Magnus Carlsen shrugs off viral 42 BPM heart rate at Freestyle Chess in Paris: 'That's nonsense'

If ever there was doubt that Magnus Carlsen is built differently, it was put to rest during a round-robin stage match of the Freestyle Chess Grand Slam Tour 2025 in Paris. The five-time world champion, known for his calm under pressure, recorded a stunningly low heart rate of just 42 beats per minute (BPM).

Carlsen’s heart rate caught attention because of the sharp contrast with Germany’s Vincent Keymer, whose heart rate spiked to 108 BPM during the same match.

All players in the Freestyle Tour are equipped with heart-rate sensors as part of a data-driven approach to monitor stress and focus levels during gameplay. The contrasting numbers between Carlsen and Keymer sparked a wave of online discussion, with fans admiring Carlsen’s composure on the board.

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Carlsen on 42 BPM heart rate

Reacting to the viral statistic, Carlsen downplayed the reading in typical fashion. “That’s nonsense. I think it was broken. But I feel calmer now,” he said after wrapping up the day as joint-topper in the round-robin standings alongside Ian Nepomniachtchi after 11 intense matches spread across 48 hours.

The 34-year-old Norwegian has qualified for the semi-finals of the Freestyle Chess Paris leg. He defeated Uzbek grandmaster Nodirbek Abdusattorov in the quarter-finals with a scoreline of 1.5-0.5.

Fabiano Caruana, Hikaru Nakamura, and Vincent Keymar also advanced to the semi-finals after securing wins in their respective games on Thursday. Keymer beat Ian Nepomniachtchi in a tiebreak to become the fourth semifinalist after their classical games ended in draws.

Nakamura displayed dominance with white to defeat India’s Arjun Erigaisi with 1.5-0.5 scoreline after he drew his first quarter-final game with black pieces on Wednesday. Earlier, Caruana defeated local boy Maxime Vachier-Lagrave 1.5-0.5 to become the first player to reach the semi-finals.

The semi-finals will be played on Friday and Saturday, with world No. 1 Carlsen facing Weissenhaus leg runner-up Caruana and Nakamura coming against Weissenhaus leg winner Keymar.

Meanwhile, world champion Gukesh lost his 9th-12th place playoff against Richard Rapport and finished 11th in the standings. Praggnanandhaa won his playoff match against Vidit Gujrathi to finish 9th.