D Gukesh faced challenges in Freestyle chess, finishing tied for 11th place alongside fellow Indian player Vidit Gujrathi. On the other hand, R Praggnanandhaa secured the ninth position, while Arjun Erigaisi performed the best among the Indian players, taking fifth place at the Paris Freestyle Chess Grand Slam.

During a recent live stream on Chess.com about the Paris event, Gukesh shared his difficulties with the Chess960 format. He mentioned, "The toughest part for me in Freestyle Chess is that everyone can calculate and spot tactics. However, accurately assessing positions is the real challenge, at least for me. Many positions and ideas resemble standard chess but aren't exactly the same. What we think is a good move might not actually be effective. Our intuition doesn't always lead us right in Freestyle."

He added, "No one has a definitive approach. What many players, including myself, do is examine the starting positions and consider the initial moves to grasp some concepts or ideas and tackle certain studies, as some positions resemble studies."

When comparing himself to top players like Magnus Carlsen and Vincent Keymer, he remarked, "I find it quite difficult to calculate and evaluate here because there's so much more to consider than in standard chess. In regular chess, you can identify three or four solid options and calculate from there. Here, it's unclear which moves are actually good. Perhaps players like Magnus or Vincent have a better instinct for where the pieces should go, but not everyone possesses that skill."

In the end, Carlsen emerged victorious in Paris, defeating World No. 2 Hikaru Nakamura in the final match. American GM Fabiano Caruana claimed third place. Carlsen has also taken the lead in the Tour standings, amassing 40 points and $300,000 in prize money.

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