Freestyle Chess South Africa - Live!

by ChessBase
12/9/2025 – After the round-robin stage, in which none of the eight participants in the Grand Slam Finals could be eliminated, the Freestyle Finals in South Africa now move into the quarterfinals — where things get serious. Anyone who wants to win the tournament must first win their quarterfinal match. Each mini-match consists of two games with a 30+15 time control. Javokhir Sindarov, the winner of the round-robin, will face Parham Maghsoodloo, Magnus Carlsen plays Fabiano Caruana, and Levon Aronian takes on Hans Niemann. Vincent Keymer will need to overcome Arjun Erigaisi. Follow the games live with commentary. | The matches start at 12.00 CET (6.00 ET, 16.30 IST)
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Quarterfinals (9 December)

The quarterfinals adopt a single-elimination format, though no player leaves the competition entirely at this point. Instead, defeated players move into a parallel bracket to establish positions five to eight. Each match consists of two games, played at a 30+15 time control.

Live games

Live commentary

Community stream

Pro stream

Semifinals (10 December)

Winners from the quarterfinals advance to the semifinals, where two-game matches, again using a 30+15 time control, decide who will contest the championship match and who will play in the third-place playoff.

Finals (11 December)

The final day determines the complete standings. The first- through fourth-place matches are played with a 30+15 time control, while the classification matches for fifth through eighth place use a 10+5 control.

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Freestyle Chess Grand Slam Finals to take place in South Africa

10/24/2025 – The Freestyle Chess Grand Slam 2025 will conclude in South Africa with a final event from 8 to 11 December. At the Grootbos Private Nature Reserve in the Western Cape Province, eight of the world's best players, including Magnus Carlsen and Fabiano Caruana, will compete both for the tournament victory and the series title. | Photo: Freestyle Chess/ Grootbos
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Hans Niemann earns spot in Las Vegas Freestyle Chess Grand Slam

6/22/2025 – Hans Niemann secured the tenth spot in the upcoming Las Vegas leg of the 2025 Freestyle Chess Grand Slam by winning a competitive online Play-In tournament. The event featured a 9-round Swiss followed by a 16-player knockout, with Niemann defeating Denis Lazavik in a tense Armageddon decider. With nine invitees already confirmed, including Magnus Carlsen and Hikaru Nakamura, the full line-up for the 16-player July event continues to take shape. | Photo: Frans Peeters
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Video

60m English A solid scandinavian surprise

On this 60 mins video we are going to concentrate on a simple, very solid idea in the main line Scandinavian, which even Magnus Carlsen has used to win games. Black focusses on making his life easy in the opening and forces White to work very hard to get advantage – but it is doubtful if White can get an advantage. Club players are always on the lookout for effective, time-saving solutions and here we have just that. Accompany FIDE Senior Trainer and IM Andrew Martin on this 60 mins video. You can learn a new opening system in 60 mins and start to play it with confidence on the very same day!