Freestyle Chess Grand Slam Tour
| 2025 | |
| Tournament information | |
|---|---|
| Sport | Chess variant (Chess960) |
| Location | Wangels, Germany Paris, France New York, United States Delhi, India Cape Town, South Africa |
| Dates | February 7–December 12, 2025 |
| Host(s) | Freestyle Chess Operations |
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 a format similar to 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 Champion.[1]
Background
[edit]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] From November 20 to 22, Carlsen played a two-game Chess960 exhibition match with Fabiano Caruana in Singapore, ahead of the World Chess Championship 2024 (which neither played in), winning 1½-½.[5][11]
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:[12]
- 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]The first grand slam had 10 participants.[13] Afterwards, the number of participants was increased to 12 for each following grand slam. Only the winner of the play-ins qualifies, the rest of the participants are determined by other qualification criteria and wildcards. For the final grand slam, the 12 players with the most accumulated grand slam points up to that point are qualified.[14]
Each grand slam begins with a rapid round-robin 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.[14]
The players finishing 1-8 in the round robin stage qualify for the single-elimination classical time control stage, with players 1-4 being seeded. Starting with player 1, they choose their opponent for the quarter finals from players 5-8. In the semifinals, the winners of the quarterfinals involving players 1 and 4 face each other, while the winners of the quarterfinals involving players 2 and 3 play the other match. The losers from the quarter-finals determine their final rankings in a fifth-place play-off, while losers from the semi-finals meet in a third-place play-off.[14]
The players finishing 9-12 in the round robin stage play a separate single-elimination classical time control stage for 9th place. Similar to above, players 9 and 10 are seeded with player 9 choosing their opponent from players 11 and 12. The winners play a match for 9th place, while the losers finish in a joint 11th place. Afterwards, the four players are required to perform commentary for the knockout stage. Refusal to do so results in a 50% reduction of their prize money.[14]
Each match in the classical time control stage 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.[13]
Prize money is awarded as follows:
| Place | Prize money (Leg 1) | Prize money (Legs 2-4 and Final) |
|---|---|---|
| 1st | $200,000 | $200,000 |
| 2nd | $140,000 | $140,000 |
| 3rd | $100,000 | $100,000 |
| 4th | $60,000 | $60,000 |
| 5th | $50,000 | $50,000 |
| 6th | $40,000 | $40,000 |
| 7th | $30,000 | $30,000 |
| 8th | $20,000 | $20,000 |
| 9th | $15,000 | $12,500 |
| 10th | $10,000 | $7,500 |
| 11th[# 1] | n/a | $5,000 |
- ^ In leg 1, there were only 10 participants. In legs 2-4 and the grand slam final, two players finish in a joint 11th place.
The scoring system over the whole tour is described in § Standings below.
Schedule
[edit]Grand Slams
[edit]| Dates | Host city | Winner | Runner-up | Third place | Report |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| February 7–14 |  Wangels
|
Vincent Keymer
|
 Fabiano Caruana
|
 Magnus Carlsen
|
Report |
| April 8–15 |  Paris
|
Report | |||
| July 17–24 | New
York
|
||||
| September 17–24 |  Delhi
|
||||
| December 5–12 |  Cape Town
|
While the fourth Grand Slam is currently scheduled to take place in Delhi from September 17 to 24, Buettner stated in an interview that the venue might be changed due to lack of investor interest.[15]
Open Tournaments
[edit]Additionally, Freestyle Chess has announced that some non-Grand Slam events will still award Grand Slam points, beginning with a Freestyle edition of the annual Grenke Chess Open on April 17–21, 2025.[16][17]
| Dates | Host city | Winner | Runner-up | Third place | Report |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| April 17–21 | Karlsruhe
|
Standings
[edit]Scoring system
[edit]Grand slam points are awarded to the top ten players in each Grand Slam as well as the 2025 Grenke Freestyle Chess Open. In the Grand Slam Final, double points are awarded.[14]
| Points awarded | 1st | 2nd | 3rd | 4th | 5th | 6th | 7th | 8th | 9th | 10th | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Grand Slam Legs 1-4 and Open Tournaments | 25 | 18 | 15 | 12 | 10 | 8 | 6 | 4 | 2 | 1 | |
| Grand Slam Final | 50 | 36 | 30 | 24 | 20 | 16 | 12 | 8 | 4 | 2 | |
| Source:[14] | |||||||||||
Standings
[edit]| Pos. | Player | Wangels |
Paris |
Karlsruhe |
New York |
Delhi |
Cape Town |
Total
points |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Grand Slam | Grand Slam | Open | Grand Slam | Grand Slam | Grand Slam | |||
| Leg 1 | Leg 2 | Grenke | Leg 3 | Leg 4 | Final | |||
| 1 | Vincent Keymer
|
1 | Q | 25 | ||||
| 2 | Fabiano Caruana
|
2 | Q | 18 | ||||
| 3 | Magnus Carlsen
|
3 | Q | 15 | ||||
| 4 |  Javokhir Sindarov
|
4 | DNQ | 12 | ||||
| 5 | Hikaru Nakamura
|
5 | Q | 10 | ||||
| 6 | Nodirbek Abdusattorov
|
6 | DNQ | 8 | ||||
| 7 | Alireza Firouzja
|
7 | Q | 6 | ||||
| 8 | Gukesh Dommaraju
|
8 | Q | 4 | ||||
| 9 | Levon Aronian
|
9 | DNQ | 2 | ||||
| 10 |  Vladimir Fedoseev
|
10 | 1 | |||||
| 11 | Vidit Gujrathi
|
DNQ | Q | 0 | ||||
| 11 |  Ian Nepomniachtchi
|
DNQ | Q | 0 | ||||
| 11 | Hans Niemann
|
DNQ | Q | 0 | ||||
| 11 | R Praggnanandhaa
|
DNQ | Q | 0 | ||||
| 11 | Maxime Vachier-Lagrave
|
DNQ | Q | 0 | ||||
| 11 | Arjun Erigaisi
|
Q | 0 | |||||
| 11 | Viswanathan Anand
|
WD | 0 | |||||
| Only players who qualified for at least one grand slam or scored at least one point in an open tournament are listed. Sources:[14][18] | ||||||||
| Key | |
|---|---|
| Colour | Result |
| Gold | Winner |
| Silver | Second place |
| Bronze | Third place |
| Green | Other points position |
| Blue | Non-scoring position |
| Purple | Did not qualify (DNQ) |
| White | Qualified for upcoming event (Q) |
| Blank | Withdrawn (WD) |
| Did not participate (empty cell) | |
Dispute with FIDE
[edit] | This section needs to be updated. The reason given is: FCPC has removed "world championship" from its regulations, effectively resolving the feud. (February 2025) |
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".[19][20] 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.[21] 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.[22]
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".[23][24][25] Carlsen's claims were supported by Nakamura.[26][27] 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".[28]
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."[29] In a statement on January 21, FIDE said "the attempts by FCPC[a] to present their project as a World Championship are in contradiction with the well-established status of FIDE and its authority over world championship titles in all relevant variations of chess - including Chess960/Freestyle chess, as outlined in the FIDE Handbook" and "The steps taken by the FCPC project unavoidably lead to divisions in the chess world - and we remember all too well the unfortunate consequences of a similar split that happened in the not so distant past" (referencing the 1993 split between FIDE and the PCA). They clarified that they will not sanction players who participate in the 2025 Freestyle tour. However, players who have qualified to the ongoing 2025–26 World Championship cycle are expected to sign an additional contract, which will include "a clause indicating that participation in any alternative world chess championships in any variation of chess not approved by FIDE would lead to their withdrawal from the two consecutive FIDE World Championship cycles".[30][31]
On February 10, 2025, twelve members of the Freestyle Chess Players Club met at the Weissenhaus resort with organizer Jan Henric Buettner, "unanimously deciding that the 2025 Grand Slam Tour winner will be titled Freestyle Chess Champion". They planned to form an independent association to represent their interests.[1]
Notes
[edit]- ^ Freestyle Chess Players Club
References
[edit]- ^ a b "2025 Grand Slam Tour winner to be titled 'Freestyle Chess Champion'". The Times of India. 2025-02-10. ISSN 0971-8257. Retrieved 2025-02-11.
- ^ "$12 million for Freestyle Chess". ChessTech News. 2024-07-25. Archived from the original on 2025-01-15. 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.
- ^ a b 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. Archived from the original on 2025-01-09. Retrieved 2025-01-09.
- ^ Barden, Leonard (2024-03-18). "Chess: Carlsen and Buettner announce Freestyle Chess Tour for top players". Financial Times. Archived from the original on 2024-08-14. 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. Archived from the original on 2025-01-09. Retrieved 2025-01-09.
- ^ Agini, Samuel (2024-12-25). "Chess champion Magnus Carlsen leads gambit to capture ancient game". Financial Times. Archived from the original on 2025-01-15. Retrieved 2025-01-09.
- ^ Doggers, Peter (2024-07-25). "$12 million Raised For 'Revolutionary' Freestyle Series Of Tournaments". Chess.com. Archived from the original on 2025-01-09. Retrieved 2025-01-09.
- ^ Levin, Anthony (2024-11-22). "2024 Freestyle Chess Match: Carlsen Wins Freestyle Chess Grand Slam Match Vs. Caruana After Surviving Game 2". Chess.com. Retrieved 2025-01-27.
- ^ "Freestyle Chess Play-Ins". Chess.com. 2023-01-01. Archived from the original on 2024-04-22. Retrieved 2025-01-18.
- ^ a b "Official Rules and Regulations (old)" (PDF). Retrieved 2025-02-13.
- ^ a b c d e f g "Official Rules and Regulations" (PDF). Retrieved 2025-02-15.
- ^ "Exclusive | Financial woes threaten India's bid to host D Gukesh in Freestyle Chess Grand Slam Tour". The Times of India. 2025-01-31. ISSN 0971-8257. Retrieved 2025-02-11.
- ^ "Cooperation Freestyle Chess and grenke Chess Open". ChessBase. 2025-02-13. Retrieved 2025-02-13.
- ^ "grenke Freestyle Chess Open and grenke Chess Open 2025 (Press Release) » WEISSENHAUS – WORLD OF FREESTYLE CHESS". www.freestyle-chess.com. Retrieved 2025-02-15.
- ^ "Vincent Keymer Wins First Leg of the 2025 Freestyle Chess Grand Slam". Retrieved 2025-02-15.
- ^ "Freestyle Chess World Championship Regulations" (PDF). Archived (PDF) from the original on 2025-01-14. Retrieved 2025-01-09.
- ^ L'immortale (2024-12-22). "Freestyle Chess and FIDE discuss mutual recognition of future World Championship titles". Chess Topics. Archived from the original on 2025-01-09. Retrieved 2025-01-09.
- ^ Levin (AnthonyLevin), Anthony (2025-01-02). "FIDE World Rapid & Blitz Championships—13 Things We Learned". Chess.com. Archived from the original on 2025-01-08. 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. Archived from the original on 2025-01-09. 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. Archived from the original on 2025-01-03. 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. Archived from the original on 2025-01-09. 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. Archived from the original on 2025-01-09. 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.
- ^ "FIDE Statement regarding the "Freestyle Chess" project". ChessBase. 2025-01-21. Archived from the original on 2025-01-29. Retrieved 2025-01-27.
- ^ Svensen, Tarjei J. (2025-01-21). "FIDE Slams Freestyle Chess For Creating 'Unavoidable Divisions,' Threatens Legal Action". Chess.com. Retrieved 2025-01-27.