Freestyle Chess - Weissenhaus

Grand Slam Tour Overview

• 5-part tournament series stretched throughout the year.

• Players earn points based on their finishing rank in each event.

• The highest overall scorer after 5 events is crowned the champion.

Tournament Structure

Rapid Qualifier (2 Days)

• Format: Round-robin (9 games, each player faces every other once).

• Time Control: 10 minutes + 10-second increment per move.

• Top 8 advance to knockout; 9th & 10th are eliminated.

Knockout Stage (6 Days)

• Participants: Top 8 from the rapid qualifier.

• Stages: Quarterfinals → Semifinals → Final.

• Match Format: Each round consists of 2 classical games.

• Time Control: 90 minutes + 30-second increment per move.

• Tiebreaks: If tied 1-1, a rapid chess playoff (2 games) determines the winner.

• Losers compete to determine all final placements.

Freestyle chess—the ultimate test of pure skill.

Modern classical chess, as exciting as it can be, has lately been defined by deep opening preparation with the assistance of supercomputers.

The Freestyle Chess Grand Slam Tour levels the playing field, rewarding intuition, creativity, and adaptability over memorization. There's no prep with the 960 different opening positions, so players need to rely on their instincts and understanding of the game from the get-go.

This 2025 tour unites the best players in the world to test their skill in chess in its purest and most dynamic form.