The Freestyle Chess Grand Slam kicks off in Weissenhaus: Format and general information

by Carlos Alberto Colodro
2/6/2025 – The Freestyle Chess Grand Slam Tour is set to begin with its inaugural tournament in Weissenhaus, Germany, from 7 to 14 February. This new five-event series, featuring elite players competing in the Freestyle Chess format (a.k.a. chess960), marks a significant addition to the chess calendar. With a structured format combining rapid and classical games and a $660,000 prize fund, the tour aims to establish itself as a premier competition. World number one Magnus Carlsen and world champion Gukesh Dommaraju will both be competing. | Photos: Gregor Poniewasz
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A singular format and a star-studded lineup

The inaugural edition of the Freestyle Chess Grand Slam Tour is set to begin with its first tournament in Weissenhaus, Germany, from February 7 to 14. This event marks the start of a new five-tournament series that will unfold throughout the year, culminating in the final competition from December 5 to 12.

The Freestyle Chess Tour was initially branded as a world championship series, but following a dispute with FIDE regarding the use of the "World Championship" label, the organisers decided to simply go with "Grand Slam Tour" as the name of the series. Despite this change in branding, the essence of the competition remains unchanged: a year-long circuit featuring elite-level chess in the Freestyle Chess format (also known as chess960 or Fischer Random).

The choice of Germany as the opening venue reflects the ambitions behind this tour. The event will be held at the Weissenhaus Private Nature Luxury Resort, owned by Jan Henric Buettner. Buettner, a German entrepreneur, brought this tour to life, enlisting Magnus Carlsen to help design an innovative and engaging competition format.

Carlsen, convinced by the idea, endorsed chess960 as the format of choice, believing that playing with randomised starting positions under classical time controls would make for a highly competitive and attractive event.

While Freestyle Chess has been met with enthusiasm from many top players, reactions among the broader chess community remain mixed. Some traditionalists remain sceptical, questioning whether this variant will sustain long-term interest. Nevertheless, with a year-long tour featuring the world's best players, perceptions may shift over time.

Weissenhaus Freestyle Chess

The Weissenhaus private resort | Photo: Gregor Poniewasz

The first leg of the tour in Germany features an elite lineup of ten players:

  • Magnus Carlsen (Norway, age 34, rating 2831, world rank 1)
  • Fabiano Caruana (USA, age 32, rating 2803, world rank 2)
  • Hikaru Nakamura (USA, age 37, rating 2802, world rank 3)
  • Nodirbek Abdusattorov (Uzbekistan, age 20, rating 2768, world rank 6)
  • Gukesh Dommaraju (India, age 18, rating 2777, world rank 5)
  • Alireza Firouzja (France, age 21, rating 2763, world rank 7)
  • Levon Aronian (USA, age 42, rating 2747, world rank 11)
  • Vincent Keymer (Germany, age 20, rating 2733, world rank 20)
  • Vladimir Fedoseev (Russia, age 29, rating 2717, world rank 26)
  • Javokhir Sindarov (Uzbekistan, age 19, rating 2692, world rank 37)

Fedoseev and Sindarov qualified via an online Play-In, which took place in January. Fedoseev won that event and qualified directly, while Sindarov was the runner-up and initially did not qualify, but was then invited once Vishy Anand withdrew from the tournament.

Weissenhaus Freestyle Chess

The colourful award ceremony following the Freestyle G.O.A.T. Challenge, which took place in the same venue last year | Photo: Gregor Poniewasz

Tournament format

The event will be structured into two distinct stages.

Stage 1: Round-robin (rapid time control)

  • Time control: 10 minutes + 10-second increments per move.
  • Format: Single round-robin (each player faces all others once).
  • Elimination: The top 8 players advance to the knockout stage.
  • Placement match: The players ranked 9th and 10th will play a playoff to determine the final 9th place ranking.

Schedule:

  • Friday: 5 rounds played.
  • Saturday: 4 rounds played.

Stage 2: Knockout (classical time control)

  • Time control: 90 minutes + 30-second increments per move.
  • Format: Single-elimination bracket.

Schedule:

  • Quarterfinals: Sunday and Monday (one classical game per day).
  • Semifinals: Tuesday and Wednesday (one classical game per day).
  • Finals: Thursday and Friday (one classical game per day).

Tiebreak system in the knockout stage

If a match ends in a tie, the winner will be determined through a playoff:

  • Two rapid games (10+10 time control).
  • If still tied, two blitz games (5+2 time control).
  • If still tied, a bidding Armageddon game:
    • Base time: 5 minutes.
    • Players bid for the amount of time they are willing to play with as Black (who has draw odds).

Beyond competing for the tournament title and a share of the $660,000 prize fund, players will also accumulate Grand Slam points, which will determine rankings over the course of the series. Points are distributed following the same system used in Formula 1 races:

  1. 25 points
  2. 18 points
  3. 15 points
  4. 12 points
  5. 10 points
  6. 8 points
  7. 6 points
  8. 4 points
  9. 2 points
  10. 1 point

The tour will continue with its second leg, which is scheduled to take place in Paris, France, from April 8 to 15.

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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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