Freestyle Chess tour
Freestyle Chess Grand Slam Tour
Every 2025 event and result, the tour standings and prize money, the final in South Africa, and what Freestyle Chess runs now.
The Freestyle Chess Grand Slam Tour is the series of elite events in freestyle chess, also called Chess960, that the company Freestyle Chess ran in 2025. Magnus Carlsen won the tour with 121 points, and Levon Aronian won its final in South Africa in December 2025. No new Grand Slam event had been announced by 25 September 2026.
Is there a Freestyle Chess Grand Slam in 2026?
No. Freestyle Chess has held no Grand Slam event in 2026, and it had announced none for 2026 or 2027 by 25 September 2026. After the 2025 tour it made an agreement with FIDE, and the two now run the FIDE Freestyle Chess World Championship together, next played in February 2027.
- Organiser
- Freestyle Chess, founded in 2024 by Jan Henric Buettner and Magnus Carlsen
- Season
- February to December 2025
- Events
- Weissenhaus, Paris, Karlsruhe, Las Vegas and the final in South Africa; Delhi was cancelled
- Tour winner
- Magnus Carlsen, 121 points and a $100,000 bonus
- Final
- Levon Aronian beat Carlsen 1.5-0.5 at Grootbos, South Africa, in December 2025
- Prize funds
- $660,000 to $750,000 per Grand Slam; $200,000 to each winner
- Next Grand Slam
- Not announced by 25 September 2026
The last Grand Slam was the final at Grootbos, from 8 to 11 December 2025. At its opening press conference, co-founder Jan Henric Buettner said that sponsors were coming more slowly than he had hoped, that the company aimed to make a profit on its events in 2026 and an overall profit in 2027, and that an event in Melbourne, which did not fit into January 2026, might take place in 2027.
On 7 January 2026, FIDE and Freestyle Chess signed a cooperation agreement and announced the first FIDE Freestyle Chess World Championship, played at Weissenhaus from 13 to 15 February 2026. The press release called a world championship with FIDE the logical next step after the first Grand Slam season. The company's other events of 2026 were the GRENKE Freestyle Chess Open in Karlsruhe from 2 to 6 April, which gave its winner a place in the 2027 world championship, and the online Freestyle Friday series, whose second half runs from October to December 2026. Our page on the FIDE Freestyle Chess World Championship has the 2027 dates and qualifiers. This page will add the next Grand Slam season when Freestyle Chess announces one.
Buettner is also one of three candidates for FIDE President, with Malcolm Pein on his ticket. The vote is on 26 September 2026 at the FIDE General Assembly in Samarkand, Uzbekistan.
What is the Freestyle Chess Grand Slam Tour?
The Grand Slam Tour is a series of elite tournaments in freestyle chess, where the pieces behind the pawns start in a shuffled order. The game is also called Chess960, for its 960 possible starting positions, and Fischer Random, after Bobby Fischer, who presented it in Buenos Aires on 19 June 1996. Each round of a Grand Slam started from a new position, so no player could lean on prepared openings. The rules, including castling, are on our freestyle chess world championship page.
Jan Henric Buettner and Magnus Carlsen founded Freestyle Chess in 2024. Its first event was the G.O.A.T. Challenge at Weissenhaus, from 9 to 16 February 2024: eight players, a $200,000 prize fund, and a win for Carlsen over Fabiano Caruana in the final. On 15 March 2024 the company announced a worldwide Grand Slam Tour of four or five events a year, and in July 2024 it raised $12 million from Left Lane Capital.
The first plan named Weissenhaus for February 2025, then New York, Cartagena in Colombia and Cape Town. The schedule of 20 December 2024 had five events: Weissenhaus, Paris, New York, Delhi and Cape Town, with Chess.com as the host of the live coverage and the online qualifiers. Four changes followed:
- 1.The GRENKE Freestyle Chess Open in Karlsruhe, in April 2025, was added to the points series.
- 2.New York moved to Wynn Las Vegas, announced on 3 June 2025.
- 3.Delhi, planned for 17 to 24 September 2025, was cancelled for lack of sponsors.
- 4.The final moved from Cape Town, planned for 5 to 12 December, to Grootbos, from 8 to 11 December.
How a Grand Slam event worked
The tour regulations of February 2025 set the format of a regular Grand Slam:
- 1.Players: 12. Three came from the previous Grand Slam, and the others were the classical world champion, players by rating, event winners, one online qualifier and two wildcards. Anyone who had not qualified could enter the open qualifier on Chess.com.
- 2.Round robin: rapid games at 10 minutes plus 10 seconds a move. The top eight went on to the knockout.
- 3.Knockout: matches of two games at 90 minutes plus 30 seconds a move.
- 4.Tiebreaks: two rapid games at 10+10, then two blitz games at 5+2, then one Armageddon game. For Armageddon each player secretly bid a time of up to 4 minutes 59 seconds; the lower bid took Black and won the match with a draw, and White had 5 minutes.
- 5.Start positions: one position was drawn for all games of a round and shown 10 minutes before play, or 5 minutes for blitz and Armageddon. Position 518, the normal chess setup, was left out, and no position could come up twice in one event.
- 6.Points: 25, 18, 15, 12, 10, 8, 6, 4, 2 and 1 for places 1 to 10, added up for the tour standings.
Three events changed the pattern. Weissenhaus had 10 players and a nine-round round robin. Las Vegas had 16 players in two groups of eight, then a double-elimination knockout with games of 30 minutes plus 30 seconds. The final had eight players, and all of them went on to the knockout: the top three of its round robin chose their quarterfinal opponents from the bottom four.
The final also changed from the plan. The regulations of February 2025 set a 12-player final with 50 points for first place and tour bonuses of $150,000, $100,000 and $50,000. The final that took place had eight players, 57 points for first place and tour bonuses of $100,000, $50,000 and $25,000.
Freestyle Chess Grand Slam 2025: every event and winner
| Event | Dates | Venue | Winner | Runner-up | Prize fund |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Grand Slam Weissenhaus | 7 to 14 February 2025 | Weissenhaus, Germany | Vincent Keymer | Fabiano Caruana | $660,000 |
| Grand Slam Paris | 7 to 14 April 2025 | Paris, France | Magnus Carlsen | Hikaru Nakamura | $750,000 |
| GRENKE Freestyle Chess Open | 17 to 21 April 2025 | Karlsruhe, Germany | Magnus Carlsen, 9 out of 9 | Parham Maghsoodloo, on tiebreak | $225,000 |
| Grand Slam Las Vegas | 16 to 20 July 2025 | Wynn Las Vegas, USA | Levon Aronian | Hans Niemann | $750,000 |
| Grand Slam Delhi | 17 to 24 September 2025 | Delhi, India | Cancelled | - | - |
| Grand Slam final | 8 to 11 December 2025 | Grootbos, South Africa | Levon Aronian | Magnus Carlsen | $750,000 |
Five events were played. Carlsen won two of them, Paris and Karlsruhe, and Aronian won two, Las Vegas and the final. Vincent Keymer won the first, at Weissenhaus. Every Grand Slam paid $200,000 to its winner. The GRENKE Freestyle Chess Open in Karlsruhe was an open tournament with a $225,000 prize fund, and more than 500 players entered it. Carlsen won all nine of his games. Seven players finished on 7 points, and Parham Maghsoodloo took second place on tiebreak.
Grand Slam Weissenhaus 2025: Keymer wins
The tour opened at the Weissenhaus Private Nature Luxury Resort in Germany, from 7 to 14 February 2025, with 10 players. Alireza Firouzja won the rapid round robin on tiebreak with 6.5 out of 9, level with Javokhir Sindarov. In the semifinals Keymer beat Carlsen 1.5-0.5 and Caruana beat Sindarov 4-3 after Armageddon. Keymer then beat Caruana 1.5-0.5 in the final. Viswanathan Anand had withdrawn before the start, and Sindarov, the runner-up of the play-in, took his place.
| Place | Player | Prize | Points |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Vincent Keymer | $200,000 | 25 |
| 2 | Fabiano Caruana | $140,000 | 18 |
| 3 | Magnus Carlsen | $100,000 | 15 |
| 4 | Javokhir Sindarov | $60,000 | 12 |
| 5 | Hikaru Nakamura | $50,000 | 10 |
| 6 | Nodirbek Abdusattorov | $40,000 | 8 |
| 7 | Alireza Firouzja | $30,000 | 6 |
| 8 | D Gukesh | $20,000 | 4 |
| 9 | Levon Aronian | $12,500 | 2 |
| 10 | Vladimir Fedoseev | $7,500 | 1 |
Grand Slam Paris 2025: Carlsen wins
Paris hosted 12 players at the Pavillon Chesnaie du Roy in the Bois de Vincennes, from 7 to 14 April 2025. Ian Nepomniachtchi topped the 11-round round robin on tiebreak, level with Carlsen on 8.5 points. Carlsen beat Caruana 1.5-0.5 in the semifinal and Hikaru Nakamura 1.5-0.5 in the final, and he won the event without playing a single tiebreak game. Arjun Erigaisi finished fifth, the best result by an Indian player.
| Place | Player | Prize | Points |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Magnus Carlsen | $200,000 | 25 |
| 2 | Hikaru Nakamura | $140,000 | 18 |
| 3 | Fabiano Caruana | $100,000 | 15 |
| 4 | Vincent Keymer | $60,000 | 12 |
| 5 | Arjun Erigaisi | $50,000 | 10 |
| 6 | Maxime Vachier-Lagrave | $40,000 | 8 |
| 7 | Ian Nepomniachtchi | $30,000 | 6 |
| 8 | Nodirbek Abdusattorov | $20,000 | 4 |
| 9 | R Praggnanandhaa | $15,000 | 2 |
| 10 | Richard Rapport | $10,000 | 1 |
| 11-12 | Vidit Gujrathi, D Gukesh | $7,500 each | 0 |
Freestyle Chess Las Vegas 2025: Aronian wins
The United States event moved from New York to the Lafite Ballroom of Wynn Las Vegas, where 16 players met from 16 to 20 July 2025. R Praggnanandhaa, Nodirbek Abdusattorov and Sindarov shared first place in group one with 4.5 points out of 7, and Nakamura won group two with 6. In the knockout, Levon Aronian beat both Carlsen and Nakamura, then Arjun 2-0 in the semifinal and Hans Niemann 1.5-0.5 in the final. It was his first Grand Slam title.
| Place | Player | Prize | Points |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Levon Aronian | $200,000 | 25 |
| 2 | Hans Niemann | $140,000 | 18 |
| 3 | Magnus Carlsen | $100,000 | 15 |
| 4 | Hikaru Nakamura | $60,000 | 12 |
| 5 | Fabiano Caruana | $50,000 | 10 |
| 6 | Arjun Erigaisi | $40,000 | 8 |
| 7 | R Praggnanandhaa | $30,000 | 6 |
| 8 | Wesley So | $20,000 | 4 |
Freestyle Chess Grand Slam final in South Africa
The final was played at the Grootbos Private Nature Reserve in South Africa, from 8 to 11 December 2025, with eight players. Hikaru Nakamura could not play because his wife was giving birth, and Sindarov took his place. Sindarov won the round robin with 5.5 points out of 7, but all eight players went on to the knockout. Carlsen and Aronian reached the final, and Aronian won it 1.5-0.5 and $200,000. Keymer beat Sindarov 2-0 for third place.
| Place | Player | Prize | Points |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Levon Aronian | $200,000 | 57 |
| 2 | Magnus Carlsen | $120,000 | 41 |
| 3 | Vincent Keymer | $80,000 | 32 |
| 4 | Javokhir Sindarov | $60,000 | 32 |
| 5 | Fabiano Caruana | $40,000 | 24 |
| 6 | Arjun Erigaisi | $35,000 | 22 |
| 7 | Hans Niemann | $25,000 | 15 |
| 8 | Parham Maghsoodloo | $15,000 | 9 |
Carlsen had already won the tour on 9 December, when he reached the semifinals, and he received the $100,000 bonus for first place. Aronian received $50,000 for second place in the tour, and Caruana $25,000 for third. The games of the final are in the free Lichess broadcast archive.
Freestyle Chess Grand Slam Tour 2025 standings
Keymer led the tour after Weissenhaus, and Carlsen took the lead in Paris and kept it to the end. The table adds up the points of each event.
| Place | Player | Weissenhaus | Paris | Karlsruhe | Las Vegas | Final | Total |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Magnus Carlsen | 15 | 25 | 25 | 15 | 41 | 121 |
| 2 | Levon Aronian | 2 | - | - | 25 | 57 | 84 |
| 3 | Fabiano Caruana | 18 | 15 | 6 | 10 | 24 | 73 |
| 4 | Vincent Keymer | 25 | 12 | - | 2 | 32 | 71 |
| 5-6 | Arjun Erigaisi | - | 10 | 6 | 8 | 22 | 46 |
| 5-6 | Javokhir Sindarov | 12 | - | - | 2 | 32 | 46 |
| 7 | Hikaru Nakamura | 10 | 18 | - | 12 | - | 40 |
| 8 | Hans Niemann | - | - | - | 18 | 15 | 33 |
| 9 | Parham Maghsoodloo | - | - | 18 | - | 9 | 27 |
Magnus Carlsen in Freestyle Chess events
Magnus Carlsen won five of the eight events in Table 7: the G.O.A.T. Challenge, the Singapore summit, Paris, Karlsruhe and the first FIDE Freestyle Chess World Championship. Keymer knocked him out at Weissenhaus, and Levon Aronian beat him twice: in Las Vegas and in the final in South Africa.
| Event | Date | Result |
|---|---|---|
| G.O.A.T. Challenge, Weissenhaus | February 2024 | Won; beat Fabiano Caruana in the final |
| Freestyle Chess Summit, Singapore | November 2024 | Won the two-game match against Caruana 1.5-0.5 |
| Grand Slam Weissenhaus | February 2025 | Third; lost 0.5-1.5 to Vincent Keymer in the semifinal |
| Grand Slam Paris | April 2025 | Won; beat Hikaru Nakamura 1.5-0.5 in the final |
| GRENKE Freestyle Chess Open, Karlsruhe | April 2025 | Won with 9 out of 9 |
| Grand Slam Las Vegas | July 2025 | Third; Levon Aronian knocked him out |
| Grand Slam final, South Africa | December 2025 | Second; lost 0.5-1.5 to Aronian in the final; won the tour |
| FIDE Freestyle Chess World Championship | February 2026 | Won; beat Caruana 2.5-1.5 in the final |
Indian players on the Freestyle Chess Grand Slam Tour
Arjun Erigaisi was India's best player on the tour. He finished fifth in Paris, sixth in Las Vegas, where he reached the semifinals, and sixth in the final in South Africa, and he shared fifth place in the tour with 46 points. The tour earned him a place in the first FIDE Freestyle Chess World Championship in February 2026.
D Gukesh, the classical world champion, finished eighth at Weissenhaus and shared 11th place in Paris. R Praggnanandhaa was ninth in Paris and seventh in Las Vegas. Vidit Gujrathi played in Paris and Las Vegas, and Viswanathan Anand withdrew from Weissenhaus before the start.
India was to host a Grand Slam in Delhi from 17 to 24 September 2025. In June 2025 the Indian Express reported that no local sponsor had come forward and that the event could move outside India. On 15 July 2025, Buettner confirmed that it would not take place that year because of a lack of sponsors.
The tour and the FIDE Freestyle Chess World Championship
The tour started in a dispute with FIDE. Freestyle Chess wanted to name a freestyle world champion, and on 21 January 2025 FIDE rejected the title, pointed to its contracts with players and threatened legal action, while it let the 2025 tour go ahead. In an open letter of 3 February 2025, Buettner put off the world title decision for ten months and kept the name Grand Slam Tour, so that players would not have to choose between the tour and FIDE.
The agreement of 7 January 2026 ended the dispute. Six of the eight places in the first FIDE Freestyle Chess World Championship went to players from the 2025 tour: Carlsen, Aronian, Caruana, Keymer, Arjun and Sindarov. Freestyle Chess gave its wildcard to Hans Niemann for his result in Las Vegas, and FIDE filled the last place through an online qualifier on Chess.com. Carlsen won the title, and the 2027 championship returns to Weissenhaus in February 2027.
Freestyle Chess Grand Slam FAQ
What is the Freestyle Chess Grand Slam Tour?
It is a tour of elite tournaments in freestyle chess, also called Chess960, run by Freestyle Chess, the company of Jan Henric Buettner and Magnus Carlsen. The first season, in 2025, had events in Germany, France, the United States and South Africa.
Is there a Freestyle Chess Grand Slam in 2026?
No Grand Slam event has been played in 2026, and none had been announced for 2026 or 2027 by 25 September 2026. Freestyle Chess now runs the FIDE Freestyle Chess World Championship with FIDE, and its next edition is in February 2027.
Who won the Freestyle Chess Grand Slam Tour 2025?
Magnus Carlsen won the 2025 tour with 121 points. He won the events in Paris and Karlsruhe, made sure of the tour title on 9 December 2025 by reaching the semifinals of the final event, and received the $100,000 bonus. Levon Aronian received $50,000 for second place in the tour and Fabiano Caruana $25,000 for third.
Who won the Freestyle Chess Grand Slam final in South Africa?
Levon Aronian won the final at Grootbos, South Africa, from 8 to 11 December 2025. He beat Magnus Carlsen 1.5-0.5 in the last match and won $200,000. It was his second Grand Slam title of 2025, after Las Vegas in July.
How much prize money did a Grand Slam pay?
Weissenhaus had a prize fund of $660,000, and Paris, Las Vegas and the final in South Africa had $750,000 each. Every Grand Slam winner received $200,000. The GRENKE Freestyle Chess Open in Karlsruhe, an open tournament, had a prize fund of $225,000.
How did a Freestyle Chess Grand Slam work?
A regular Grand Slam had 12 players. They played a rapid round robin at 10 minutes plus 10 seconds a move, and the top eight went on to knockout matches at 90 minutes plus 30 seconds. Each round started from a new drawn position.
Why was the Delhi Grand Slam cancelled?
Freestyle Chess planned an event in Delhi from 17 to 24 September 2025, but no local sponsor came forward. On 15 July 2025, Jan Henric Buettner confirmed that the India event would not take place that year because of a lack of sponsors.
Which Indian players played on the Grand Slam Tour?
Arjun Erigaisi, D Gukesh, R Praggnanandhaa and Vidit Gujrathi played Grand Slam events in 2025. Arjun did best: fifth in Paris, sixth in Las Vegas and sixth in the final, which earned him a place in the 2026 FIDE Freestyle Chess World Championship.
Who invented freestyle chess?
Bobby Fischer. FIDE says that he and Susan Polgar settled the final rules, and the game, then called Fischer Random, was presented to the public in Buenos Aires on 19 June 1996. FIDE also notes much older games with shuffled pieces.
How many starting positions does freestyle chess have?
There are 960 possible starting positions, which is where the name Chess960 comes from. The Grand Slam rules left out position 518, the normal starting position of chess, and never used the same position twice in one event.
Can you play freestyle chess on Chess.com?
Yes. Chess.com offers it as Chess960: open its Variants page and select Chess960. Chess.com also hosted the live coverage and the online qualifiers of the 2025 Grand Slam Tour.
How is the Grand Slam Tour different from the FIDE Freestyle Chess World Championship?
The Grand Slam Tour was a season of Freestyle Chess events in 2025. The world championship is a single event that FIDE and Freestyle Chess have run together since 2026, and six of its eight players in 2026 qualified through the 2025 tour.
For the other top events, with dates and venues, see the chess events calendar.
Facts on this page were checked on 25 September 2026 against the Freestyle Chess website and its tour regulations of February 2025, FIDE announcements, and Chess.com, ChessBase and Indian Express reports. The tour standings add up the points on the organiser's event pages.
