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Carlsen Thwarts Nakamura To Win Paris Grand Slam, Caruana Takes 3rd
Magnus Carlsen was fully-focused as he won the Paris Freestyle Chess Grand Slam. Photo: Stev Bonhage/FIDE.

Carlsen Thwarts Nakamura To Win Paris Grand Slam, Caruana Takes 3rd

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Colin_McGourty
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| 53 | Chess Event Coverage

GM Magnus Carlsen has won the 2025 Paris Freestyle Chess Grand Slam after what he called "a very nice, professional job" secured a draw and a 1.5-0.5 match victory over GM Hikaru Nakamura. The world number-one takes the $200,000 top prize, Nakamura gets $140,000, and GM Fabiano Caruana takes $100,000 and a spot in the Las Vegas Grand Slam after crushing GM Vincent Keymer in the battle for third place.

There were no tiebreaks on the final day, with GM Arjun Erigaisi surviving heavy pressure from GM Maxime Vachier-Lagrave to take fifth and $50,000, while GM Ian Nepomniachtchi took seventh and $30,000. There was a curious finish there, as GM Nodirbek Abdusattorov resigned in an equal position, though a draw still wouldn't have helped him in the match.   

Carlsen took first place, Nakamura second, and Caruana third. Photo: Lennart Ootes/Freestyle Chess.

Final Standings

The outcome of the matches on the final day—lower down, Praggnanandhaa had earlier taken ninth place. Image: Freestyle Chess.

1st Place: Carlsen 1.5-0.5 Nakamura

It's that man again. After finishing a "mere" third in the first Grand Slam in Weissenhaus, Carlsen has won the title in Paris.

He came into the final day of the event after a dramatic win in the first game left him only needing a draw to clinch first place.

Unsurprisingly, perhaps, the games were very different. Carlsen explained:

Yesterday it could have been a great game, because I was really happy with the way that I judged and played the opening. Of course, what often happens is that you will get mutual mistakes, and toward the end, it was kind of a mess, but I did get the win. Today was very different, of course. Today I just felt that I did a very nice, professional job, and I never really gave him any chances. 

Today I just felt that I did a very nice, professional job, and I never really gave him any chances.

—Magnus Carlsen

As so often in Freestyle Chess, the opening was crucial, with the world number-one surprised to see the less-than-obvious 1.b4 on all but one of the boards.

Only Nepomniachtchi went his own way with 1.Nf3. Image: Freestyle Chess.

The key moment of Carlsen-Nakamura arguably came only three moves later, after 3...Nf6.

Here Nakamura played 4.f4?!, while the computer suggests 4.a4!, interfering with the a5-plan that Carlsen had already realized was strong. He noted in the confessional that a5 was "both activating my queen a little bit and making sure it’s not trapped in these situations after Be5, as it would have a7, and opening up for the rook as well."

It wasn't a small nuance, with Carlsen summarizing after the game:

The thing is, this is what’s so difficult about this, after f4 there’s just zero chance! We can make a bunch of moves, but as long as I don’t do anything stupid, I’m not going to lose the game, because it’s solid and relatively easy to play. 

The opening would play right into Carlsen's hands. Photo: Lennart Ootes/Freestyle Chess.

Nakamura was informed of the computer verdict by his wife, WGM Atousa Pourkashiyan, and called it "pretty comical to hear!" He summed up, "If after f4 it’s already kind of nothing it’s really, really hard to be unhappy with the result."

If after f4 it's already kind of nothing it's really, really hard to be unhappy with the result.

—Hikaru Nakamura

Carlsen admitted he could have been more ambitious, and Nakamura noted his opponent was "a little bit sloppy," but ultimately the Norwegian's plan of swapping off pieces and maintaining piece activity worked to perfection. Near the end, after some study-like chances were missed, Black's restricted army made a sad sight.

Nakamura had spent the game dodging silent draw offers, but by the end, there was nothing to do, and the game reached its inevitable conclusion with Carlsen wrapping up victory, $200,000, and 25 Grand Prix points. He'd gone through the tournament without playing a single tiebreak.

The result was doubly impressive given Carlsen had been unwell for much of the event, and he noted "no kind of chess is that much fun when you're not feeling great," before reiterating why he enjoys the Chess960 variant:

There’s more of a childish joy of just playing chess rather than being worried about openings, rating points, and all of those things that are important but don’t necessarily equate joy. I want to win as well, but you want to be reminded about why you started playing chess early on, and I am reminded of that when I sit down for a Freestyle Chess game. 

You want to be reminded about why you started playing chess early on, and I am reminded of that when I sit down for a Freestyle Chess game.

—Magnus Carlsen

Nakamura, meanwhile, had no complaints about second place. "I think I played pretty well and it’s hard to expect to win every event, so I’m not that unhappy." Another reason to be glad is that he's now taking two weeks off for a vacation to Japan.

Here's his recap of the final day:

3rd Place: Caruana 1.5-0.5 Keymer

Caruana got revenge for the Weissenhaus final. Photo: Stev Bonhage/Freestyle Chess.

Keymer has been the revelation of the Freestyle Chess Tour so far and had been unbeaten in classical chess until just a few days ago. Then he suffered what Carlsen called "one weak moment against Hikaru" to lose a first game, before going on to lose the first game against Caruana. The second was even more disastrous, with the outcome almost inevitable after the first few moves.

Caruana called his position "like a Dutch from heaven!" and criticized Keymer's 1...d5?!, which prevented c6 and left his king trapped, while the e5-square was "just uncontrollable." Everything Caruana foresaw came to pass, with Keymer's coach, GM Peter Leko, happy when his student got to give up his queen for two pieces, to at least get some chance to breathe.

The air was poisoned, however, and only a mercy draw offer saw the game end "peacefully" since that was all Caruana needed to win the match and take $100,000 and, crucially, an automatic invite to the next Grand Slam in Las Vegas in July.

Caruana doesn't seem the vengeful type, but he had made up for losing the Weissenhaus final to Keymer. That's our Game of the Day, which GM Rafael Leitao has analyzed below.

Keymer had to settle for "only" $60,000, but he's still earned $260,000 for two events on the Tour.

5th Place: Arjun 1.5-0.5 Vachier-Lagrave

It was no surprise that Arjun and Vachier-Lagrave combined to produce chaos. Photo: Stev Bonhage/Freestyle Chess.

It was a day when no one would make a comeback, though local hero Vachier-Lagrave came closest. The Frenchman told the confessional he was happy with his situation early on, since even though he judged "obviously I'm not better," he had a chaotic position he could play for a win. The mere fact that it was playable was a bonus: "I’m pretty happy especially after how the game went yesterday—I was not sure I would get a game!"

Arjun stumbled into a tough endgame, but held everything together to snatch fifth place on his Freestyle Chess Grand Slam Tour debut.

Arjun takes $50,000 while it's $40,000 for Vachier-Lagrave.

Arjun earned $50,000 on his Tour debut. Photo: Lennart Ootes/Freestyle Chess.

7th Place: Nepomniachtchi 2-0 Abdusattorov

For much of the day, this looked like it would be the easiest victory, with Nepomniachtchi soon better out of the opening, and well up on the clock. There were twists, however, with Abdusattorov somehow ending up in an endgame where he was the one with any winning chances. Carlsen explained about Nepomniachtchi: "It’s the way he goes! He’s up half an hour on the clock, he blunders, and then he gets back into it."

Nepomniachtchi was the only player to wrap up a 2-0 win. Photo: Stev Bonhage/Freestyle Chess.

Nepomniachtchi did regain full control, though there was a curious finish, with Abdusattorov resigning in a position that could still be drawn.

Some observers were shocked!

It wasn't the kind of blunder such decisions often are, however. A loss or a draw made no difference to the match outcome, while it was also completely understandable not to realize that Black could survive, with GM Anish Giri calling it "a very unexpected draw."

Nepomniachtchi took $30,000 and Abdusattorov $20,000.

So that's all for the Paris Grand Slam, but as some of the players pointed out, there's not long to wait until the Grenke Freestyle Chess Open in Karlsruhe, Germany, that starts this Thursday, April 17. Carlsen, Arjun, Caruana, Nepomniachtchi, Rapport, and Keymer are set to play, to mention only Paris participants (check out a full list here). It's a classical event with four days of double-rounds, with Carlsen commenting, "That’s going to be a bloodbath!"

It should be a lot of fun, with qualification for the Las Vegas Grand Slam also up for grabs!   

How To Review
You can watch the 2025 Freestyle Chess Grand Slam Paris on Chess.Com or Chess24 YouTube, or Chess.com or Chess24 Twitch channels, as well as on GM Hikaru Nakamura's Kick channel. You can also check out the games on our dedicated events page. GMs Judit Polgar, Peter Leko, and Niclas Huschenbeth hosted the expert broadcast.

The Freestyle Chess Grand Slam Paris was the second of five events on the multi-million dollar Freestyle Chess Grand Slam Tour. The 12 players first played each other once in 10+10 rapid chess, with the bottom four eliminated from the fight for first and the top players choosing their opponents in the Knockout. Each knockout round consisted of two-game 90+30 matches. In case of a tie, two 10+10 games were played. If still tied, two 5+2 games were played, then a single armageddon game. All games are played in freestyle chess.  

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Colin_McGourty
Colin McGourty

Colin McGourty led news at Chess24 from its launch until it merged with Chess.com a decade later. An amateur player, he got into chess writing when he set up the website Chess in Translation after previously studying Slavic languages and literature in St. Andrews, Odesa, Oxford, and Krakow.

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