
Vidit Gujrathi has secured his place in the Paris leg of the inaugural Freestyle Chess Grand Slam after winning the online Play-In stage held from 8 to 14 March. The Indian grandmaster advanced through a competitive knockout phase without needing tiebreakers, defeating Ding Liren, Pranesh Munirethinam, Amin Tabatabaei and Richard Rapport. Despite feeling underprepared, Vidit's strong performance earned him a spot alongside Magnus Carlsen, Gukesh Dommaraju and Hikaru Nakamura in the tournament, set to take place from 7 to 14 April. | Photo: Anmol Bhargav