Carlsen, Nakamura, Caruana Headline Star-Studded Freestyle Chess Las Vegas

The 2025 Freestyle Chess Grand Slam Tour is headed for Las Vegas, and it's bringing 16 of the world's top grandmasters to the heart of the Strip.

The organizers have announced more than half of the field that will compete in the fourth leg of the tour, which will take place July 16-20 at Wynn Las Vegas. This event marks the first Freestyle Chess event held in the United States, and the first invitational Grand Slam event open to fans

Headlining the lineup is the winner of two of the first three events, world number-one GM Magnus Carlsen, along with his runner-up in Paris, GM Hikaru Nakamura. The other participants include a new generation of young talents, led by world number-three Arjun Erigaisi.

Also competing in Vegas are sixth-ranked Nodirbek Abdusattorov and Parham Maghsoodloo, who qualified for Las Vegas through his performance in the Grenke Freestyle Open, won by Carlsen with a historic 9/9. The six remaining invited players are yet to be announced, with the winner of the Freestyle Grand Slam Las Vegas Chess.com Play-In rounding out the increased field of 16 participants.

This will be the first time Freestyle Chess lands on American soil, and five players will be representing the host nation. Along with Nakamura, we'll see GMs Fabiano Caruana and Levon Aronian returning after also playing in the three previous events, while GM Leinier Dominguez also received an invite thanks to his fifth place in Karlsruhe.

Another exciting addition to Las Vegas is the 2019 World Fischer-Random champion, GM Wesley So, who finished 14th in Karlsruhe but did not participate in either of the two Grand Slam invitational events.

Backed by a $20 million investment fund and co-founded by tech entrepreneur Jan Henric Buettner, Freestyle Chess is making a significant impact in the chess world. A total of six events are scheduled for the 2025 tour, each with a $750,000 prize fund, including $200,000 for the winner. The prizes are among the highest ever seen in a chess event of this kind.

It's been a successful start to the tour after the first three events in Weissenhaus, Paris, and Karlsruhe. The events have led to a considerable boost in interest for Freestyle Chess, the chess variant also known as Chess960/Fischer Random, where pieces start on a semi-random position on the first and last ranks, making opening preparation obsolete.

Carlsen leads the tour after the first three events, having won the last two in Paris and Karlsruhe. The winner at the end of the tour will be crowned the first-ever Freestyle Chess Champion.

The time control will see another format shift in Vegas. For the first time, the tournament will be played at 10+10 in the group round-robin stage and 30+30 in different stages of the knockout. The tournament has also been shortened to five days, featuring a group stage followed by a double-elimination bracket, with only the Upper Bracket players competing for the title.

Held in the 50,000-square-foot Lafite Ballroom at the luxurious Wynn Las Vegas hotel, the event will be the first Freestyle Chess stop open to live spectators. Fans can purchase tickets ranging from $90 for general admission to $550 for a VIP experience that includes player meet-and-greets and access to private booths. Freestyle Chess has also announced an exclusive 15% discount for fans buying tickets on Friday, June 13, using the discount code FREESTYLEFRIDAY15.

The event was originally scheduled for New York, but was moved to the more flashy entertainment capital of the world. Just days before the Grand Slam begins, the Chesstival will kick off on July 13, a celebrity knockout chess event featuring current and former NBA stars playing for a $50,000 charitable prize fund.

NBA legend and Freestyle investor Derrick Rose is expected to compete, which will guarantee an extra layer of attention to the already ambitious tour.