The first dates of the new Freestyle Chess Grand Slam 2025 with Magnus Carlsen have been set.
The chess elite will first meet from February 07 to 14 in Weissenhaus, northern Germany. The second event will take place from July 17 to 24 in the USA. At the end of 2025, the series will move to South Africa, for a tournament to be held from December 1 to 08. Venues will be announced at a later date.
“We are very pleased with these concrete steps towards the globalization of freestyle chess and we are convinced that the Grand Slam will take chess as a spectacle into a new dimension.“said entrepreneur and investor Jan Henric Buettner, who launched the new series with the world’s best chess player, Magnus Carlsen.
Thomas Harsch, appointed Managing Director of Freestyle Chess Operations GmbH, added: “February’s inaugural tournament in Weissenhaus, Germany, has already received an extremely positive response from players, fans and media around the world. Interest in chess in the USA is traditionally very good, and there is huge potential in Africa which we now want to exploit.“
The new Hamburg-based Freestyle Chess Operations GmbH will organize six to eight Grand Slam tournaments a year on all continents.
Magnus Carlsen, the greatest chess player of his time and co-founder of the new circuit, will participate in all tournaments. Prizes to be distributed to players amount to $750,000 for each of the first three tournaments and $1 million for subsequent tournaments.
Freestyle Chess retains the basic elements of traditional chess, except that the pieces in the first row are placed randomly. Also known as Fischer Random, this innovative configuration brings new strategic options and greater unpredictability to the game, promoting a new way of competing.
