Gukesh leads Indian charge at Paris Freestyle

Twelve Grandmasters, eight of the world's top 10—they include three Indians—will ditch opening preparation and trade staid business suits for colourful velvet jackets at the Paris leg of the Freestyle Chess Grand Slam Tour starting on April 7.

- Susan Ninan

BENGALURU:

After a forgettable outing in the year's first Freestyle Chess tournament in Weissenhaus, Germany, India's reigning world champion D Gukesh will take part in the second tournament of the series. Apart from the world No. 3, the other Indians in the field are R Praggnanandhaa, Arjun Erigaisi and Vidit Gujrathi.

Vidit, world No. 25, joins the event days after his wedding.

Arjun qualified for the event, winning three Freestyle Fridays in a row. "In classical games, I sometimes take extra risks and go out of my way to create interesting positions. In Freestyle, those interesting positions arise naturally, even without me taking deliberate risks. Perhaps that suits me," Arjun said.