Five days of intense action

The fourth leg of the inaugural Freestyle Chess Grand Slam will be held from 16 to 20 July at the Pavillon Chesnaie du Roy in Las Vegas. It follows earlier stages in Weissenhaus, Paris and Karlsruhe, each of which featured a different structure. While the Karlsruhe event was a large open tournament with nearly 300 players, the Las Vegas leg returns to an invitational format, now expanded to 16 players – the largest closed event field in the series so far.

The lineup includes a strong contingent of US players, with eight of the top nine US GMs taking part. Notable names include Hikaru Nakamura and Fabiano Caruana, currently ranked world number 2 and 3 respectively, who will represent the host country alongside Wesley So, Levon Aronian, Leinier Dominguez, Hans Niemann, Ray Robson and Sam Sevian.

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They will be joined by eight international stars, headed by world number one Magnus Carlsen. India is represented by Arjun Erigaisi, Praggnanandhaa Rameshbabu and Vidit Gujrathi, while German prodigy Vincent Keymer, Uzbek talents Nodirbek Abdusattorov and Javokhir Sindarov, and 21-year-old Kazakh GM-elect Bibisara Assaubayeva complete the list.

Iranian GM Parham Maghsoodloo was originally invited, but was replaced by Ray Robson due to visa issues. Similarly, GM Ian Nepomniachtchi had to withdraw due to personal family circumstances, and was replaced by Sam Sevian.

Tournament format

The competition is structured in two main phases:

Group stage

Two round-robin groups (named White and Black), each consisting of 8 players.

• Time control: 10 minutes + 10 seconds increment per move.
• Tiebreak criteria:
  • Head-to-head result
  • Number of wins
  • Sonneborn-Berger score

The top 4 players in each group qualify for the Upper Bracket (positions 1–8) of the knockout phase, while the bottom 4 are placed in the Lower Bracket (positions 9–16).

Knockout phase

A double-elimination system determines the final standings, with players in both the Upper and Lower Brackets continuing to play after initial defeats.

Upper Bracket quarterfinals:

• 1^st place in Group White chooses a Quarterfinal opponent from 3^rd/4^th in Group Black (Match A).
• 1^st place in Group Black does the same (Match B).
• 2^nd place in Group White plays one of the remaining 3^rd/4^th in Group Black (Match C).
• 2^nd place in Group Black plays the remaining 3^rd/4^th in Group White (Match D).

Lower Bracket quarterfinals:

• 5^th place in each group chooses an opponent from the 7^th/8^th placed players of the opposite group (Matches E and F).
• 6^th place players face the remaining 7^th/8^th placed players (Matches G and H).

Elimination: Losers of Matches E–H are eliminated and share 13^th place. They are expected to contribute to the event via commentary or content creation, with a 50% prize reduction for non-compliance.

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Upper Bracket semifinals:

• The 4 winners of the quarterfinals advance to the semifinals
• Pairings will be as follows: Winner A vs. Winner D (= Match SFA) and Winner B vs. Winner C (= Match SFB).

Intermediate Matches RED:

• The 4 losers from the Upper Bracket quarterfinals and 4 winners from the Lower Bracket quarterfinals face off.
• The first 3 Upper Bracket losers (by starting list order) each select an opponent from the four Lower Bracket winners. The two remaining players form the fourth match.

Elimination: Losers of these matches are ranked 9^th–12^th, also expected to contribute to event coverage.

Intermediate Matches GREEN:

• The 4 winners from the RED stage face off in two matches.
• Pairings are drawn by lot.
• Time control: 10 minutes + 10 seconds per move.

Lower Bracket semifinals:

• The 2 losers from Matches A and B face the winners from Matches GREEN.
• Pairings: Loser A vs. Winner SF2B, Loser B vs. Winner SF2A.

Final matches

• Grand Final ("Final 1"): Winners of Matches A and B from the Upper Bracket semifinals compete for 1st and 2nd place.
• Final 2: Winners of the Lower Bracket semifinals play for 3^rd–4^th place.
• Final 3: Losers of the Lower Bracket semifinals play for 5^th–6^th place.
• Final 4: Losers of Intermediate Matches GREEN play for 7^th–8^th place.

Match format and tiebreaks

• Standard time control: 30 minutes + 30 seconds per move for most knockout rounds.
• Exceptions: Matches on Day 4 and Final 3 & 4 use 10+10 time control.
• Each match: Two games, one with White and one with Black per player.
• Colour allocation: Based on round-robin rankings and alternation rules; tie-breaks decided by rating or alphabetical order.

In the event of a 1–1 draw after the two standard games:

• Two rapid games (10+10)
• Two blitz games (5+2)
• If still tied, an Armageddon game decided by secret bidding (each player bids a time under 4:59). The player with the lower bid plays Black and only needs a draw. White must win. After move 60, a 1-second increment applies.

Full regulations...

Links

• Official website
• Keymer triumphs in Weissenhaus, defeats both Carlsen and Caruana
• Carlsen prevails in final against Nakamura, wins Paris Freestyle Chess Grand Slam
• Carlsen scores perfect 9/9 to win Grenke Freestyle Open