Magnus Carlsen Captures Freestyle Chess Grand Slam 2025 Title, Beats Hikaru Nakamura in Tight Final

Magnus Carlsen came back to familiar ground in the Freestyle Chess Grand Slam 2025 in Paris, beating world number two Hikaru Nakamura in a nail-biting climax to win the championship trophy and a $200,000 prize.

Having come short in the Weissenhaus leg of the competition, when German youngster Vincent Keymer won the title, the Norwegian chess grandmaster regained his superiority with a dominant display on the board.

Nakamura Loses Close Final to Carlsen

Magnus Carlsen Captures Freestyle Chess Grand Slam 2025 Title

Heading into the Paris final, everyone anticipates that the Carlsen-Nakamura match will be one for the books. Although they've battled each other hundreds of times online, their in-person confrontations in over-the-board tournaments such as freestyle chess are few and furious, Chess Base reports.

Carlsen took the initial lead, claiming the first game and putting the Japanese-American in the win-or-fold situation for the second game.

Playing Black, the five-time World Chess champion did a masterly job of reducing the game, pushing it in the direction of a draw-like rook closing that left nothing for Nakamura to equalize. The victory clinched a 1.5-0.5 match victory and granted the Norwegian champion the title.

Carlsen's Win Highlights Risk and Reward in Freestyle Chess

The Freestyle Chess Grand Slam continues to demonstrate a fearless new frontier for the game. With no pre-agreed openings, players are left to depend on innate talent and strategic imagination. This system puts even top players at risk of committing early mistakes or unorthodox concepts, evening out the field while penalizing inaccuracy and encouraging originality.

As for D Gukesh, another World Chess Champion, playing Freestyle Chess is too challenging. According to FirstPost, the Indian chess player said he struggles most in evaluating positions for the pieces. He added that a player's intuition is "simply not always correct in Freestyle."

Fabiano Caruana Edges Out Keymer for Third Place

While attention was focused on the final, the third-place struggle between Vincent Keymer and Fabiano Caruana wasn't without drama either. Caruana had a lead going into day two and intelligently played for simplification with White.

Keymer's return hopes were dashed early, with a mistake on move eight leaving him to surrender the exchange. Although he later offered his queen for two pawns in an inventive buildup, the discrepancy was insufficient. The game drew after 34 moves, securing Caruana third place.

Elsewhere, Maxime Vachier-Lagrave made a comeback in the fifth-place playoff against Arjun Erigaisi. Playing Black, MVL was in control but could not make it count in a protracted endgame. The game ended in a draw, placing him in sixth place.