# Paris Freestyle Chess Grand Slam

The Paris Freestyle Chess Grand Slam is an upcoming Chess960 tournament that will take place in Paris, France from 7 April to 14 April 2025. It is the second leg of the Freestyle Chess Grand Slam Tour, a series of Chess960 tournaments being held throughout 2025.

## Background

After winning the first leg, Vincent Keymer goes into the event as the tour leader. However, in terms of classical FIDE rankings, he ranks only 10th among the twelve qualified players.

### Regulation changes

While the first leg only had 10 participants playing in the main event, the number of participants was increased to 12 for the second leg. Nevertheless, only the top eight players after the round-robin stage will qualify for the main knockout bracket, while the remaining four players will play for positions 9–12 in a separate bracket.

## Qualification

All qualification matches were played online and were hosted by Chess.com.

### Open qualifiers

All non-titled players started qualification in one of two separate open qualifier events, which were held on March 8 and March 9 respectively. 100 players participated, with the top three players from each event advancing to the Swiss stage.

### Swiss stage

202 players participated in the Swiss stage held on March 12. It was open to all titled players. The top four players, Amin Tabatabaei, Nguyễn Ngọc Trường Sơn, Rauf Mamedov and Pranesh M advanced to the 16-player knockout stage.

### Knockout stage

Twelve players of the Freestyle Chess Players Club were invited directly to the knockout stage, held on March 13 and 14. They were sorted by their March 2025 classical FIDE rankings and seeded accordingly from 1-12. Vladimir Fedoseev, who won the play-in for the first leg of the tour, was originally one of these 12 players, but was later replaced by the next-highest ranked player. That player was Javokhir Sindarov, who finished second in the play-in for the first leg of the tour and also played in the main event.
Vidit Gujrathi defeated Richárd Rapport 1½-½ in the final, and qualified for the Grand Slam.
| Round of 16 (Mar 13) | Round of 16 (Mar 13) | Round of 16 (Mar 13) | Quarterfinals (Mar 13) | Quarterfinals (Mar 13) | Quarterfinals (Mar 13) | Semifinals (Mar 14) | Semifinals (Mar 14) | Semifinals (Mar 14) | | Final (Mar 14) | Final (Mar 14) | Final (Mar 14) |
| 1 | Nodirbek Abdusattorov (UZB) | 2 | | | | | | | | | | |
| S4 | Pranesh M (IND) | 3 | | | | | | | | | | |
| S4 | Pranesh M (IND) | 3 | S4 | Pranesh M (IND) | ½ | | | | | | | |
| | | | 9 | Vidit Gujrathi (IND) | 1½ | | | | | | | |
| 8 | Ding Liren (CHN) | ½ | 9 | Vidit Gujrathi (IND) | 1½ | | | | | | | |
| 9 | Vidit Gujrathi (IND) | 1½ | | | | | | | | | | |
| 9 | Vidit Gujrathi (IND) | 1½ | | | | 9 | Vidit Gujrathi (IND) | 2 | | | | |
| | | | | | | S1 | Amin Tabatabaei (IRN) | 0 | | | | |
| 4 | Levon Aronian (USA) | 0 | | | | | | | S1 | Amin Tabatabaei (IRN) | 0 | | | | |
| S1 | Amin Tabatabaei (IRN) | 2 | | | | | | | | | | |
| S1 | Amin Tabatabaei (IRN) | 2 | S1 | Amin Tabatabaei (IRN) | 1½ | | | | | | | |
| | | | 5 | Leinier Domínguez (USA) | ½ | | | | | | | |
| 5 | Leinier Domínguez (USA) | 2 | 5 | Leinier Domínguez (USA) | ½ | | | | | | | |
| 12 | Javokhir Sindarov (UZB) | 0 | | | | | | | | | | |
| 12 | Javokhir Sindarov (UZB) | 0 | | | | | | | | 9 | Vidit Gujrathi (IND) | 1½ |
| | | | | | | | | | | 11 | Richárd Rapport (HUN) | ½ |
| 2 | Wei Yi (CHN) | 0 | | | | | | | | | | | 11 | Richárd Rapport (HUN) | ½ |
| S3 | Rauf Mamedov (AZE) | 2 | | | | | | |
| S3 | Rauf Mamedov (AZE) | 2 | S3 | Rauf Mamedov (AZE) | 1½ | | | |
| | | | 7 | Lê Quang Liêm (VIE) | ½ | | | |
| 7 | Lê Quang Liêm (VIE) | 2½ | 7 | Lê Quang Liêm (VIE) | ½ | | | |
| 10 | Yu Yangyi (CHN) | 1½ | | | | | | |
| 10 | Yu Yangyi (CHN) | 1½ | | | | S3 | Rauf Mamedov (AZE) | 1 |
| | | | | | | 11 | Richárd Rapport (HUN) | 3 |
| 3 | Shakhriyar Mamedyarov (AZE) | 3 | | | | 11 | Richárd Rapport (HUN) | 3 | | Third Place Match (Mar 14) | Third Place Match (Mar 14) | Third Place Match (Mar 14) |
| S2 | Nguyễn Ngọc Trường Sơn (VIE) | 2 | | | | | | |
| S2 | Nguyễn Ngọc Trường Sơn (VIE) | 2 | 3 | Shakhriyar Mamedyarov (AZE) | 0 | | | | | S1 | Amin Tabatabaei (IRN) | 2 |
| | | | 11 | Richárd Rapport (HUN) | 2 | | | | | S3 | Rauf Mamedov (AZE) | 0 |
| 6 | Jan-Krzysztof Duda (POL) | ½ | 11 | Richárd Rapport (HUN) | 2 | | | | | S3 | Rauf Mamedov (AZE) | 0 |
| 11 | Richárd Rapport (HUN) | 1½ | | | | | | |
5th-8th Place
The four losers from the quarterfinal round above competed in the 5th-to-8th-place bracket.
| (Mar 14) | (Mar 14) | (Mar 14) | Fifth Place Match (Mar 14) | Fifth Place Match (Mar 14) | Fifth Place Match (Mar 14) |
| S4 | Pranesh M (IND) | 1½ | | | |
| 5 | Leinier Domínguez (USA) | ½ | | | |
| 5 | Leinier Domínguez (USA) | ½ | S4 | Pranesh M (IND) | 2 |
| | | | 3 | Shakhriyar Mamedyarov (AZE) | 0 |
| 7 | Lê Quang Liêm (VIE) | ½ | 3 | Shakhriyar Mamedyarov (AZE) | 0 |
| 3 | Shakhriyar Mamedyarov (AZE) | 1½ | Seventh Place Match (Mar 14) | Seventh Place Match (Mar 14) | Seventh Place Match (Mar 14) |
| | | | 5 | Leinier Domínguez (USA) | 2 |
| | | | 7 | Lê Quang Liêm (VIE) | 3 |

## Main Event
### Participants

Hans Niemann had qualified for the 2025 Grenke Chess Classic by winning the 2024 Grenke Open. However, on February 13, 2025, it was announced that a Freestyle Open would be held in place of the Classic. To compensate, Niemann received a wild card invitation to the Paris Grand Slam.
| Qualification method | Player | Age | Rating | World ranking |
| (February 2025) |||
| The top three finishers in the previous Grand Slam | Vincent Keymer (winner) | 20 | 2731 | 19 |
| The top three finishers in the previous Grand Slam | Fabiano Caruana (runner-up) | 32 | 2803 | 2 |
| The top three finishers in the previous Grand Slam | Magnus Carlsen (third place) | 34 | 2833 | 1 |
| World Chess Champion | Gukesh Dommaraju | 18 | 2777 | 5 |
| The two highest rated players in the February 2025 FIDE rankings | Hikaru Nakamura | 37 | 2802 | 3 |
| The two highest rated players in the February 2025 FIDE rankings | Arjun Erigaisi | 21 | 2801 | 4 |
| Winner of the Tata Steel Masters 2025 | R Praggnanandhaa | 19 | 2741 | 14 |
| Winner of the Grenke Chess Open 2024 | Hans Niemann | 21 | 2734 | 18 |
| Wild cards | Alireza Firouzja | 21 | 2760 | 7 |
| Wild cards | Maxime Vachier-Lagrave | 34 | 2729 | 22 |
| Wild cards | Ian Nepomniachtchi | 34 | 2754 | 9 |
| Winner of the online play-in | Vidit Gujrathi | 30 | 2721 | 25 |