Carlsen will play Nodirbek, while D Gukesh was selected by the assured Caruana for the Freestyle Chess Weissenhaus quarterfinal matchup.

Current world champion D Gukesh is set to face Fabiano Caruana in the quarter-finals of the Weissenhaus stage of the ongoing Freestyle Chess Grand Slam Tour this Sunday. The top player from India was defeated by Magnus Carlsen in the last round of the round-robin phase and secured eighth place, which was the final qualifying position. Gukesh was able to achieve seven draws and two losses, during a season that has revealed his vulnerabilities in shorter formats.

In the current Grand Slam Tour, the athletes who rank in the top four of the standings during the preliminary round of each leg have the opportunity to choose their opponents, who end up in fifth to eighth place. Alireza Firouzja, who topped the standings, chose sixth-ranked Vincent Keymer as his opponent for the quarter-finals. In the meantime, Javokhir Sindarov chose Hikaru Nakamura to be his adversary. The Uzbek grandmaster placed second, while Nakamura secured the fifth position.

Caruana, who placed third, chose Gukesh as his opponent for the quarter-finals. The duo experienced a remarkable tie in the initial round. Conversely, Magnus Carlsen, who finished in fourth place, faced Nodirbek Abdusattorov. At the same time, Vladimir Fedoseev and Levon Aronian will compete for the ninth spot. Gukesh lost in the round-robin phase to Firouzja, who achieved a decisive win.

He then faced defeat against Carlsen, conceding during the end-game. Despite not achieving a victory, Gukesh remains the favorite to secure the title, demonstrating his skill at the Candidates and World Championship last year. In the meantime, he was quite near to winning the Tata Masters this year, but a late push from R Praggnanandhaa resulted in the 19-year-old securing a tie-breaker title win.

After his win against Gukesh, Carlsen was also seen soaking in victory as it was also the most highly-anticipated match for fans, a game between the reigning world champion and the World No. 1. Speaking after his win, Carlsen boasted, “I think, honestly, there was not a single point in the game where it was realistic that he could play for a win. That hasn’t stopped him from playing for a win in the past, but I think the practical chances were always with me, especially with the time. What generally… happens there is that when things start going downhill, they just collapse because as soon as I get my pieces going, this pawn if not located, it’s just unstoppable .