Schedule
| 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 |
| 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] 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]
One player qualifies to each Grand Slam via an online play-in held on Chess.com. The play-ins consist of three stages: [13]
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 |
| 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 |
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 | | 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 | |
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 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 | |||||||||||||||||||||
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]
Chess960, also known as Fischer Random Chess, is a chess variant that randomizes the starting position of the pieces on the back rank. It was introduced by former world chess champion Bobby Fischer in 1996 to reduce the emphasis on opening preparation and to encourage creativity in play. Chess960 uses the same board and pieces as classical chess, but the starting position of the pieces on the players' home ranks is randomized, following certain rules. The random setup makes gaining an advantage through the memorization of openings unfeasible. Players instead must rely on their skill and creativity.
Viswanathan "Vishy" Anand is an Indian chess grandmaster. Anand is a five-time World Chess Champion, a two-time World Rapid Chess Champion and a two-time Chess World Cup Champion. He became the first grandmaster from India in 1988, and he has the eighth-highest peak FIDE rating of all time. In 2022, he was the elected Deputy President of FIDE.
Sven Magnus Øen Carlsen is a Norwegian chess grandmaster. Carlsen is a five-time World Chess Champion, five-time World Rapid Chess Champion, the reigning eight time World Blitz Chess Champion and the reigning Chess World Cup Champion. He has held the No. 1 position in the FIDE world chess rankings since 1 July 2011 and trails only Garry Kasparov in time spent as the highest-rated player in the world. His peak rating of 2882 is the highest in history. He also holds the record for the longest unbeaten streak at the elite level in classical chess at 125 games.
Christopher Hikaru Nakamura is an American chess grandmaster, streamer, YouTuber, five-time U.S. Chess Champion, and the reigning World Fischer Random Chess Champion. A chess prodigy, he earned his grandmaster title at the age of 15, the youngest American at the time to do so. With a peak rating of 2816, Nakamura is the tenth-highest-rated player in history.
Levon Grigori Aronian is an Armenian-American chess grandmaster. A chess prodigy, he earned the title of grandmaster in 2000, at age 17. He is a former world rapid and blitz champion and has held the No. 2 position in the March 2014 FIDE world chess rankings with a rating of 2830, becoming the fourth highest-rated player in history.
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Vladimir Vasilyevich Fedoseev is a Russian chess grandmaster playing for Slovenia. He is the reigning European champion in Rapid chess and Chess960. He competed in the Chess World Cup in 2015, 2017, 2021 and 2023.
Jan Henric Buettner is a German entrepreneur.
Rameshbabu Praggnanandhaa is an Indian chess grandmaster. As of 22 Jan 2025, Praggnanandhaa is ranked 13th in the world by the International Chess Federation. Praggnanandhaa and his sister Vaishali are the first brother and sister to earn GM titles. They are also the first brother and sister to qualify for the Candidates Tournament.
The World Chess960 Championship is a match or tournament held to determine a world champion in Chess960, a popular chess variant in which the positions of pieces on the players' home ranks are randomized with certain constraints. Prior to 2019 FIDE did not recognize a Chess960 world champion or sponsor regular tournaments in the format, but the Chess Classic at Mainz and other non-FIDE affiliated organizations have hosted high-profile Chess960 tournaments and matches. Time controls for Chess960 are non-standardized, and usually conform to the wishes of the tournament sponsor or organizer. As a result, Chess960 championships have been held with irregular time controls ranging from rapid (Mainz) to blitz and bullet.
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