Pairings set for Freestyle Quarterfinals at Weissenhaus

The ten-player round robin has been completed, resulting in the following standings:

1. Alireza Firouzja – 6.5/9
2. Javokhir Sindarov – 6.5/9
3. Fabiano Caruana – 6/9
4. Magnus Carlsen – 5.5/9
5. Hikaru Nakamura – 5.5/9
6. Vincent Keymer – 4/9
7. Nodirbek Abdusattorov – 3.5/9
8. Dommaraju Gukesh – 3.5/9
9. Vladimir Fedoseev – 2.5/9
10. Levon Aronian – 1.5/9

The bottom two finishers, Fedoseev and Aronian, have been eliminated, and will play a match for 9th place while the others enter a knockout bracket. The quarterfinal pairings were settled by player choice, starting with first place finisher Firouzja. He chose to play against Keymer; Sindarov surprised by choosing Nakamura; Caruana chose Gukesh; and that left Carlsen with Abdusattorov.

Unlike the 10+10 round robin time control, the elimination rounds will be played at a classical 90+30 speed, with one game per day and two games per match, and faster tiebreaks if needed. There are no rest days, so the first games of the quarterfinals are February 9th, and the Finals will conclude on February 14th. Follow along on Lichess or your favourite broadcaster.

Graphic via Freestyle-Chess