Make your best moves in the heart of Karlsruhe – where innovation meets tradition, and Freestyle Chess brings a fresh twist to the royal game.
Record-breaking crowds & Freestyle world ranking debut in Karlsruhe/Germany
Over 3,000 Players Registered for grenke Chess Festival 2025
Freestyle Chess goes grassroots — amateurs and stars like Carlsen & Keymer all playing for world ranking points
The grenke Chess Festival is about to set a new attendance record: more than 3,000 players have registered for the tournaments at the Karlsruhe Congress Center—more than ever before. Anyone who registers now can still play in the world’s biggest chess competition from April 17 to 21.
Vincent Keymer and Magnus Carlsen will be among the participants and play side by side with the amateurs.
All games of the three Freestyle Chess Opens will be included in the new Freestyle rating. Participants receive a rating if they wish, earning a place in the Freestyle world rankings—with Magnus Carlsen currently on top. The grenke Freestyle Chess Open is the first open Freestyle tournament to be included in the new rating.
Under one roof with the world’s elite
In addition to the three traditional Open events, the Freestyle Open A brings together amateurs and the world’s elite—under one roof and at the same boards. Among those registered are:
- Magnus Carlsen (World No. 1)
- Fabiano Caruana (World No. 3)
- Arjun Erigaisi (World No. 4)
- Vincent Keymer (Germany’s No. 1)
- Hans Niemann (Winner of the grenke Open 2024)
After they have completed the competition side by side, the games of the professionals and amateurs are evaluated for the new world rankings. Prior to the grenke Chess Festival, only the elite players from the first freestyle tournaments have been included in the list so far.
The current top five:
- Magnus Carlsen – 2857
- Hikaru Nakamura – 2808
- Fabiano Caruana – 2791
- Vincent Keymer – 2785
- Alireza Firouzja – 2764
Four of these five players are currently competing for Grand Slam and rating points at the Freestyle Chess Grand Slam in Paris (April 7-14). We will see at least three of these five players in Karlsruhe a little later.
Sven Noppes, tournament director:
“More than 3,000 registrations—overwhelming! The grenke Chess Festival once again sets new standards. Karlsruhe becomes the hub of the chess world for five days. Anyone who loves chess should experience it.”
Sebastian Siebrecht, Chief Chess Officer Freestyle Chess:
“Where else do you play with Carlsen and Keymer in the same competition, in the same hall—and are ranked together afterwards? Freestyle and grenke bring amateur and top-level chess together like no other format.”
Two formats — six tournaments
- grenke Chess Open(Prize fund: 70,000 euros)
- Open A (from DWZ/Elo 1950)
- Open B (below DWZ/Elo 2000)
- Open C (below DWZ 1400 / Elo 1640)
- grenke Freestyle Chess Open (Prize fund: 225,000 euros)
- Freestyle Open A (from DWZ/Elo 1950)
- Freestyle Open B (below DWZ/Elo 2000)
- Freestyle Open C (below DWZ 1400 / Elo 1600)
Registration & further information:
🔗 www.grenkechessopen.de
✉️ td@grenkechessopen.de
Organizer: Schachzentrum Baden-Baden e.V.
in cooperation with Freestyle Chess Operations GmbH
