India's Arjun Erigaisi made a terrific start to the Freestyle Chess Grand Slam Tour Paris leg by winning the opening two rounds in style. The best part was beating World No. 1 Magnus Carlsen in round two. Erigaisi had taken down American Super GM Fabiano Caruana in the opening round.

Erigaisi had been in great form in the build-up to the mega event that started on April 7. He had won a hat-trick of Freestyle Friday online events, but the chess world was eager to know if he could bring that form to Paris.

It looks like the 21-year-old from Warrangal has indeed brought his A-game to the French capital. He is part of a 12-member field that includes three other Indians, including World Champion D Gukesh.

Against Carlsen, Erigaisi got himself to a promising position as early as move 10 when he pinned a rook and won a bishop. Carlsen tried his best to pin Erigaisi's King to a corner, but the Indian proved too smart, forcing the Norwegian icon to resign after 29 moves.

The 12 players in the Paris leg will play 11 rounds of round-robin rapid games in 'freestyle' format. The best eight will then progress to the knockouts.

Freestyle chess, also known as Chess960 or Fischer random chess, differs from conventional chess, which has been studied for centuries, leading to predictable lines.

In the Freestyle version, which was initially popularised by the late world champion Bobby Fischer, pieces are randomized on the back rank, with 960 possible starting positions available. The opening position is revealed to the players via a draw of lot shortly before the game, making preparations near impossible.

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