Vidit Qualifies For Paris Freestyle Chess Grand Slam Honeymoon
GM Vidit Gujrathi beat GMs Amin Tabatabaei and Richard Rapport to become the 12th and final qualifier for the 2025 Paris Freestyle Chess Grand Slam that takes place April 7-14. He'll join fellow Indian stars World Champion Gukesh Dommaraju and GMs Arjun Erigaisi and Praggnanandhaa Rameshbabu in Paris for the $750,000 event to be held just days after he gets married.
Vidit grabbed the big prize with two impressive match victories on the final day.
Paris Freestyle Chess Grand Slam Play-In Final Bracket
There were also matches to decide the remaining spots for prize money.
Paris Freestyle Chess Grand Slam Play-In Prizes
| Rank | Player | FED | Prize |
| 1 | Vidit Gujrathi | $10,000 | |
| 2 | Richard Rapport | $9,000 | |
| 3 | Amin Tabatabaei | $8,000 | |
| 4 | Rauf Mamedov | $7,000 | |
| 5 | Pranesh M | $5,000 | |
| 6 | Shakhriyar Mamedyarov | $3,500 | |
| 7 | Liem Le | $2,000 | |
| 8 | Leinier Dominguez | $1,500 | |
| 9-16 | Ding Liren & other RO16 losers | $500 |
Vidit Books Honeymoon In Paris
It was a dream event for Vidit, who said afterward:
I’m feeling great as for me it was really unexpected that I would do so well in the tournament because I haven’t been practicing chess for the last three-four months. I’ve not really been playing. I’ve just been busy with other stuff, so it was a very pleasant surprise and it went very smoothly. I think I won all the matches in the rapid section itself.
It was really unexpected that I would do so well in the tournament because I haven't been practicing chess for the last three-four months.
—Vidit Gujrathi
Vidit scored a near perfect 6.5/8, with the draws against Rapport and GM Pranesh M conceded in winning positions to clinch match victory.
In fact, Vidit revealed that the only moment of the tournament when he was worried was before it began "because I was not really prepared and I felt rusty, so I thought, ok, it could be very embarrassing if it doesn’t go well."
The Freestyle format helped Vidit, who noted, "You can just show up and play." He added, "Today, for example, I’ve travelled 10 hours and I’m playing from my mobile internet, actually, not even wi-fi." Being fresh may also have been a factor, since he confessed, "I felt a bit of burnout last year." He elaborated:
I was playing so much, non-stop, for 45 days in that stretch, so eventually it got to me and I did not feel so well mentally when I was going for the games, so I thought, probably it’s a sign that I should take a break and just take it easy, and somehow it seems to be working!
The victory means that Vidit joins three more Indian stars and the likes of GMs Magnus Carlsen, Hikaru Nakamura, and Fabiano Caruana in the Paris Freestyle Chess Grand Slam on April 7-14.
The dates are significant for Vidit, since he revealed:
I have my wedding in early April, and now probably Paris will be the place where I go for honeymooning because there’s no time. As soon as I get married, I’ll be flying out, it looks like, but I will need help with the visa, if anybody’s watching, for my fiancee—that will be useful!
Probably Paris will be the place where I go for honeymooning!
—Vidit Gujrathi
The wedding will prevent Vidit doing much preparation for playing in Paris, but he noted some of his Indian colleagues will also be at the wedding and that the positive emotions should help: "It’s an Indian wedding, it’s not just one day, it goes on for a week, but I’ll have a lot of happy emotions, so I think that’s my preparation, just being happy and in a good mood—maybe that’ll help!"
I'll have a lot of happy emotions, so I think that's my preparation, just being happy and in a good mood—maybe that'll help!
—Vidit Gujrathi
Vidit's final day on the chessboard began with a match against Tabatabaei, who missed a chance in the first game.
16.h4! to deflect the queen first was winning for White, but after 16.Ba2? Nf5! Vidit was on top and soon went on to win material. The game came to an abrupt end when Tabatabaei lost on time, though he was unlikely to save the two-pawn down position.
Vidit has one foot in the final after Tabatabaei loses on time in a position 2 pawns down, but where he was putting up stiff resistance! https://t.co/6jz88xAIl0 pic.twitter.com/TP8Ir7Xji5
— chess24 (@chess24com) March 14, 2025
That left Tabatabaei needing to hit back in the second game, which curiously featured the same position as one seen in the Freestyle Friday that was running alongside the qualifier.
What are the odds this happens on the same day nearly at the same time? pic.twitter.com/kNnDjPSmUG
— Fabiano Caruana (@FabianoCaruana) March 14, 2025
The Iranian GM had some chances to get a good position out of the opening, but when Vidit cemented an advantage, the task of winning on demand looked hopeless. Tabatabaei still made things tense, but Vidit kept control of the endgame and booked a place in the final.
His opponent there was Rapport, who once again played strong, creative chess in the opening of his semifinal against GM Rauf Mamedov but was frustrated by draws in the two rapid games. Mamedov was unbeaten across 2.5 days of chess, but Rapport broke through to win a wild first blitz game and then won the second as well—after a near-miss for Mamedov.
"Against Richard in the first game, it was a very weird kind of position, but once I got the advantage, I didn’t let it go," said Vidit of the first game of the final. Rapport's 12.d5!? wasn't necessarily a bad move, but it required finding a remarkable follow-up, which the Hungarian GM failed to do.
Vidit checkmates Rapport and is a draw away from qualifying for the Paris #FreestyleChess Grand Slam! pic.twitter.com/ahTle8lJnr
— chess24 (@chess24com) March 14, 2025
That first loss of the tournament left Rapport needing to win on demand, which was a task that was dramatically complicated by his making a losing move... on move one!
2.f4, or 2.f3! as Vidit played, immediately hit that pawn in front of the black king, and although such early advantages often fizzle out in Freestyle games, this one was retained until the end of the game. A massacre followed, with Vidit ultimately forcing a draw by repetition in a completely crushing position.
So it's Vidit who booked the spot for the second leg of the Freestyle Chess Grand Slam Tour.
First, however, there's a wedding to prepare for!
Congrats to GM Vidit Gujrathi on the Freestyle Friday win! 🏆
— Chess.com (@chesscom) March 14, 2025
He'll play in the @chess_freestyle Paris event on April 8th, just 6 days after his wedding! Honeymoon in France 🇫🇷🥳 pic.twitter.com/O7UnPdWYBf
The $750,000 second leg of the Freestyle Chess Grand Slam will be played in Paris, France, on April 7-14. 11 players, including GMs Gukesh Dommaraju, Magnus Carlsen, and Hikaru Nakamura have already been invited, while the remaining spot was decided in a Play-In on Chess.com on March 8-14. 12 players moved straight to a 16-player Knockout with two-game 15+3 matches, while the last four players qualified from a nine-round Swiss Open played at a 10+2 time control. All games are played in freestyle chess.
Previous coverage:
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.
