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Weissenhaus Freestyle Chess Grand Slam

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Weissenhaus Freestyle Chess Grand Slam
Vincent Keymer, the winner of the Weissenhaus Freestyle Chess Grand Slam.
Tournament information
SportChess variant (Chess960)
LocationWangels, Germany
Dates7 February 2025–14 February 2025
Tournament
format(s)
Single-elimination tournament with round-robin seeding round
Host(s)Freestyle Chess Operations
VenueGut Weißenhaus
Participants10
Final positions
ChampionGermany Vincent Keymer
Runner-upUnited States Fabiano Caruana
3rd placeNorway 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]

Background

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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

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See also: Freestyle Chess Grand Slam Tour § Play-ins

All qualification matches were played online and were hosted by Chess.com.[5]

Open qualifiers

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All non-titled players started qualification in one of two separate open qualifier events, which were held on January 4 and January 5 respectively. 196 players participated, with the top three players from each event advancing to the Swiss stage.[6]

Swiss stage

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248 players participated in the Swiss stage held on January 6. It was open to all titled players. The top four players, Vladimir Fedoseev, Denis Lazavik, Javokhir Sindarov and Olexandr Bortnyk advanced to the 16-player knockout stage.[7]

Knockout stage

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Twelve players of the Freestyle Chess Players Club were invited directly to the knockout stage, held on January 7 and 8. They were sorted by their December 2024 classical FIDE rankings and seeded accordingly from 1-12.[8]

Vladimir Fedoseev beat Javokhir Sindarov in the final in an armageddon game, after a 2–2 tie, and qualified for the Grand Slam.[9] Following Viswanathan Anand's withdrawal, Sindarov also qualified.[10]

Round of 16 (Jan 7) Quarterfinals (Jan 7) Semifinals (Jan 8) Final (Jan 8)
            
S4  Oleksandr Bortnyk (UKR) ½
1  Ian Nepomniachtchi (FIDE) 1½
1  Ian Nepomniachtchi (FIDE) 2½
8  Hans Niemann (USA) 1½
9  Maxime Vachier-Lagrave (FRA) ½
8  Hans Niemann (USA) 1½
1  Ian Nepomniachtchi (FIDE) 1½
S1  Vladimir Fedoseev (SLO) 2½
S1  Vladimir Fedoseev (SLO) 2
4  Leinier Domínguez (USA) 0
S1  Vladimir Fedoseev (SLO) 2
5  Jan-Krzysztof Duda (POL) 0
12  Parham Maghsoodloo (IRN) 1
5  Jan-Krzysztof Duda (POL) 3
S1  Vladimir Fedoseev (SLO) 3
S3  Javokhir Sindarov (UZB) 2
S3  Javokhir Sindarov (UZB) 1½
2  Wei Yi (CHN) ½
S3  Javokhir Sindarov (UZB) 2
7  R Praggnanandhaa (IND) 0
10  Vidit Gujrathi (IND) 1
7  R Praggnanandhaa (IND) 3
S3  Javokhir Sindarov (UZB) 1½
11  Yu Yangyi (CHN) ½
S2  Denis Lazavik (FIDE) 3
3  Wesley So (USA) 2
S2  Denis Lazavik (FIDE) 0
11  Yu Yangyi (CHN) 2
11  Yu Yangyi (CHN) 1½
6  Lê Quang Liêm (VIE) ½

Main event

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Participants

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

Qualification method Player Age Rating World
ranking 		Freestyle Rating[11]
(February 2025)
The top three finishers in the Freestyle Chess G.O.A.T. Challenge Norway Magnus Carlsen (winner) 34 2833 1 2841.0
United States Fabiano Caruana (runner-up) 32 2803 2 2798.2
United States Levon Aronian (third place) 42 2745 12 2749.6
The three highest rated players in the April 2024 FIDE rankings United States Hikaru Nakamura 37 2802 3 NA
Uzbekistan Nodirbek Abdusattorov 20 2766 6 2738.4
France Alireza Firouzja 21 2760 7 2779.6
International wild card[a] India Viswanathan Anand (withdrew) 55 2750 10 NA
Local wild card[a] Germany Vincent Keymer 20 2731 19 2747.2
Winner of the World Chess Championship 2024 India Gukesh Dommaraju 18 2777 5 2729.4
Winner of the online play-in Slovenia Vladimir Fedoseev (winner) 29 2724 24 NA
Uzbekistan Javokhir Sindarov (runner-up, replacement for Anand) 19 2700 31 NA

Round-robin stage

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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.[12]

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.[13]

Rapid round-robin, 7–8 February 2025
# Player 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 Points
1  Alireza Firouzja (FRA) * 1 0 ½ ½ 1 ½ 1 1 1 6½
2  Javokhir Sindarov (UZB) 0 * ½ 1 ½ 1 1 ½ 1 1 6½
3  Fabiano Caruana (USA) 1 ½ * 1 0 ½ ½ ½ 1 1 6
4  Magnus Carlsen (NOR) ½ 0 0 * 1 1 1 1 0 1 5½
5  Hikaru Nakamura (USA) ½ ½ 1 0 * 1 ½ ½ 1 ½ 5½
6  Vincent Keymer (GER) 0 0 ½ 0 0 * 1 ½ 1 1 4
7  Nodirbek Abdusattorov (UZB) ½ 0 ½ 0 ½ 0 * ½ 1 ½ 3½
8  Gukesh Dommaraju (IND) 0 ½ ½ 0 ½ ½ ½ * ½ ½ 3½
9  Vladimir Fedoseev (SLO) 0 0 0 1 0 0 0 ½ * 1 2½
10  Levon Aronian (USA) 0 0 0 0 ½ 0 ½ ½ 0 * 1½

Knockout stage

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Quarterfinals (Feb 9-10) Semifinals (Feb 11-12) Final (Feb 13-14)
         
1  Alireza Firouzja (FRA) ½
6  Vincent Keymer (GER) 1½
6  Vincent Keymer (GER) 1½
4  Magnus Carlsen (NOR) ½
4  Magnus Carlsen (NOR) 2
7  Nodirbek Abdusattorov (UZB) 0
6  Vincent Keymer (GER) 1½
3  Fabiano Caruana (USA) ½
3  Fabiano Caruana (USA) 2
8  Gukesh Dommaraju (IND) 0
3  Fabiano Caruana (USA) 4 Third Place Match (Feb 13-14)
2  Javokhir Sindarov (UZB) 3
2  Javokhir Sindarov (UZB) 2½ 4  Magnus Carlsen (NOR) 2
5  Hikaru Nakamura (USA) 1½ 2  Javokhir Sindarov (UZB) 0

5th-8th Place

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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  Alireza Firouzja (FRA) ½
7  Nodirbek Abdusattorov (UZB) 1½
7  Nodirbek Abdusattorov (UZB) 0
5  Hikaru Nakamura (USA) 2
8  Gukesh Dommaraju (IND) 1½
5  Hikaru Nakamura (USA) 2½ Seventh Place Match (Feb 13-14)
1  Alireza Firouzja (FRA) 1½
8  Gukesh Dommaraju (IND) ½

9th-10th Place

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Ninth Place Match (Feb 9-10)
   
9  Vladimir Fedoseev (SLO) ½
10  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

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Pos. Player Points
1  Vincent Keymer (GER) 25
2  Fabiano Caruana (USA) 18
3  Magnus Carlsen (NOR) 15
4  Javokhir Sindarov (UZB) 12
5  Hikaru Nakamura (USA) 10
6  Nodirbek Abdusattorov (UZB) 8
7  Alireza Firouzja (FRA) 6
8  Gukesh Dommaraju (IND) 4
9  Levon Aronian (USA) 2
10  Vladimir Fedoseev (SLO) 1
Sources:[14][15]

Tour standings after the Grand Slam

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For full standings, see Freestyle Chess Grand Slam Tour § Standings.
Pos. Player Points
1 Germany Vincent Keymer 25
2 United States Fabiano Caruana 18
3 Norway Magnus Carlsen 15
4 Uzbekistan Javokhir Sindarov 12
5 United States Hikaru Nakamura 10
Sources:[14][15]

Note: Only the top five positions are included.

Notes

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  1. ^ a b From Freestyle Chess Players Club (FCPC) members

References

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  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. ^ a b "Official Rules and Regulations (old)" (PDF). Retrieved 2025-02-13.
  5. ^ "Register for the Qualifiers of the Freestyle Chess Play-In Weissenhaus". Chess.com. 2024-12-31. Retrieved 2025-03-17.
  6. ^ "Freestyle Chess Grand Slam Weissenhaus - Play-in: Open Qualifier". Chess.com. Retrieved 2025-03-17.
  7. ^ 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.
  8. ^ McGourty, Colin (2025-01-06). "Fedoseev, Lazavik, Sindarov, Bortnyk Keep Weissenhaus Hopes Alive". Chess.com. Retrieved 2025-03-17.
  9. ^ 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.
  10. ^ 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.
  11. ^ "Freestyle Chess Grand Slam". Archived from the original on 2025-02-05.
  12. ^ "Sindarov Impresses on Day 1 of Rapid, Tops Leaderboard With Caruana » WEISSENHAUS – WORLD OF FREESTYLE CHESS". www.freestyle-chess.com. Retrieved 2025-02-09.
  13. ^ "Firouzja Wins Rapid On Tiebreak; Aronian, Fedoseev Knocked Out » WEISSENHAUS – WORLD OF FREESTYLE CHESS". www.freestyle-chess.com. Retrieved 2025-02-09.
  14. ^ a b "Official Rules and Regulations" (PDF). Retrieved 2025-02-15.
  15. ^ a b "Vincent Keymer Wins First Leg of the 2025 Freestyle Chess Grand Slam". Retrieved 2025-02-15.
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