Hans Niemann impresses at Freestyle Chess Las Vegas, beats Arjun Erigaisi as Magnus Carlsen struggles

Controversial American Grandmaster Hans Niemann made a blistering start to the Freestyle Chess Grand Slam Tour as he finished second in his respective group of the Las Vegas leg on Wednesday after beating India's Arjun Erigaisi in his first game. Niemann, who has been accused of cheating by Magnus Carlsen in the past, qualified for the Freestyle Chess Grand Slam Las Vegas through the online play-ins after a last-minute pullout in Paris.

On Wednesday, however, the 22-year-old Niemann was in inspired form as he outwitted several top players to finish second in Group Black, behind Hikaru Nakamura, with 4.5 points. Nakamura came first with six points from seven matches, while Erigaisi and Fabiano Caruna finished in the top four with four points each.

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The top four players from each group will qualify for the upper bracket quarter-finals, while the bottom four finishers of each group will advance to the bottom bracket quarter-finals.

Niemann shines as Carlsen struggles

The other Group White includes Carlsen, R Praggnanandhaa, who finished as the joint leader, Javokhir Sindarov, Nodirbek Abdusattorov, Levon Aronian, Vincent Keymer, Wesley So and Bibisara Assaubayeva. Carlsen is already knocked out of the quarter-finals after losing in tiebreakers to Aronian.

Coming back to Niemann. He defeated Erigaisi in just 20 moves as the Indian Grandmaster registered a poor accuracy of 80.7. Thereafter, Niemann defeated fellow countryman Ray Robson before playing out a draw against Sam Sevian of the USA.

In Round 4, Niemann defeated another Indian Grandmaster, Vidit Gujrathi, before thumping Leinier Domínguez, followed by his first defeat to Nakamura. In the final round, he also lost to Fabiano Caruana.

The 21-year-old Indian chess sensation Erigaisi defeated Gujrathi, Sevian and Robson, besides losing to Niemann and Nakamura. He drew against Domínguez and Caruana.

Gujrathi had a difficult time, with his only win coming against Domínguez as he lost the remaining games, except for a draw against Caruana. He finished last in the standings with just 1.5 points.