VIDEO SHOWS: ROUND ROBIN STAGE HIGHLIGHTS FROM THE FREESTYLE CHESS GRAND SLAM FINALS / COMMENT FROM MAGNUS CARLSEN RESENDING WITH COMPLETE SCRIPT SHOWS: GANSBAAI, SOUTH AFRICA (DECEMBER 8, 2025) (FREESTYLE CHESS – For editorial use only, must courtesy: "Freestyle Chess", no resales, no commercial use, no monetisation) 1. CHESS GRANDMASTERS ARJUN ERIGAISI (LEFT), MAGNUS CARLSEN (RIGHT) & CARLSEN’S WIFE ELLA VICTORIA ARRIVING AT VENUE 2. GRANDMASTERS FABIANO CARUANA (LEFT), CARLSEN & LEVON ARONIAN AHEAD OF START OF PLAY 3. CHESS PIECES BEING MOVED 4. START OF MATCH BETWEEN JAVOKHIR SINDAROV & CARLSEN 5. SINDAROV & CARLSEN IN ACTION 6. SINDAROV BEATING CARLSEN 7. START OF MATCH BETWEEN CARLSEN & VINCENT KEYMER 8. CARLSEN 9. CARLSEN IN ACTION AGAINST HANS NIEMANN 10. CARLSEN 11. CARLSEN & NIEMANN IN ACTION 12. CARLSEN 13. CARLSEN BEATING PARHAM MAGHSOODLOO 14. (SOUNDBITE) (English) CHESS GRANDMASTER & FIVE-TIME WORLD CHESS CHAMPION, MAGNUS CARLSEN, ON PLAYING HAVING BEEN SICK THE DAY BEFORE, SAYING: CARLSEN: “Playing, like, playing chess on a day like today when I’m not feeling up for it is just, it’s exhausting, especially when you have a lot of games, and, like, in the last game, I was just, I don’t know, I mean, obviously, Parham (Maghsoodloo) has his, had his struggles here, but it felt like it was so low quality that it was just embarrassing, but that’s the way it is.” INTERVIEWER: “Good luck tomorrow.” CARLSEN: “Thank you.” 15. VARIOUS OF CHESS PIECES BEING MOVED DURING MATCHES 16. CARUANA IN ACTION AGAINST NIEMANN 17. CARUANA 18. KEYMER IN ACTION AGAINST ERIGAISI 19. ARONIAN & SINDAROV DRAWING THEIR MATCH STORY: Birthday boy Javokhir Sindarov emerged as the leader of the round robin phase at the Freestyle Chess Grand Slam Finals in Gansbaai near Cape Town, South Africa, on Monday (December 8). The Uzbek Grandmaster celebrated his 20th birthday by scoring 5.5 points out of 7 games, including a win against five-time World Chess Champion Magnus Carlsen, who was feeling under the weather having been sick the day before. In the quarter-finals, Norwegian Carlsen is set to face Italian-American Fabiano Caruana, marking a rematch of their 2018 World Championship clash. With Grand Slam rules in effect, all eight competitors advance to the quarters, with the top three from the round robin phase earning the right to choose their last eight opponents from the bottom four. Sindarov will play against winless Iranian Parham Maghsoodloo, Armenia’s Levon Aronian will take on Hans Niemann from the United States, and India’s Arjun Erigaisi will challenge German Vincent Keymer. The South African finale will not only crown the 2025 season champion but also features a significant prize pool. Carlsen currently leads the overall tour standings with 80 points, followed by Caruana on 49 and Keymer a further ten back. Carlsen only needs to secure a fourth-place finish in the Finals to bag overall victory, a position that comes with a $100,000 bonus. The overall tour awards $175,000 in prize money for points accumulated, in addition to the event along the South African coastline’s $575,000 prize fund, where the champion will receive an impressive $200,000. (Production: Stefan Haskins)
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