Freestyle Chess Grand Slam Tour
| 2025 | |
| Tournament information | |
|---|---|
| Sport | Chess960 |
| Dates | February 7–December 12, 2025 |
| Host(s) | Wangels, Germany Paris, France New York City, United States Delhi, India Cape Town, South Africa |
The Freestyle Chess Grand Slam Tour is a series of Chess960 tournaments in 2025 organized by Freestyle Chess Operations. It will consist of five "Grand Slam" tournaments following the format of the Freestyle Chess G.O.A.T. Challenge, held in 2024. Players will score points based on placement in each event. The player with the highest score at the end of the year will become the Freestyle Chess World Champion.[1]
The tour was co-founded by five-time World Chess Champion Magnus Carlsen and German investor Jan Henric Buettner.[2][3][4] Carlsen has been an advocate for Chess960 as an alternative to classical chess that eliminates opening preparation and theory.[5][6][7] In July 2024, Left Lane Capital invested $12 million in the venture.[8][9][10]
Format
[edit]Play-ins
[edit]One player qualifies to each Grand Slam via an online play-in held on Chess.com. The play-ins consist of three stages:[11]
- Eligible non-titled players compete in two nine-round Swiss qualifiers, with a time control of 10+2. The top three players in each qualifier advance to the next stage.
- Titled players and the six qualifiers compete in a nine-round Swiss, with a time control of 10+2. The top four players advance to the next stage.
- 12 players are invited by the organizers to the single-elimination knockout stage, joined by the four qualifiers. Matches consist of two games, with a time control of 15+3. If the match ends in a tie, two 5+2 blitz games are played. If a tie persists, one armageddon game with bidding is played.
- The winner of the knockout stage qualifies to the Grand Slam.
Grand Slams
[edit]Each tournament will have ten participants. The top eight finishers in the rapid round-robin stage advance to the knockout stage. The time control for the round-robin stage is 10 minutes with an increment of 10 seconds per move. No draw offers are allowed until move 40. The ninth and tenth-place finishers are required to perform commentary for the knockout stage. Refusal to do so results in a 50% reduction of their prize money. Ninth place is determined in a playoff.[1]
The players are seeded 1-8 for the single-elimination knockout stage based on their performance in the round-robin stage. Each match is a best of two games. The time control is 90 minutes with an increment of 30 seconds per move. No draw offers are allowed until after move 40. The higher-seeded player starts the match with black in the first game. In the event of a tie, the tiebreak is two 10+10 rapid games followed by two 5+2 blitz games if the tie persists, and then one armageddon game with bidding.[1] Third, fifth and seventh places are determined in playoffs.
The points and prize money will be awarded as follows:
| Place | Grand Slam Points | Prize money |
|---|---|---|
| 1st | 25 | $200,000 |
| 2nd | 18 | $140,000 |
| 3rd | 15 | $100,000 |
| 4th | 12 | $60,000 |
| 5th | 10 | $50,000 |
| 6th | 8 | $40,000 |
| 7th | 6 | $30,000 |
| 8th | 4 | $20,000 |
| 9th | 2 | $12,500 |
| 10th | 1 | $7,500 |
Schedule
[edit]| Dates | Host city | Winner | Runner-up | Third place |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| February 7–14 |  Wangels
|
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| April 8–15 |  Paris
|
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| July 17–24 |  New York City
|
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| September 17–24 |  New Delhi
|
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| December 5–12 |  Cape Town
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Participants
[edit]Germany (1st Leg)
[edit]The qualifiers to the first leg were:[1]
| Qualification method | Player | Age | Rating | World ranking |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| (January 2025) | ||||
| The top three finishers in the Freestyle Chess G.O.A.T. Challenge |  Magnus Carlsen
|
34 | 2831 | 1 |
| Fabiano Caruana
|
32 | 2803 | 2 | |
| Levon Aronian
|
42 | 2747 | 11 | |
| The three highest rated players in the April 2024 FIDE rankings | Hikaru Nakamura
|
37 | 2802 | 3 |
 Nodirbek Abdusattorov
|
20 | 2768 | 6 | |
| Alireza Firouzja
|
21 | 2763 | 7 | |
| Organizer's wild cards | |
55 | 2750 | 10 |
| Vincent Keymer
|
20 | 2733 | 20 | |
| Winner of the World Chess Championship 2024 | Gukesh Dommaraju
|
18 | 2777 | 5 |
| Winner and runner-up of the online play-in |  Vladimir Fedoseev
|
29 | 2717 | 26 |
| Javokhir Sindarov (replacement for Anand)
|
19 | 2692 | 37 | |
Play-In
[edit]248 players participated in the Swiss stage held on January 6. The top four players, Vladimir Fedoseev, Denis Lazavik, Javokhir Sindarov and Olexandr Bortnyk advanced to the 16-player knockout stage, held on January 7 and 8.[12] Fedoseev beat Sindarov in the final in an armageddon game, after a 2-2 tie, and qualified for the Grand Slam.[13] Following Viswanathan Anand's withdrawal, Sindarov also qualified.[14]
| Round of 16 (January 7) | Quarterfinals (January 7) | Semifinals (January 8) | Final (January 8) | |||||||||||||||||||
 Oleksandr Bortnyk | ½ | |||||||||||||||||||||
 Ian Nepomniachtchi | 1½ | |||||||||||||||||||||
| Ian Nepomniachtchi | 2½ | |||||||||||||||||||||
| Hans Niemann | 1½ | |||||||||||||||||||||
| Maxime Vachier-Lagrave | ½ | |||||||||||||||||||||
| Hans Niemann | 1½ | |||||||||||||||||||||
| Ian Nepomniachtchi | 1½ | |||||||||||||||||||||
| Vladimir Fedoseev | 2½ | |||||||||||||||||||||
| Vladimir Fedoseev | 2 | |||||||||||||||||||||
| Leinier Domínguez | 0 | |||||||||||||||||||||
| Vladimir Fedoseev | 2 | |||||||||||||||||||||
 Jan-Krzysztof Duda | 0 | |||||||||||||||||||||
 Parham Maghsoodloo | 1 | |||||||||||||||||||||
| Jan-Krzysztof Duda | 3 | |||||||||||||||||||||
| Vladimir Fedoseev | 3 | |||||||||||||||||||||
| Javokhir Sindarov | 2 | |||||||||||||||||||||
| Javokhir Sindarov | 1½ | |||||||||||||||||||||
 Wei Yi | ½ | |||||||||||||||||||||
| Javokhir Sindarov | 2 | |||||||||||||||||||||
| R Praggnanandhaa | 0 | |||||||||||||||||||||
| Vidit Gujrathi | 1 | |||||||||||||||||||||
| R Praggnanandhaa | 3 | |||||||||||||||||||||
| Javokhir Sindarov | 1½ | |||||||||||||||||||||
| Yu Yangyi | ½ | |||||||||||||||||||||
| Denis Lazavik | 3 | |||||||||||||||||||||
| Wesley So | 2 | |||||||||||||||||||||
| Denis Lazavik | 0 | |||||||||||||||||||||
| Yu Yangyi | 2 | |||||||||||||||||||||
| Yu Yangyi | 1½ | |||||||||||||||||||||
 Lê Quang Liêm | ½ | |||||||||||||||||||||
Dispute with FIDE
[edit]On December 21, 2024, the Freestyle Chess Players Club issued a press release on Twitter stating an agreement on a "friendly co-existence" with FIDE, and ongoing discussions "regarding the mutual recognition of future World Championship titles".[15] FIDE President Arkady Dvorkovich replied stating that the press release "includes significant inaccuracies that mispresent the situation" and that FIDE will issue a further statement on the matter.[16] Former World Champion Vladimir Kramnik questioned the recognition of "a private event (with all respect) as official WC [sic]", and the involvement of Magnus Carlsen, Hikaru Nakamura and Chess.com, and exclusion of World Champion Gukesh Dommaraju, in the agreement.[17]
On December 27, in an interview with Levy Rozman after withdrawing from the World Rapid Championship over a dress code dispute, Carlsen accused FIDE of "going after players to get them not to sign with Freestyle" and "threatening them that they wouldn't be able to play the World Championship Cycle if they played in Freestyle".[18][19][20] Carlsen's claims were supported by Nakamura.[21][22] FIDE CEO Emil Sutovsky denied the claims on Twitter, stating "the claim that FIDE threatened players who were willing to participate in Freestyle Chess Tour is a lie" and "the only thing we insisted on - no Series or Tour can be called World Championship unless FIDE approves it. FIDE is the governing body of chess, and any World Championship should either be conducted or approved by FIDE".[23]
In an interview with Sagar Shah on January 15, 2025, President Dvorkovich reiterated Sutovsky's statement, adding "...we are very open about finding a solution, and we believe it is about the goodwill from the side of our potential partners. I took the decision to wave a possibility of sanctioning players for 2025 participating in this event since formally, according to the contracts, we can impose some sanctions. However, I do not want to go this way. I do not want to threaten players; I do not want to put them in the difficult position. It is just a signal of our goodwill to find a solution here."[24]
References
[edit]- ^ a b c d "Freestyle Chess World Championship Regulations" (PDF).
- ^ "$12 million for Freestyle Chess". ChessTech News. 2024-07-25. Retrieved 2025-01-09.
- ^ Soufi, Daniel (2025-01-04). "El mecenas que se ha aliado con Magnus Carlsen para cambiar la historia del ajedrez". Cinco Días (in Spanish). Retrieved 2025-01-09.
- ^ Barden, Leonard (2024-03-22). "Richest chess tour announced for 2025 as freestyle wins global appeal". The Guardian. ISSN 0261-3077. Retrieved 2025-01-09.
- ^ Robinson, Joshua; Beaton, Andrew (2024-11-20). "The Greatest Chess Player of All Time Is Bored With Chess". The Wall Street Journal. Archived from the original on 2024-11-20. Retrieved 2025-01-09.
- ^ Lozo, ByDave. "Chess is about to get a lot more unpredictable". Morning Brew. Retrieved 2025-01-09.
- ^ Barden, Leonard (2024-03-18). "Chess: Carlsen and Buettner announce Freestyle Chess Tour for top players". Financial Times. Retrieved 2025-01-09.
- ^ "Chess legend Magnus Carlsen, investor Jan Henric Buettner, VC Left Lane Capital, launch new company to revolutionize professional chess" (Press release). PR Newswire. 2024-07-25. Retrieved 2025-01-09.
- ^ Agini, Samuel (2024-12-25). "Chess champion Magnus Carlsen leads gambit to capture ancient game". Financial Times. Retrieved 2025-01-09.
- ^ Doggers, Peter (2024-07-25). "$12 million Raised For 'Revolutionary' Freestyle Series Of Tournaments". Chess.com. Retrieved 2025-01-09.
- ^ "Freestyle Chess Play-Ins". Chess.com. 2023-01-01. Retrieved 2025-01-18.
- ^ McGourty, Colin (2025-01-06). "Weissenhaus Freestyle Chess Grand Slam: Fedoseev, Lazavik, Sindarov, Bortnyk Reach Knockout". Chess.com. Retrieved 2025-01-12.
- ^ Colodro, Carlos Alberto (2025-01-09). "Weissenhaus Play-In: Fedoseev beats Nepomniachtchi and Sindarov, gets spot in Grand Slam". ChessBase. Retrieved 2025-01-12.
- ^ Schormann, Conrad (2025-01-18). "Javokhir Sindarov joins the Freestyle Chess Grand Slam kick-off". www.freestyle-chess.com. Retrieved 2025-01-20.
- ^ L'immortale (2024-12-22). "Freestyle Chess and FIDE discuss mutual recognition of future World Championship titles". Chess Topics. Retrieved 2025-01-09.
- ^ Levin (AnthonyLevin), Anthony (2025-01-02). "FIDE World Rapid & Blitz Championships—13 Things We Learned". Chess.com. Retrieved 2025-01-09.
- ^ "Kramnik questions Gukesh's absence from agreement between FIDE and Carlsen-backed elite private tour". Firstpost. 2024-12-28. Retrieved 2025-01-10.
- ^ Ahmed, Shahid (2024-12-28). "Magnus Carlsen withdraws from World Rapid 2024". ChessBase India. Retrieved 2025-01-09.
- ^ "'I'm out, f*** you': Magnus Carlsen disqualified from World Rapid and Blitz Championships 2024 for wearing jeans". The Indian Express. 2024-12-28. Retrieved 2025-01-09.
- ^ Ninan, Susan (2025-01-07). "Whose game is it anyway? The Carlsen vs Fide battle". Hindustan Times. Retrieved 2025-01-09.
- ^ Paul, Koushik (2024-12-29). "Magnus Carlsen vs FIDE chess controversy: Looking beyond jeans incident; is it a PR battle?". mint. Archived from the original on 2025-01-01. Retrieved 2025-01-09.
- ^ Kamath, Amit (2025-01-04). "Random piece positions, 960 possible starts: What is freestyle chess, which led to Magnus Carlsen clashing with FIDE?". The Indian Express. Retrieved 2025-01-09.
- ^ "'One may ask Gukesh...': FIDE responds to Magnus Carlsen's claim of threatening players against joining Freestyle Chess". Firstpost. 2024-12-29. Retrieved 2025-01-09.
- ^ "FIDE President Arkady Dvorkovich interview: "We need a long-term solution"". www.fide.com. 2025-01-17. Retrieved 2025-01-18.