Vidit gets ticket to Paris leg of Freestyle Chess Grand Slam

by Carlos Alberto Colodro
3/15/2025 – Vidit Gujrathi has secured his place in the Paris leg of the inaugural Freestyle Chess Grand Slam after winning the online Play-In stage held from 8 to 14 March. The Indian grandmaster advanced through a competitive knockout phase without needing tiebreakers, defeating Ding Liren, Pranesh Munirethinam, Amin Tabatabaei and Richard Rapport. Despite feeling underprepared, Vidit's strong performance earned him a spot alongside Magnus Carlsen, Gukesh Dommaraju and Hikaru Nakamura in the tournament, set to take place from 7 to 14 April. | Photo: Anmol Bhargav

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A clear winner, who barely prepared at all

Vidit Gujrathi has secured his place in the second leg of the inaugural Freestyle Chess Grand Slam, joining renowned players Magnus Carlsen, Gukesh Dommaraju and Hikaru Nakamura. The Indian grandmaster earned his spot by winning the online Play-In stage, which was held on chess.com from 8 to 14 March.

The Play-In stage consisted of three phases. Following two open qualifiers, a nine-round Swiss tournament took place on Wednesday, determining four players who would advance directly to the final knockout stage. These players were Amin Tabatabaei, Nguyen Ngoc Truong Son, Rauf Mamedov and Pranesh Munirethinam. They joined twelve invited players to compete in the knockout phase, held on Thursday and Friday.

Vidit delivered an impressive performance in the knockout stage, securing victories against Ding Liren, Pranesh, Tabatabaei and Richard Rapport. His success was particularly notable as he won all his matches without requiring any tiebreaker games, prevailing in each encounter after the initial two rapid games. Over the two days of competition, he achieved an overall score of 6½ out of 8, with five wins and three draws.

Despite his strong showing, Vidit later admitted that he did not feel well-prepared for the event. However, he noted that the Freestyle Chess format allowed him to "just show up and play". His participation came amidst preparations for his upcoming wedding, and he mentioned that his qualification for the Paris leg could influence his honeymoon plans, as he and his wife may now travel to the French capital.

The Paris leg of the Freestyle Chess Grand Slam is set to take place from 7 to 14 April, where Vidit will compete against some of the world's top players.

Freestyle Chess Grand Slam 2025

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Freestyle Chess Grand Slam 2025

All games - Knockout

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1.b4 g6 2.Bb2 Nf6 3.g3 d6 4.f4 0-0 5.Bg2 a5 6.b5 c6 7.a4 e5 8.fxe5 dxe5 9.Nf3 Re8 10.Ne3 Ng4 11.Nxg4 Bxg4 12.0-0 Ne6 13.Kh1 cxb5 14.axb5 Qc7 15.Bc3 b6 16.Qb2 Rac8 17.e4 Nc5 18.Ng1 Bd7 19.Ne2 Nb7 20.Nf4 Nd6 21.Nd5 Qb8 22.d3 Nxb5 23.Bd2 Bc6 24.Nf6+ Bxf6 25.Rxf6 Nd4 26.c3 Ne6 27.d4 Bd7 28.d5 Nc5 29.Rxb6 Qc7 30.Qb1 Rb8 31.Rxb8 Rxb8 32.Qc2 Nb3 33.Rf1 Nxd2 34.Qxd2 a4 35.d6 Qc4 36.Qg5 a3 37.Qe7 Qe6 38.Ra1 a2 39.Rxa2 Rb1+ 40.Bf1 Rxf1+ 41.Kg2 Qh3# 0–1
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WhiteEloWBlackEloBResYearECOEventRnd
Pranesh M2696Abdusattorov,N24910–12025Play-In: Knockout Stage1.1
Vidit,S2865Ding,L1572½–½2025Play-In: Knockout Stage1.1
Tabatabaei,M2677Aronian,L29531–02025Play-In: Knockout Stage1.1
Sindarov,J1999Dominguez Perez,L27180–12025Play-In: Knockout Stage1.1
Mamedov,R2625Wei,Y24741–02025Play-In: Knockout Stage1.1
Yu,Y1612Le,Q26951–02025Play-In: Knockout Stage1.1
Nguyen,N2102Mamedyarov,S27600–12025Play-In: Knockout Stage1.1
Rapport,R2425Duda,J28201–02025Play-In: Knockout Stage1.1
Abdusattorov,N2491Pranesh M26960–12025Play-In: Knockout Stage1.2
Aronian,L2953Tabatabaei,M26770–12025Play-In: Knockout Stage1.2
Ding,L1572Vidit,S28650–12025Play-In: Knockout Stage1.2
Dominguez Perez,L2718Sindarov,J19991–02025Play-In: Knockout Stage1.2
Duda,J2820Rapport,R2425½–½2025Play-In: Knockout Stage1.2
Le,Q2695Yu,Y16121–02025Play-In: Knockout Stage1.2
Mamedyarov,S2760Nguyen,N21020–12025Play-In: Knockout Stage1.2
Wei,Y2474Mamedov,R26250–12025Play-In: Knockout Stage1.2
Nguyen,N2102Mamedyarov,S27600–12025Play-In: Knockout Stage1.3
Pranesh M2696Abdusattorov,N24911–02025Play-In: Knockout Stage1.3
Yu,Y1612Le,Q26950–12025Play-In: Knockout Stage1.3
Abdusattorov,N2491Pranesh M26961–02025Play-In: Knockout Stage1.4
Le,Q2695Yu,Y1612½–½2025Play-In: Knockout Stage1.4
Mamedyarov,S2760Nguyen,N21020–12025Play-In: Knockout Stage1.4
Abdusattorov,N2491Pranesh M2696½–½2025Play-In: Knockout Stage1.5
Mamedyarov,S2760Nguyen,N21021–02025Play-In: Knockout Stage1.5
Mamedov,R2625Le,Q2695½–½2025Play-In: Knockout Stage2.1
Pranesh M2696Vidit,S28650–12025Play-In: Knockout Stage2.1
Rapport,R2425Mamedyarov,S27601–02025Play-In: Knockout Stage2.1
Tabatabaei,M2677Dominguez Perez,L2718½–½2025Play-In: Knockout Stage2.1
Dominguez Perez,L2718Tabatabaei,M26770–12025Play-In: Knockout Stage2.2
Le,Q2695Mamedov,R26250–12025Play-In: Knockout Stage2.2
Mamedyarov,S2760Rapport,R24250–12025Play-In: Knockout Stage2.2
Vidit,S2865Pranesh M2696½–½2025Play-In: Knockout Stage2.2
Mamedov,R2625Rapport,R2425½–½2025Play-In: Knockout Stage3.1
Tabatabaei,M2677Vidit,S28650–12025Play-In: Knockout Stage3.1
Rapport,R2425Mamedov,R2625½–½2025Play-In: Knockout Stage3.2
Vidit,S2865Tabatabaei,M26771–02025Play-In: Knockout Stage3.2
Mamedov,R2625Rapport,R24250–12025Play-In: Knockout Stage3.3
Rapport,R2425Mamedov,R26251–02025Play-In: Knockout Stage3.4
Mamedov,R2625Tabatabaei,M26770–12025Play-In: Knockout Stage4.1
Rapport,R2425Vidit,S28650–12025Play-In: Knockout Stage4.1
Tabatabaei,M2677Mamedov,R26251–02025Play-In: Knockout Stage4.2
Vidit,S2865Rapport,R2425½–½2025Play-In: Knockout Stage4.2

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Topics: Paris Grand Slam 2025, Vidit Gujrathi
Carlos Colodro is a Hispanic Philologist from Bolivia. He works as a freelance translator and writer since 2012. A lot of his work is done in chess-related texts, as the game is one of his biggest interests, along with literature and music.
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