India, Feb. 13 -- An extraordinary confrontation unfolded as Vincent Keymer managed to secure a draw against Magnus Carlsen in the second game of their semi-final match at the Weissenhaus Freestyle Chess Grand Slam in Wangels, Germany. Keymer had previously triumphed over Carlsen in their first encounter on Tuesday, and on Wednesday, he demonstrated his skill once more by achieving a hard-fought draw. This outcome propelled Keymer into the finals, where he is set to compete against Fabiano Caruana.

Conversely, Caruana engaged in a gruelling battle lasting nearly eight hours, ultimately overcoming Uzbek Grandmaster Javokhir Sindarov in the armageddon tiebreaker after the scores were level in the preceding classical, rapid, and blitz games.

American Grandmaster Hans Niemann took to X, formerly known as Twitter, to share a cryptic message. He initially remarked, "VK is a strong player," which many interpreted as a reference to Keymer, while also suggesting a subtle jab at Carlsen. This was particularly notable given the infamous cheating scandal involving Carlsen and Niemann in 2022.

Shortly thereafter, Niemann clarified his earlier comment regarding 'VK', humorously asserting that he was referring to Vladimir Kramnik, rather than Indian cricketer Virat Kohli or Keymer. He playfully stated, "VK is Vladimir Kramnik, not Virat Kohli or Vincent Keymer :)"

This revelation elicited laughter from fans, with one remarking, "The crossover no one expected."

Keymer had served as one of D Gukesh's seconds during the recent World Championship, where the Indian Grandmaster made history by defeating Ding Liren. After eliminating Carlsen, Keymer expressed his relief, stating, "Mostly I'm relieved that I managed to see out this very tough game. And also it's for me a personal incredible achievement to beat Magnus in a match."

He further elaborated, "I mean, basically, even if I was in a must-win situation, that position would have been quite nice. I mean, my position was, I think, clearly better. I was up on the clock for around 20 minutes. So, yeah, to get myself into that much trouble after that is really not something I'm proud of. But, yeah, it happened."

On the same day, D Gukesh's unfortunate streak at Weissenhaus continued as he suffered a defeat against veteran Grandmaster Hikaru Nakamura, who will now compete for fifth place.

Read Also: Chess Meets Cricket: Gukesh’s Dhoni-Like Composure Stuns Carlsen

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