Weissenhaus Freestyle Chess Grand Slam

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Weissenhaus Freestyle Chess Grand Slam
Vincent Keymer in 2025.jpg
Vincent Keymer, the winner of the Weissenhaus Freestyle Chess Grand Slam.
Tournament information
Sport Chess variant (Chess960)
Location Wangels, Germany
Dates7 February 2025–14 February 2025
Tournament
format(s)
 Single-elimination tournament with round-robin seeding round
Host(s)Freestyle Chess Operations
Venue Gut Weißenhaus
Participants10
Final positions
Champion Flag of Germany.svg Vincent Keymer
Runner-up Flag of the United States.svg Fabiano Caruana
3rd place Flag of Norway.svg Magnus Carlsen

The Weissenhaus Freestyle Chess Grand Slam was a 10-player Chess960 tournament that took place in Wangels, Germany from 7 February to 14 February 2025. It was the first leg of the Freestyle Chess Grand Slam Tour, a series of Chess960 tournaments being held throughout 2025. [1] [2] [3]

Contents

Background

After the Freestyle Chess G.O.A.T. Challenge took place as a stand-alone tournament at the Weißenhaus resort in 2024, the event was renamed for 2025 and became part of the Freestyle Chess Grand Slam Tour in 2025 as its first leg. The format remained similar to 2024 with the number of participants being increased to 10. [4]

Qualification

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. [5] Fedoseev beat Sindarov in the final in an armageddon game, after a 2–2 tie, and qualified for the Grand Slam. [6] Following Viswanathan Anand's withdrawal, Sindarov also qualified. [7]

Round of 16 (Jan 7) Quarterfinals (Jan 7) Semifinals (Jan 8) Final (Jan 8)
            
4 Flag of Ukraine.svg  Oleksandr Bortnyk  (UKR)½
FIDE flag icon.png  Ian Nepomniachtchi  (FIDE)1½
FIDE flag icon.png  Ian Nepomniachtchi  (FIDE)2½
Flag of the United States.svg  Hans Niemann  (USA)1½
Flag of France.svg  Maxime Vachier-Lagrave  (FRA)½
Flag of the United States.svg  Hans Niemann  (USA)1½
FIDE flag icon.png  Ian Nepomniachtchi  (FIDE)1½
1 Flag of Slovenia.svg  Vladimir Fedoseev  (SLO)2½
1 Flag of Slovenia.svg  Vladimir Fedoseev  (SLO)2
Flag of the United States.svg  Leinier Domínguez  (USA)0
1 Flag of Slovenia.svg  Vladimir Fedoseev  (SLO)2
Flag of Poland.svg  Jan-Krzysztof Duda  (POL)0
Flag of Iran.svg  Parham Maghsoodloo  (IRN)1
Flag of Poland.svg  Jan-Krzysztof Duda  (POL)3
1 Flag of Slovenia.svg  Vladimir Fedoseev  (SLO)3
3 Flag of Uzbekistan.svg  Javokhir Sindarov  (UZB)2
3 Flag of Uzbekistan.svg  Javokhir Sindarov  (UZB)1½
Flag of the People's Republic of China.svg  Wei Yi  (CHN)½
3 Flag of Uzbekistan.svg  Javokhir Sindarov  (UZB)2
Flag of India.svg  R Praggnanandhaa  (IND)0
Flag of India.svg  Vidit Gujrathi  (IND)1
Flag of India.svg  R Praggnanandhaa  (IND)3
3 Flag of Uzbekistan.svg  Javokhir Sindarov  (UZB)1½
Flag of the People's Republic of China.svg  Yu Yangyi  (CHN)½
2 FIDE flag icon.png  Denis Lazavik  (FIDE)3
Flag of the United States.svg  Wesley So  (USA)2
2 FIDE flag icon.png  Denis Lazavik  (FIDE)0
Flag of the People's Republic of China.svg  Yu Yangyi  (CHN)2
Flag of the People's Republic of China.svg  Yu Yangyi  (CHN)1½
Flag of Vietnam.svg  Lê Quang Liêm  (VIE)½

Main event

Participants

The qualifiers to the first leg were as follows: [4]

Qualification methodPlayerAge Rating World
ranking		Freestyle Rating [8]
(February 2025)
The top three finishers in the Freestyle Chess G.O.A.T. Challenge Flag of Norway.svg Magnus Carlsen (winner)34283312841.0
Flag of the United States.svg Fabiano Caruana (runner-up)32280322798.2
Flag of the United States.svg Levon Aronian (third place)422745122749.6
The three highest rated players in the April 2024 FIDE rankings Flag of the United States.svg Hikaru Nakamura 3728023NA
Flag of Uzbekistan.svg Nodirbek Abdusattorov 20276662738.4
Flag of France.svg Alireza Firouzja 21276072779.6
International wild card [a] Flag of India.svg Viswanathan Anand (withdrew)55275010NA
Local wild card [a] Flag of Germany.svg Vincent Keymer 202731192747.2
Winner of the World Chess Championship 2024 Flag of India.svg Gukesh Dommaraju 18277752729.4
Winner of the online play-in Flag of Slovenia.svg Vladimir Fedoseev (winner)29272424NA
Flag of Uzbekistan.svg Javokhir Sindarov (runner-up, replacement for Anand)19270031NA

Round-robin stage

On the first day of the tournament, Javokhir Sindarov remained undefeated, winning four out of his five games, including a victory against Magnus Carlsen. By the end of the day, he was tied with Fabiano Caruana after their fifth-round game resulted in a draw. [9]

On the second day, Alireza Firouzja defeated Sindarov in the final round, securing first place in the round-robin on tiebreaks and earning the right to be the first to select his opponent for the quarterfinals. Levon Aronian and Vladimir Fedoseev were eliminated from the main competition and were set to compete against each other in a match for ninth place. [10]

Rapid round-robin, 7–8 February 2025
#Player12345678910Points
1Flag of France.svg  Alireza Firouzja  (FRA)*10½½1½1116½
2Flag of Uzbekistan.svg  Javokhir Sindarov  (UZB)0*½1½11½116½
3Flag of the United States.svg  Fabiano Caruana  (USA)1½*10½½½116
4Flag of Norway.svg  Magnus Carlsen  (NOR)½00*1111015½
5Flag of the United States.svg  Hikaru Nakamura  (USA)½½10*1½½1½5½
6Flag of Germany.svg  Vincent Keymer  (GER)00½00*1½114
7Flag of Uzbekistan.svg  Nodirbek Abdusattorov  (UZB)½0½0½0*½1½3½
8Flag of India.svg  Gukesh Dommaraju  (IND)0½½0½½½*½½3½
9Flag of Slovenia.svg  Vladimir Fedoseev  (SLO)0001000½*12½
10Flag of the United States.svg  Levon Aronian  (USA)0000½0½½0*1½

Knockout stage

Quarterfinals (Feb 9-10) Semifinals (Feb 11-12) Final (Feb 13-14)
         
1 Flag of France.svg  Alireza Firouzja  (FRA)½
6 Flag of Germany.svg  Vincent Keymer  (GER)1½
6 Flag of Germany.svg  Vincent Keymer  (GER)1½
4 Flag of Norway.svg  Magnus Carlsen  (NOR)½
4 Flag of Norway.svg  Magnus Carlsen  (NOR)2
7 Flag of Uzbekistan.svg  Nodirbek Abdusattorov  (UZB)0
6 Flag of Germany.svg  Vincent Keymer  (GER)1½
3 Flag of the United States.svg  Fabiano Caruana  (USA)½
3 Flag of the United States.svg  Fabiano Caruana  (USA)2
8 Flag of India.svg  Gukesh Dommaraju  (IND)0
3 Flag of the United States.svg  Fabiano Caruana  (USA)4Third Place Match (Feb 13-14)
2 Flag of Uzbekistan.svg  Javokhir Sindarov  (UZB)3
2 Flag of Uzbekistan.svg  Javokhir Sindarov  (UZB)2½4 Flag of Norway.svg  Magnus Carlsen  (NOR)2
5 Flag of the United States.svg  Hikaru Nakamura  (USA)1½ 2 Flag of Uzbekistan.svg  Javokhir Sindarov  (UZB)0

5th-8th Place

The four losers from the quarterfinal round above competed in the 5th-to-8th-place bracket.

(Feb 11-12) Fifth Place Match (Feb 13-14)
      
1 Flag of France.svg  Alireza Firouzja  (FRA)½
7 Flag of Uzbekistan.svg  Nodirbek Abdusattorov  (UZB)1½
7 Flag of Uzbekistan.svg  Nodirbek Abdusattorov  (UZB)0
5 Flag of the United States.svg  Hikaru Nakamura  (USA)2
8 Flag of India.svg  Gukesh Dommaraju  (IND)1½
5 Flag of the United States.svg  Hikaru Nakamura  (USA)2½Seventh Place Match (Feb 13-14)
1 Flag of France.svg  Alireza Firouzja  (FRA)1½
8 Flag of India.svg  Gukesh Dommaraju  (IND)½

9th-10th Place

Ninth Place Match (Feb 9-10)
   
9 Flag of Slovenia.svg  Vladimir Fedoseev  (SLO)½
10 Flag of the United States.svg  Levon Aronian  (USA)1½

Note: Scores between two players adding up to 2 indicate a win under normal time controls; adding up to 4, a win under rapid time controls; adding up to 6, a win under blitz time controls; and adding up to 7, a win in armageddon with bidding.

Final classification

Pos.PlayerPoints
1Flag of Germany.svg  Vincent Keymer  (GER)25
2Flag of the United States.svg  Fabiano Caruana  (USA)18
3Flag of Norway.svg  Magnus Carlsen  (NOR)15
4Flag of Uzbekistan.svg  Javokhir Sindarov  (UZB)12
5Flag of the United States.svg  Hikaru Nakamura  (USA)10
6Flag of Uzbekistan.svg  Nodirbek Abdusattorov  (UZB)8
7Flag of France.svg  Alireza Firouzja  (FRA)6
8Flag of India.svg  Gukesh Dommaraju  (IND)4
9Flag of the United States.svg  Levon Aronian  (USA)2
10Flag of Slovenia.svg  Vladimir Fedoseev  (SLO)1
Sources: [11] [12]

Tour standings after the Grand Slam

Pos.PlayerPoints
1 Flag of Germany.svg Vincent Keymer 25
2 Flag of the United States.svg Fabiano Caruana 18
3 Flag of Norway.svg Magnus Carlsen 15
4 Flag of Uzbekistan.svg Javokhir Sindarov 12
5 Flag of the United States.svg Hikaru Nakamura 10
Sources: [11] [12]

Note: Only the top five positions are included.

Notes

  1. 1 2 From Freestyle Chess Players Club (FCPC) members

References

  1. ↑ "Freestyle Chess Grand Slam Tour". www.freestyle-chess.com. Retrieved 2025-02-10.
  2. ↑ "Freestyle Chess: Magnus Carlsen set to battle against D Gukesh, Hans Niemann in second leg at Paris". Firstpost. 5 March 2025. Retrieved 14 March 2025.
  3. ↑ "MSN". www.msn.com. Retrieved 14 March 2025.
  4. 1 2 "Official Rules and Regulations (old)" (PDF). Retrieved 2025-02-13.
  5. ↑ McGourty, Colin (2025-01-06). "Weissenhaus Freestyle Chess Grand Slam: Fedoseev, Lazavik, Sindarov, Bortnyk Reach Knockout". Chess.com. Archived from the original on 2025-01-12. Retrieved 2025-01-12.
  6. ↑ Colodro, Carlos Alberto (2025-01-09). "Weissenhaus Play-In: Fedoseev beats Nepomniachtchi and Sindarov, gets spot in Grand Slam". ChessBase . Archived from the original on 2025-01-12. Retrieved 2025-01-12.
  7. ↑ Schormann, Conrad (2025-01-18). "Javokhir Sindarov joins the Freestyle Chess Grand Slam kick-off". www.freestyle-chess.com. Archived from the original on 2025-01-19. Retrieved 2025-01-20.
  8. ↑ "Freestyle Chess Grand Slam". Archived from the original on 2025-02-05.
  9. ↑ "Sindarov Impresses on Day 1 of Rapid, Tops Leaderboard With Caruana » WEISSENHAUS – WORLD OF FREESTYLE CHESS". www.freestyle-chess.com. Retrieved 2025-02-09.
  10. ↑ "Firouzja Wins Rapid On Tiebreak; Aronian, Fedoseev Knocked Out » WEISSENHAUS – WORLD OF FREESTYLE CHESS". www.freestyle-chess.com. Retrieved 2025-02-09.
  11. 1 2 "Official Rules and Regulations" (PDF). Retrieved 2025-02-15.
  12. 1 2 "Vincent Keymer Wins First Leg of the 2025 Freestyle Chess Grand Slam" . Retrieved 2025-02-15.
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