Hans Niemann becomes Diving Chess Champion in Cape Town

by Press release
12/6/2025 – Next Monday, the final of the Freestyle Grand Slam 2025 will begin in Grootenbosch (South Africa). To mark the opening, a diving chess competition was organised in Cape Town, which was won by Hans Niemann. Some participants of the Freestyle Chess Grand Slam showed off their skills in a simultaneous match against local chess enthusiasts. | Photo: Stev Bonhage / Freestyle Chess
Your personal chess trainer. Your toughest opponent. Your strongest ally.
FRITZ 20 is more than just a chess engine – it is a training revolution for ambitious players and professionals. Whether you are taking your first steps into the world of serious chess training, or already playing at tournament level, FRITZ 20 will help you train more efficiently, intelligently and individually than ever before. 

Diving chess in South Africa

Hans Niemann (USA) became the Diving Chess Cape Town 2025 Champion on Thursday after beating Fabiano Caruana (USA) in the final of an underwater chess event held at the Silo Hotel in Cape Town, South Africa. Javkohir Sindarov (Uzbekistan), the recent FIDE World Cup winner, won the match for third place against Vidit Gujrathi (India). The event was the first ever Freestyle Diving Chess Championship.

Players made their moves on a small chess set placed 110 centimeters deep, on the bottom of the Silo Hotel’s beautiful rooftop pool. Each time a player moved and came out of the water to catch some air, the opponent had to take a dive instantly and make their move.

Photo: Dawid Paczkowski/Freestyle Chess.

From the pool, Niemann proudly showed his medal to the applause of local supporters, before taking up Diving Chess World Champion Michal Mazurkiewicz next. The Polish player won a rook and pawn for a bishop due to a blunder by Niemann as early as move two, but the American grandmaster managed to outplay his expert opponent after all to win that game as well.

The Diving Chess competition was the first of several side events that are part of the Freestyle Chess Grand Slam Finals. Also on Friday, the other four participants of the Finals visited the University of the Western Cape where they met with about 200 fans of all ages, most of them players from local chess clubs in the Cape Town area for a simultaneous exhibition. This event was organized by Freestyle Chess in partnership with Chess South Africa.

Photo: Lennart Ootes/Freestyle Chess

Magnus Carlsen (Norway) and Levon Aronian (USA) played a tandem simul, alternating moves against 20 boards, winning 15, drawing one and losing four games.

Photo: Lennart Ootes/Freestyle Chess

Vincent Keymer (Germany) and coach/commentator Peter Leko (Hungary) stayed undefeated, drawing two games and winning 18.

Photo: Lennart Ootes/Freestyle Chess

Among the participants in the simuls were streamers Anna Cramling, Dina Belenkaya, and Niklas Steenfatt. Parham Maghsoodloo (Iran) was present as well and played blitz against many fans for 2.5 hours, taking just 30 seconds on the clock against five minutes for the opponent (and a one-second increment each). He still won all games. Afterward, it was time for selfies and autographs, all in a very cheerful atmosphere.

Photo: Lennart Ootes/Freestyle Chess

Earlier in the day, Magnus Carlsen and Jan Henric Buettner gave a press conference at the Silo Hotel. Buettner said he was particularly happy to be in Africa: “I know that the African population, at least the people who follow chess, are extremely happy to have such a tournament here with Magnus and all the other great players. We have eight top players. It’s fantastic, and we’re very grateful and excited to start this tournament.”

Carlsen had been to South Africa and Cape Town once before, during a family trip in 1999, shortly before his 10th birthday. “I’ve always wanted to come back, but it hasn’t panned out, so I’m very happy to finally be back in this beautiful country,” he said. “People keep telling me the city has changed, and what can I say — it’s still beautiful!”

The participants of the simultaneous exhibition | Photo: Lennart Ootes/Freestyle Chess

Official website...

<< London Chess Classic - Live!
Topics: Hans Niemann
Discussion and Feedback Submit your feedback to the editors

See also

In Stockholm: First-ever Pia Cramling Cup and two seminars for women announced

12/4/2025 – FIDE’s Commission for Women's Chess has announced the inaugural Pia Cramling Cup, a new rapid tournament for girls and women to be held during the Rilton Cup in Stockholm on 2 January 2026. Created in collaboration with Pia Cramling and the Stockholm Chess Federation, the event celebrates the former world number one's legacy while supporting emerging talent. Alongside the tournament, DGT and FIDE will offer technical training seminars aimed at expanding opportunities for women in chess.
More...
 2

See also

European Blitz Championships 2025 - Live!

11/30/2025 – The European Blitz and Rapid Chess Championships are being held in Pristina, Kosovo, from 28 to 30 November. The Rapid Championship concluded on Friday and Saturday; the Blitz Championship follows on Sunday, with thirteen rounds of blitz chess (3+2) on the schedule. Vasyl Ivanchuk, Baadur Jobava, Jorden Van Foreest, Rasmus Svane and Christian Bauer are among the many top European players in the field. Follow the action live with commentary from 10:30 local time.
More...
 2

Video

60m English Anti-Bayonet

King’s Indian fans who choose the Mar del Plata attack (7...Nc6) against White’s classical system (1.d4 Nf6 2.c4 g6 3.Nc3 Bg7 4.e4 d6 5.Nf3 0-0 6.Be2 e5 7.0-0) usually aim for a complex position with mutual attacks on open wings, requiring long-term strategic planning and tactical sharpness in critical moments. Computers often do not know how to handle the arising complex strategic positions, which suits players who like to think on their own instead of memorizing long variations. However, the fashionable Bayonet Attack (9.b4) interferes with Black’s ideas. After Black’s main move 9...Nh5 the positions opens, the lines get forced and computer analysis is important again. But this DVD offers an antidote against White’s Bayonet Attack, namely 9...a5! This move leads to sound positions with very few concrete lines, in which the focus is on strategy not on tactics. Objectively chances are equal but if Black knows what to do things might quickly become dangerous for White.