Play-In: Niemann beats Lazavik in final match

The third leg of the 2025 Freestyle Chess Grand Slam is set to take place in Las Vegas from 16 to 20 July. The prestigious event will feature 16 participants, and as of this week, ten names have been confirmed. Among the nine previously announced invitees are the two highest-rated players in the world, Magnus Carlsen and Hikaru Nakamura. On Friday, Hans Niemann joined the line-up as the tenth confirmed participant after winning the online Play-In tournament, which served as the final qualifying path into the main event.

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The online qualifier consisted of two stages: a 9-round Swiss event followed by a 16-player knockout. Twelve of the knockout participants had received direct invitations, while the remaining four earned their spots by finishing atop the Swiss. The Swiss stage was a strong event in its own right, featuring elite competitors such as Peter Svidler, Dmitry Andreikin and Matthias Bluebaum - all of whom fell short of qualification. The four players who advanced to the knockout stage through the Swiss were Rasmus Svane, Denis Lazavik, Pranesh M and Martyn Kravtsiv.

These four joined a field of twelve invited players in the knockout, which included major names such as former world champion Ding Liren, Maxime Vachier-Lagrave, Jan-Krzysztof Duda, Vidit Gujrathi and Shakhriyar Mamedyarov, among others.

The knockout format consisted of two games at a rapid time control of 15 minutes plus a 3-second increment. If a match ended in a 1–1 tie, players moved on to a blitz tiebreak comprising two games. If still level, the match would be decided by an Armageddon game. In this final stage, players bid the amount of time they were willing to play with as Black in exchange for draw odds. The lower bidder received the black pieces and draw odds, while the opponent played with White and the full 5 minutes on the clock.

The knockout began on Thursday with the round-of-16 and quarterfinals. By the end of the day, the semifinal pairings were set: Yu Yangyi faced Hans Niemann, while Denis Lazavik was paired against Vladimir Fedoseev.

Lazavik had little trouble dispatching Fedoseev, winning the first game with the white pieces and drawing the second with black for a 1½–½ match win. Niemann's semifinal against Yu was more closely contested. Each player won their rapid game with the white pieces, sending the match to blitz tiebreaks. Niemann prevailed in both blitz games to advance to the final.

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In the final match, Niemann and Lazavik traded wins with the black pieces. Lazavik managed to win the second rapid game on demand to level the match and force tiebreaks. The blitz games that followed were both drawn, leading to an Armageddon decider. In the bidding phase, Niemann offered to play with just 3 minutes and 55 seconds, while Lazavik bid the full 5 minutes. As a result, Niemann received the black pieces and draw odds.

The final game featured a chaotic position, as is typical in Freestyle Chess. Once the last pawn left the board on move 76, Niemann managed to secure the draw and, with it, the coveted place in the Las Vegas main event. Visibly thrilled, Niemann celebrated as he confirmed his spot among the elite field.

Hans Niemann became the ninth confirmed participant for the Las Vegas leg of the Freestyle Chess Grand Slam

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Links

• Official website
• Keymer triumphs in Weissenhaus, defeats both Carlsen and Caruana
• Carlsen prevails in final against Nakamura, wins Paris Freestyle Chess Grand Slam