Freestyle Chess Tour Highlights: Keymer crowned Weissenhaus champion; Gukesh signs off without a win

The Paris leg of the Freestyle Chess Grand Slam Tour will have another top-rated Indian in action, with Arjun Erigaisi joining the bandwagon in the ‘City of Light’

Here’s a look at the final standings and prize money won by each player in Weissenhaus:

Here’s a summary of results in games involving reigning Classical world champion D Gukesh:

Day 1

Round 1: Drew against Nodirbek Abdusattorov

Round 2: Lost to Alireza Firouzja

Round 3: Drew against Levon Aronian

Round 4: Drew against Javokhir Sindarov

Round 5: Drew against Hikaru Nakamura

Day 2

Round 6: Drew against Fabiano Caruana

Round 7: Drew against Vincent Keymer

Round 8: Drew against Vladimir Fedoseev

Round 9: Lost to Magnus Carlsen.

Day 3

Quarter-final, Game 1: Lost to Fabiano Caruana

Day 4

Quarter-final, Game 2: Lost to Fabiano Caruana

Day 5

5th-8th classification match, Game 1: Drew against Hikaru Nakamura

Day 6

5th-8th classification match, Game 2: Drew against Hikaru Nakamura

5th-8th classification match, rapid tie-breaker Game 1: Drew against Hikaru Nakamura

5th-8th classification match, rapid tie-breaker Game 2: Lost to Hikaru Nakamura.

Day 7

7th-place playoff, Game 1: Drew against Alireza Firouzja

Day 8

7th-place playoff, Game 2: Lost to Alireza Firouzja

The Freestyle Chess social media team has perfectly encapsulated Vincent Keymer’s path to victory in the Weissenhaus leg of the Freestyle Chess Grand Slam Tour.

WATCH:

Here’s a summary of results on the final day of the Weissenhaus leg of the Freestyle Chess Grand Slam Tour:

— Vincent Keymer vs Fabiano Caruana, Final – Keymer won 1.5-0.5

— Magnus Carlsen vs Javokhir Sindarov, 3rd-place playoff – Carlsen won 2-0

— Hikaru Nakamura vs Nodirbek Abdusattorov, 5th-place playoff – Nakamura won 2-0

— D Gukesh vs Alireza Firouzja, 7th-place playoff – Firouzja won 1.5-0.5.

The last remaining game of the final day comes to an end with world No 1 and Freestyle Chess co-founder Magnus Carlsen defeating Javokhir Sindarov in 42 moves to clinch the third spot!

Here’s what the board looks like at the end of the game:

Here’s how Game 2 of the seventh-place playoff between D Gukesh and Alireza Firouzja panned out:

1. f4 f6

2. e4 e5

3. f5 d5

4. d3 c6

5. g4 Bb6

6. Nfg3 Qd8

7. Bxb6 Qxb6

8. Nh5 Re7

9. g5 Nd7

10. h4 dxe4

11. dxe4 O-O-O

12. Bg4 Nf7

13. Rd1 Kc7

14. a4 Nd6

15. N1g3 Nc5

16. a5 Qb4

17. Qd2 Qb5

18. Be2 Bc4

19. gxf6 Red7

20. b3 gxf6

21. Nxf6 Ndxe4

22. Qxd7+ Rxd7

23. Rxd7+ Nxd7

24. Nfxe4 Bxe2

25. Nc3 Qb4

26. Ngxe2 Qxh4

27. Kb2 Qg5

28. Rg1 Qxf5

29. Rg7 e4

30.Re7 Kd8

Another game on the final day has concluded with Alireza Firouzja defeating D Gukesh in 30 moves in Game 2 of their seventh-place playoff match in Weissenhaus. The writing was on the wall after Gukesh made a blunder in the 19th move and sacrificed his queen and a rook shortly after, and it was only a matter of time before the Iranian-French Grandmaster defeated the 18-year-old Indian for a second time in this tournament.

With this defeat, world champion D Gukesh finishes at the eighth spot without collecting a single victory in the entire tournament – drawing 11 and losing six!

The spotlight was firmly on world No 1 Magnus Carlsen and world champion D Gukesh when the Weissenhaus event got underway last Friday, and Vincent Keymer, talented as he is, wasn’t really in the conversation when it came to the favourites.

A little over a week later, Keymer has pulled off what certainly is the biggest victory of his career and one of the most incredible giant-killing acts in recent years, knocking Carlsen out in the semi-finals before triumphing over Fabiano Caruana in the final.

The triumph in the seaside resort located on Germany’s Baltic coast also puts Keymer on top of the Freestyle Chess Grand Slam Tour 2025 standings!

Home favourite Vincent Keymer’s fairytale is complete at the Weissenhaus Private Nature Luxury Resort in northern Germany as he completes a 1.5-0.5 victory over Fabiano Caruana with a draw in Game 2 of the final!

Alireza Firouzja had defeated D Gukesh in 27 moves in Round 2 on the opening day of the Weissenhaus event, and is closing in on another victory over the world champion in Game 2 of their seventh-place playoff. Gukesh sacrificed his queen as well as rook in his 22nd and 23rd moves, and is currently left with one rook and both knights besides three pawns.

Hikaru signs off from the Weissenhaus leg of the Freestyle Chess Grand Slam Tour on a happy note, beating Nodirbek in 36 moves in Game 2 to win the fifth-spot playoff with a 2-0 scoreline while playing with white pieces.

After castling in his 12th move, Hikaru surged ahead of Nodirbek after the Uzbekistani Grandmaster committed a blunder (Rfc8) in his 14th move. The American GM quickly capitalised on the error by moving his queen to the right flank (Qh3) in the following move, and would give a check as early as the 17th move. There was no looking back for Hikaru from thereon, and it was only a matter of time before Nodirbek surrendered.

Keymer has a slight advantage over Caruana in Game 2 of the final on the eval bar and is playing with an accuracy of 99.5 after 13 moves, compared to 97.1 for the Italian-American GM. Keymer, who is leading the final 1-0, also has a time advantage over his opponent at the moment.

The evaluation bar tilts in favour of Firouzja after world champion Gukesh makes a couple of questionable moves (13. Rd1 and 15. N1g3) during Game 2 of the 7th-place playoff. The Iranian-French GM, however, cedes some ground by moving his queen to b4 in his latest move.

Gukesh, meanwhile, has 30 minutes left on the clock, 10 minutes less than his opponent.

Interesting development in the Hikaru vs Nodirbek game right now, with the Uzbekistani GM having twice as much time in hand compared to his American opponent, who currently is leading the contest 1-0 after his victory on Thursday.

Here’s what the board looks like currently:

Under an hour left for Gukesh as well as for Alireza. The Indian Grandmaster, meanwhile, initiates a bishop exchange in the seventh move, with Firouzja capturing his piece using his queen. Stockfish later gives Firouzja’s decision to move his knight to d7 a thumbs up.

The Iranian-French GM later opts for a queenside castle in his 11th move.

Meanwhile in the main event of the evening – the final between Keymer and Caruana – the game gets underway with a d4 f5 opening. Caruana, who’s currently on the backfoot after his defeat yesterday, makes an early capture by taking the black pawn on e5 in his fourth move. The Stockfish engine, however, doesn’t like his latest move (c4).

All four boards witness different openings, with Gukesh going for an f4 opening that is met with an f6 from Firouzja. The two players crowd the centre of the board with pawns, with Firouzja advancing his bishop in his fifth move followed by a knight to g3 by Gukesh.

It’s worth noting that all of the top-four players in the world – Magnus Carlsen, Hikaru Nakamura, D Gukesh and Fabiano Caruana – are playing with white pieces. What’s even more interesting is the fact that the top three are not in contention for the title.

Here’s what the board layout looks like ahead of start of play on the final day of the Weissenhaus event:

Here’s what it boils down to on the final day of the Weissenhaus tournament:

Keymer, Carlsen, and Nakamura take the lead after day one of their matches! The event ends on Friday!#FreestyleChess pic.twitter.com/KAdOKEDhJ1

— chess24 (@chess24com) February 13, 2025

Here’s a day-by-day breakup of Gukesh’s run in Weissenhaus:

Day 1

Round 1: Drew against Nodirbek Abdusattorov

Round 2: Lost to Alireza Firouzja

Round 3: Drew against Levon Aronian

Round 4: Drew against Javokhir Sindarov

Round 5: Drew against Hikaru Nakamura

Day 2

Round 6: Drew against Fabiano Caruana

Round 7: Drew against Vincent Keymer

Round 8: Drew against Vladimir Fedoseev

Round 9: Lost to Magnus Carlsen.

Day 3

Quarter-final, Game 1: Lost to Fabiano Caruana

Day 4

Quarter-final, Game 2: Lost to Fabiano Caruana

Day 5

5th-8th classification match, Game 1: Drew against Hikaru Nakamura

Day 6

5th-8th classification match, Game 2: Drew against Hikaru Nakamura

5th-8th classification match, rapid tie-breaker Game 1: Drew against Hikaru Nakamura

5th-8th classification match, rapid tie-breaker Game 2: Lost to Hikaru Nakamura.

Day 7

7th-place playoff, Game 1: Drew against Alireza Firouzja

Here are the fixtures list for the final day of the Freestyle Chess Grand Slam Tour event in Weissenhaus:

— Fabiano Caruana vs Vincent Keymer, Final, Game 2

— Magnus Carlsen vs Javokhir Sindarov, third-place playoff, Game 2

— Hikaru Nakamura vs Nodirbek Abdusattorov, fifth-place playoff, Game 2

— D Gukesh vs Alireza Firouzja, seventh-place playoff, Game 2

D Gukesh faces Alireza Firouzja in Game 2 of their seventh-place playoff match and will get one last shot at signing off from the event on a winning note after failing to collect a single win across seven days of competition.

Also in focus today is Game 2 of the final between Vincent Keymer and Fabiano Caruana, the former currently leading the contest 1-0 after winning the opening game in 33 moves on Thursday.

Stay tuned to our live blog for more updates.