The results at a glance

Magnus Carlsen has won the Paris Freestyle Chess Grand Slam — and he did so in convincing fashion. After defeating Hikaru Nakamura in the first game of the final, the world number one secured the title on Monday with a draw in game two. “It felt like I never gave him any chances,” Carlsen said after securing his first Grand Slam triumph.

Carlsen won the match 1.5–0.5, claiming the trophy and the $200,000 first prize. He did not need a single tiebreak throughout the knockout stage, having won all his matches in the games with classical time control since the quarterfinals.

The stage was set for El Chessico. World number one against world number two, Magnus Carlsen vs Hikaru Nakamura — a final worthy of the biggest Freestyle stage. On Sunday, Carlsen struck first. After a tense game, he ground down Nakamura to take a 1-0 lead in the Paris Freestyle Chess Grand Slam final.

In the fight for 3rd place — with qualification for the next Grand Slam event in Las Vegas on the line — Fabiano Caruana also scored an important win, defeating Vincent Keymer with black.

It was a good day for the black pieces, with Arjun Erigaisi and Ian Nepomniachtchi both winning their games in the 5th and 7th place matches.

The first day of the semifinals at the Paris Freestyle Chess Grand Slam ended without a decision in either of the two matches. Both encounters, Fabiano Caruana vs. Magnus Carlsen and Hikaru Nakamura vs. Vincent Keymer, were drawn, leaving everything open ahead of the second classical game.

In the fifth-place bracket, Ian Nepomniachtchi took the lead against Arjun Erigaisi, converting a space advantage and a powerful pawn chain into a win. Nodirbek Abdusattorov also scored a full point, defeating Maxime Vachier-Lagrave in his trademark attacking style. The first game in the match for ninth place between Richard Rapport and Praggnanandhaa ended in a draw.

World number one Magnus Carlsen defeated Nodirbek Abdusattorov in the only decisive game of the quarterfinals on Wednesday. It was a slow, strategic build-up that ended with Carlsen being up three pawns in the final position. The other three quarterfinal games ended in draws.

Ian Nepomniachtchi moved quickly and confidently in his first game with Vincent Keymer, who played precisely to hold the draw. Hikaru Nakamura faced Arjun Erigaisi and was initially under pressure but then missed chances of his own. Also in the game between Maxime Vachier-Lagrave and Fabiano Caruana, both players had chances before the peace treaty was signed.

The preliminary stage of the Freestyle Chess Grand Slam in Paris concluded on Tuesday after eleven rounds of play. Twelve players competed for eight spots in the knockout stage. Ian Nepomniachtchi and Magnus Carlsen both finished with 8.5 points. It was Nepomniachtchi who topped the standings thanks to superior tiebreaks.

Maxime Vachier-Lagrave followed in third place with 7 points, ahead of Arjun Erigaisi and Nodirbek Abdusattorov, who both scored 6.5. Hikaru Nakamura qualified with 6 points after defending a difficult endgame against Abdusattorov under time pressure.

One of the most notable results of the day was the elimination of World Champion Gukesh Dommaraju. The 18-year-old went into the final day with just 1.5 points and was unable to fully recover.

Nodirbek Abdusattorov and Magnus Carlsen top the leaderboard in the rapid round-robin after day 1 of the Paris Freestyle Chess Grand Slam. The tournament got underway today in the French capital with lots of exciting games. From April 7 to 14, 12 of the world’s top grandmasters are battling for a $750,000 prize fund with $200,000 going to the winner.

For this second Grand Slam of 2025, the location is the beautiful Pavillon Chessnaie du Roy nestled in the Bois de Vincennes. The pavilion was originally a restaurant, designed in 1969 during the creation of the Parc Floral de Paris. It serves as a splendid venue for e.g. conventions, seminars, exhibitions, and gala evenings and it turns out to be a great venue for a chess tournament as well.

Why Paris? “We love the city, and we enjoy to showcase it,” said Jan Henric Buettner at the opening press conference on Monday morning. With splendid weather expected throughout the week, Paris is the place to be for chess in the coming days, as it was many times in the past.