled" players from the quarter-finals of the winners bracket.

It gives these "big guys" a last chance to regain their form and achieve a high position in the Freestyle Chess tournament.

TUAN LONG

Source: https://tuoitre.vn/lo-dien-ky-thu-danh-bai-ca-vua-co-magnus-carlsen-va-nakamura-tai-freestyle-chess-20250718144657886.htm