Wikipedia

Freestyle Chess Grand Slam Tour

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]

Freestyle Chess World Championship
2025
Tournament information
SportChess960
DatesFebruary 7–December 12, 2025
Host(s)Wangels, Germany
Paris, France
New York City, United States
Delhi, India
Cape Town, South Africa
← 2024

Background

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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 20–22, Carlsen played a two-game Chess960 exhibition match with Fabiano Caruana in Singapore, ahead of the World Chess Championship 2024, winning 1½-½.[11][12]

Format

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Play-ins

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One player qualifies to each Grand Slam via an online play-in held on Chess.com. The play-ins consist of three stages:[13]

  • 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

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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

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Dates Host city Winner Runner-up Third place
February 7–14   Wangels
April 8–15   Paris
July 17–24   New York City
September 17–24   New Delhi
December 5–12   Cape Town

Participants

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Germany (1st Leg)

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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 (winner) 34 2831 1
  Fabiano Caruana (runner-up) 32 2803 2
  Levon Aronian (third place) 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   Viswanathan Anand (withdrew) 55 2750 10
  Vincent Keymer 20 2733 20
Winner of the World Chess Championship 2024   Gukesh Dommaraju 18 2777 5
Winner of the online play-in   Vladimir Fedoseev (winner) 29 2717 26
  Javokhir Sindarov (runner-up, replacement for Anand) 19 2692 37

Play-In

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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.[14] Fedoseev beat Sindarov in the final in an armageddon game, after a 2-2 tie, and qualified for the Grand Slam.[15] Following Viswanathan Anand's withdrawal, Sindarov also qualified.[16]

 
Round of 16 (January 7)Quarterfinals (January 7)Semifinals (January 8)Final (January 8)
 
                      
 
 
 
 
  Oleksandr Bortnyk½
 
 
 
  Ian Nepomniachtchi1½
 
  Ian Nepomniachtchi2½
 
 
 
  Hans Niemann1½
 
  Maxime Vachier-Lagrave½
 
 
 
  Hans Niemann1½
 
  Ian Nepomniachtchi1½
 
 
 
  Vladimir Fedoseev2½
 
  Vladimir Fedoseev2
 
 
 
  Leinier Domínguez0
 
  Vladimir Fedoseev2
 
 
 
  Jan-Krzysztof Duda0
 
  Parham Maghsoodloo1
 
 
 
  Jan-Krzysztof Duda3
 
  Vladimir Fedoseev3
 
 
 
  Javokhir Sindarov2
 
  Javokhir Sindarov1½
 
 
 
  Wei Yi½
 
  Javokhir Sindarov2
 
 
 
  R Praggnanandhaa0
 
  Vidit Gujrathi1
 
 
 
  R Praggnanandhaa3
 
  Javokhir Sindarov1½
 
 
 
  Yu Yangyi½
 
  Denis Lazavik3
 
 
 
  Wesley So2
 
  Denis Lazavik0
 
 
 
  Yu Yangyi2
 
  Yu Yangyi1½
 
 
  Lê Quang Liêm½
 

Dispute with FIDE

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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".[17] 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.[18] 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.[19]

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".[20][21][22] Carlsen's claims were supported by Nakamura.[23][24] 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".[25]

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."[26]

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".[27][28]

References

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  1. ^ a b c d "Freestyle Chess World Championship Regulations" (PDF).
  2. ^ "$12 million for Freestyle Chess". ChessTech News. 2024-07-25. Retrieved 2025-01-09.
  3. ^ 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.
  4. ^ 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.
  5. ^ 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.
  6. ^ Lozo, ByDave. "Chess is about to get a lot more unpredictable". Morning Brew. Retrieved 2025-01-09.
  7. ^ Barden, Leonard (2024-03-18). "Chess: Carlsen and Buettner announce Freestyle Chess Tour for top players". Financial Times. Retrieved 2025-01-09.
  8. ^ "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.
  9. ^ Agini, Samuel (2024-12-25). "Chess champion Magnus Carlsen leads gambit to capture ancient game". Financial Times. Retrieved 2025-01-09.
  10. ^ Doggers, Peter (2024-07-25). "$12 million Raised For 'Revolutionary' Freestyle Series Of Tournaments". Chess.com. Retrieved 2025-01-09.
  11. ^ Robinson, Joshua; Beaton, Andrew (2024-11-20). "The Greatest Chess Player of All Time Is Bored With Chess". WSJ. Archived from the original on 2024-11-20. Retrieved 2025-01-27.
  12. ^ 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.
  13. ^ "Freestyle Chess Play-Ins". Chess.com. 2023-01-01. Retrieved 2025-01-18.
  14. ^ McGourty, Colin (2025-01-06). "Weissenhaus Freestyle Chess Grand Slam: Fedoseev, Lazavik, Sindarov, Bortnyk Reach Knockout". Chess.com. Retrieved 2025-01-12.
  15. ^ Colodro, Carlos Alberto (2025-01-09). "Weissenhaus Play-In: Fedoseev beats Nepomniachtchi and Sindarov, gets spot in Grand Slam". ChessBase. Retrieved 2025-01-12.
  16. ^ Schormann, Conrad (2025-01-18). "Javokhir Sindarov joins the Freestyle Chess Grand Slam kick-off". www.freestyle-chess.com. Retrieved 2025-01-20.
  17. ^ L'immortale (2024-12-22). "Freestyle Chess and FIDE discuss mutual recognition of future World Championship titles". Chess Topics. Retrieved 2025-01-09.
  18. ^ Levin (AnthonyLevin), Anthony (2025-01-02). "FIDE World Rapid & Blitz Championships—13 Things We Learned". Chess.com. Retrieved 2025-01-09.
  19. ^ "Kramnik questions Gukesh's absence from agreement between FIDE and Carlsen-backed elite private tour". Firstpost. 2024-12-28. Retrieved 2025-01-10.
  20. ^ Ahmed, Shahid (2024-12-28). "Magnus Carlsen withdraws from World Rapid 2024". ChessBase India. Retrieved 2025-01-09.
  21. ^ "'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.
  22. ^ Ninan, Susan (2025-01-07). "Whose game is it anyway? The Carlsen vs Fide battle". Hindustan Times. Retrieved 2025-01-09.
  23. ^ 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.
  24. ^ 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.
  25. ^ "'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.
  26. ^ "FIDE President Arkady Dvorkovich interview: "We need a long-term solution"". www.fide.com. 2025-01-17. Retrieved 2025-01-18.
  27. ^ "FIDE Statement regarding the "Freestyle Chess" project". ChessBase. 2025-01-21. Retrieved 2025-01-27.
  28. ^ Svensen, Tarjei J. (2025-01-21). "FIDE Slams Freestyle Chess For Creating 'Unavoidable Divisions,' Threatens Legal Action". Chess.com. Retrieved 2025-01-27.

Notes

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  1. ^ Freestyle Chess Players Club
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