What counts toward the Freestyle ELO?

The Freestyle rating is based exclusively on classical games played in official Freestyle Chess events. That means:

• Blitz and rapid games (such as Freestyle Fridays or the Play-In tournaments) do not count.
• Games from the Grenke Freestyle Open A, B and C, as well as the Grand Slam events in Weissenhaus, Paris, and Karlsruhe, do.
• Only games played with classical time controls are included. So far, that has meant 90+30.

In Las Vegas, the time control will shift to 30 minutes plus 30 seconds per move. While faster, this still qualifies as a fast classical format – and all such games will be added to the Freestyle rating. Freestyle Chess itself is still a new format in development, and so is its rating system. We are in constant discussion about how to refine formats and adapt the rating logic accordingly.

Why a new rating system?

The Freestyle ELO was introduced to capture performance in a setting where raw skill, chess understanding, and intuition matter most. To make the system responsive while avoiding wild swings, it uses a K-factor of 20 – higher than in classical FIDE ratings for top players. This allows new results to be reflected more quickly without becoming overly volatile.

Who leads the list?

At the top of the current standings is Magnus Carlsen, with a Freestyle rating of 2909, followed by Hikaru Nakamura (2818) and Fabiano Caruana (2804). All three will compete in Las Vegas, along with many other high-rated players, including Praggnanandhaa R., Ian Nepomniachtchi, Vincent Keymer, and Arjun Erigaisi.

The full list – including rising talents, Open participants and seasoned grandmasters – is now available to explore comfortably:

👉 Click here to search the Freestyle ELO list