Praggnanandhaa, Arjun and Vidit set to face Carlsen and co. at Freestyle Grand Slam Tour Las Vegas
Freestyle Grand Slam Tour Stage 4 starts today in Las Vegas, Nevada, USA. This will be the first time the event expands to 16 players and also a woman - GM Bibisara Assaubayeva (KAZ), former two-time World Blitz Women's champion make her debut. World's top five ranked players - Magnus Carlsen (NOR), Hikaru Nakamura (USA), Fabiano Caruana (USA), R Praggnanandhaa and Arjun Erigaisi will be competing at this event. The players have been divided into an eight-player group of White and Black. Top four players from each group will advance to the Upper Bracket Quarterfinals, while the bottom four finishers of each group will move to the Bottom Bracket Quarterfinals. Round 1 starts today at 11 a.m. local time, 10:30 p.m. IST. Photos: Aditya Sur Roy
Robson and Sevian replace Maghsoodloo and Nepomniachtchi
The fourth leg of Freestyle Grand Slam Tour comes up with a revamped tour format. It is basically very similar to the current Champions Chess Tour online event. Ray Robson (USA) and Samuel Sevian (USA) replaced Parham Maghsoodloo (IRI) and Ian Nepomniachtchi due to visa issues and personal family circumstances respectively.
For more photos, please check the album here.
Players
The World no.1 - Magnus Carlsen (NOR), World no.2 and reigning World Fischer Random Champion - Hikaru Nakamura (USA), World no.3 - Fabiano Caruana (USA), World no.4 - R Praggnanandhaa, World no.5 - Arjun Erigaisi, World no.7 and World Rapid 2021 Champion - Nodirbek Abdusattorov (UZB), World no.12 - Wesley So (USA), World no.15 and only two-time World Cup winner - Levon Aronian (USA), World no.17 and World Blitz 2008 champion - Leinier Dominguez Perez (USA), World no.19 - Hans Niemann (USA), World no.21 and the winner of the Stage 1 of Freestyle Grand Slam Tour - Vincent Keymer (GER), World no.25 - Javokhir Sindarov (UZB), World no.26 - Vidit Gujrathi, World no.40 - Ray Robson (USA), World no.43 - Samuel Sevian (USA) and two-time World Blitz Women's champion - GM Bibisara Assaubayeva (KAZ).
Video Gallery
Total prize fund
US$ 750000 per Grand Slam
Format
• Round robin: Top four players from each group go to the Upper Bracket, bottom four to the Lower Bracket. Time control: 10' + 10"
• Knockout stage time control: 30’+30’’
Schedule
16th July: Round-Robin stage - Rapid
17th July: Upper and Lower bracket Quarterfinals
18th July: Upper Bracket Semifinals and Lower Bracket Intermediate Match Red
19th July: Lower Bracket Intermediate Green & Semifinals
20th July: Upper & Lower Bracket Finals
Group stage Pairings for White
| Round 1 on 2025/07/16 at 11:00 | ||||||||||
| Bo. | No. | Rtg | White | Result | Black | Rtg | No. | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 1 | 2737 | GM | So, Wesley | GM | Aronian, Levon | 2737 | 8 | ||
| 2 | 2 | 2702 | GM | Abdusattorov, Nodirbek | GM | Praggnanandhaa, R | 2773 | 7 | ||
| 3 | 3 | 2506 | IM | Assaubayeva, Bibisara | GM | Sindarov, Javokhir | 2702 | 6 | ||
| 4 | 4 | 2766 | GM | Keymer, Vincent | GM | Carlsen, Magnus | 2909 | 5 | ||
Group stage pairings for Black
| Round 1 on 2025/07/16 at 11:00 | ||||||||||
| Bo. | No. | Rtg | White | Result | Black | Rtg | No. | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 1 | 2687 | GM | Robson, Ray | GM | Sevian, Samuel | 2683 | 8 | ||
| 2 | 2 | 2722 | GM | Niemann, Hans Moke | GM | Erigaisi, Arjun | 2758 | 7 | ||
| 3 | 3 | 2713 | GM | Vidit, Santosh Gujrathi | GM | Caruana, Fabiano | 2804 | 6 | ||
| 4 | 4 | 2749 | GM | Dominguez Perez, Leinier | GM | Nakamura, Hikaru | 2818 | 5 | ||
