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Press Release
Hamburg, October 1, 2024 – The first dates for the new Freestyle Chess Grand Slam 2025 with Magnus Carlsen have been set: The elite of chess will initially meet from 7 to 14 February
in Weissenhaus in northern Germany. The second event is planned for 17 to 24 July in the
USA. In December 2025, the event will then move to South Africa, where it will be played from 1 to 8 December. The specific venues will be announced later.
"We are very pleased about these concrete steps towards the globalization of Freestyle Chess
and are convinced that the Grand Slam will take chess as a spectator event into a new
dimension," said entrepreneur and investor Jan Henric Buettner, who launched the new series
together with the world’s best chess player Magnus Carlsen.
Thomas Harsch, who was appointed Managing Director of Freestyle Chess Operations GmbH
on 1 September, added: "The opening tournament this February in Weissenhaus, Germany,
has already received an overwhelmingly positive response from players, fans and the media
around the world. Chess interest in the USA is traditionally very good, and in Africa, there is
huge untapped potential that we now want to realize."
The newly founded Hamburg-based company Freestyle Chess Operations GmbH will
organize six to eight Grand Slam tournaments a year on all continents. Magnus Carlsen, the
greatest chess player of his era and co-founder of the new tour, will take part in all
tournaments. The prize money to be shared between the players is 750,000 US dollars for
each of the first three tournaments and 1 million US dollars for the subsequent tournaments.
Freestyle Chess retains the core elements of traditional chess but offers a new twist: the
pieces on the baseline are placed randomly. Also known as Fischer Random, this innovative
setup brings new strategic options and greater unpredictability to the game, promoting a fresh, new way of competing.
