India, April 18 -- Magnus Carlsen was proved right as D Gukesh's Freestyle Chess struggles continued. The India No. 1 had a miserable showing in Paris, settling for joint-11th position with fellow Indian Vidit Gujrathi. Among the Indians, Arjun Erigaisi had the best performance, coming fifth in the standings.

Meanwhile, R Praggnanandhaa came ninth in the standings. Ahead of the Paris Freestyle Chess Grand Slam event, Carlsen had predicted that Gukesh would miss out on qualifying for the knockout round. Speaking with American Fabiano Caruana on Twitch, the World No. 1 said, "Everyone's at risk, of course. But Gukesh, Niemann, Vincent, Maxime.. Vidit on paper is going to struggle a bit."

Analysing the participants, Carlsen also felt that ...