Hans Niemann controversy continues: Hans Niemann shows up at Grenke after 12 days radio silence / More on Twitter

Special note: Good Friday will have no broadcast of Grenke. Games will be uploaded the next day manually. The rules of the holiday in Germany also forbid dancing. Information, schedule and participants: Grenke Freestyle Chess / Grenke Open

This year’s Grenke Chess 2025 has already broken the mythical number – 13 days to go, and we have counted 2.909 registrations for the big tournament in Karlsruhe at Easter. And more players can join to boost the number of participants even further.

Chessdom.com will be covering Grenke 2025 extensively. Check out the Grenke Chess 2025 tournament details page and scroll down for more details. Grenke Chess 2025 might coincide with the launch of the Chessdom’s newsletter that you get DAILY to your mailbox for FREE. Signup with your mail in the form below

Baden-Baden/Weissenhaus, 2025 – The traditional chess festival in Karlsruhe is continuing in a new format. Instead of the Classic Tournament alongside the Open, there will be two major Opens this year from April 17 to 21: the grenke Freestyle Chess Open and the grenke Chess Open. The two tournaments combine Freestyle Chess and classic tournament chess under the roof of the Karlsruhe Convention Center – a unique concept.

Numerous top grandmasters are expected. The 18-time world champion Magnus Carlsen, number one in the chess world and a regular guest at the grenke Chess Festival, has already confirmed his participation in the Freestyle Open. The German number one Vincent Keymer will also be taking part. Carlsen may have the opportunity in Karlsruhe to get revenge on Keymer for yesterday’s defeat in the semi-finals of the Freestyle Grand Slam in Weissenhaus.

The winner of the Freestyle Open (A) will receive a starting place for the next leg of the Freestyle Chess Grand Slam Tour in New York (July 17-24, 2025). The top ten finishers will win points for the Freestyle Chess Grand Slam Tour 2025.

“We are very excited about the innovative new edition. Karlsruhe stands for size and class in one place like no other city. This year, the stars will play in the grenke Freestyle Chess Open, which is open to everyone. There is no better way to combine popular and competitive sports,” says tournament director Sven Noppes. ”With the combination of classic chess and classic freestyle, we are creating a festival that is a highlight for hobby players, amateurs and the absolute world elite, and a spectacle for all spectators on site or online.”

Christian Bossert, chairman of the Baden-Baden Chess Center, expects the event to once again become the largest chess festival in the world, as it was last year, with around 2,600 participants.

Dr. Sebastian Hirsch, CEO of grenke AG: “grenke has been passionately committed to chess for decades. We invite the international chess elite to our region, bring them together and offer the winner a trip to New York. We are proud of the diversity and quality of the field of participants and keep our fingers crossed for all players for a successful tournament. I recommend that everyone stop by, because the new grenke Chess Festival offers all chess enthusiasts and the curious an unforgettable experience in Karlsruhe.”

Since the grenke Classic 2025 is not taking place, the qualification of the 2024 Open winner Hans Moke Niemann for the Classic 2025 is no longer valid. To emphasize the close ties between Freestyle Chess and longtime chess sponsor grenke, Jan Henric Buettner, CEO of Freestyle Chess, has decided to invite the US grandmaster instead for the next stage of the Freestyle Chess Grand Slam Tour. The US grandmaster will receive a wildcard for the tournament in Paris (April 8-15).

“We are very pleased about the cooperation,” says Sebastian Siebrecht, Chief Chess Officer of Freestyle Chess. ‘With the Open, we are able to make the Freestyle Grand Slam accessible to a wide audience. Every player has the chance to compete against the best and qualify for one of the major events in our series.’

Two major open events, six rating classes

The Karlsruhe Chess Festival 2025 will combine two high-level tournaments, each with three rating classes:

• grenke Freestyle Chess Open with a prize fund of 225,000 euros:
  • Freestyle Open A:for players with an Elo or DWZ > 1950
    • → The winner qualifies for the New York leg of the Freestyle Chess Grand Slam
  • Freestyle Open B: for players with an Elo and DWZ < 2000
  • Freestyle Open C: for players with a DWZ < 1400 and Elo < 1600
• grenke Open with a prize fund of 70,000 euros:
  • grenke Open A: for players with an Elo or DWZ > 1950
  • grenke Open B: for players with an Elo and DWZ < 2000
  • grenke Open C: for players with an DWZ < 1400 and Elo < 1600

Switch between tournaments

A special feature ensures maximum flexibility: Those who participate in the grenke Chess Open can switch to the grenke Freestyle Chess Open up until the 5th round and keep the points they have earned so far. This means that the festival offers a unique opportunity to opt for the freestyle format during the course of the tournament.

Tournament mode:

• Freestyle Open: 9 rounds Swiss system, 90 minutes + 30 seconds per move
• grenke Open: same format as the Freestyle Open

Register now!

Registration is now open at www.grenkechessopen.de. All further information on the schedule, tournament format and prize money is available there.

Fabiano Caruana tried everything to win his game against Matthias Blübaum, to keep a minimal chance to tie with Aronian after seven rounds alive, but he only got a draw. The other games also ended in a draw.

Georg Meier was very well prepared today against Maxime Vachier-Lagrave and deserved his draw with the black pieces. As expected, Arkadij Naiditsch and Magnus Carlsen played an eventful game, but none of the players had serious winning chances.

Levon Aronian (photo A.Karlovich)

It was a short game today for Maxime Vachier-Lagrave and Georg Meier. They ended their game after 2,5 hours of play with a draw. Meier played his favourite variation of the French defence and proved to he was better prepared than his opponent. Black surpised everybody with the novelty 12…Bc5 and only started thinking after move 18. “After the game against Carlsen yesterday, one could get the impression that I do not study any opening theory. I think I could prove everybody wrong“, Meier said after the game.

Vachier-Lagrave won a pawn in the middlegame, but black had some active pieces, which was enough to equalize the endgame. It did not take long before the players agreed to share the point.

Levon Aronian played another variation today, that you do not see very often on the boards of top players and he offered a pawn to get the initiative. Hou Yifan was visibly surprised and had to defend a slightly worse position after the opening. After the exchange of queens, Aronian could put tremendous pressure on the black position with his strong bishop pair.

After 25 moves a critical position appeared on the board. Hou Yifan sacrificed a pawn, to end the development of her pieces. “She should have attacked my rook with her knight”, Aronian analyzed in the press conference. He could improve his position gradually and won his game convincingly with his well-know technical skills.

Arkadij Naiditsch and Magnus Carlsen shared the point after an interesting battle. Naiditsch played a Queens Pawn opening and left the theoretical paths early in the game. “I guess that we both did not really knew all the details of the position“, the world champion said in the press conference.

Both players had some interesting alternatives in the opening. Naiditsch seemed to have a slight advantage in the middlegame with his strong rooks and bishops. He sacrificed the exchange for a bishop, pawn and some activity, but Carlsen found a way to equalize the position.

At the end, Naiditsch had a Queen and three pawns against two rooks and a bishop. After the exchange of some more pieces, a draw was agreed.

Matthias Blübaum and Fabiano Caruana played the longest game oft he day. Caruana played the Queens Gambit Accepted against 1.d4. The queens and two pieces were exchanged, which is typical for this opening. The American grandmaster pushed his a-pawn forward and created some small changes.

More pieces were exchanged and Caruana kept a slight advantage. He activated his King, rook and knight and the chess fans hoped for more. With a win over Blübaum, a real final would have been on the boards on Saturday in the game Caruana-Aronian. Caruana won a pawn, but it was not enough to win the game. In a theoretical endgame, with a rook and knight against a rook, the players agreed to share the point.

Round 6 standings:

1. Aronian Levon ARM 2774 – 5
2-3. Carlsen Magnus NOR 2838 and Caruana Fabiano USA 2817 – 3½
4-6. Hou Yifan CHN 2649, Vachier-Lagrave Maxime FRA 2803 and Naiditsch Arkadij AZE 2702 – 3
7-8. Meier Georg GER 2621 and Bluebaum Matthias GER 2634 – 1½

Round 7 pairings:

Hou-Naiditsch
Caruana-Aronian
Meier-Blübaum
Carlsen- Vachier-Lagrave

Official website

Three other players, Maxim Matlakov, Etienne Bacrot and Zdenko Kozul, scored 7,5 points as well, but due to a better Buchholz, Vitiugov clinched the title.

Before the last round, Nikita Vitiugov and Zdenko Kozul had 7,0 points each. It did not took long before the players shared the point. After 11 moves, the players called it a day and secured an attractive piece of the prize cake.On the other boards, players fought for their chance. Maxim Matlakov and Etienne Bacrot won their games with the black pieces, against Hrant Melkumyan and Konstantin Landa, respectively.

Nikita Vitiugov

No less than 23 players scored 7,0 points. One of them is the young German player Alexander Donchenko – he did not lose a single game, although he faced some tough opponents on the final day. Another pleasant surprise was the performance by Alexander Seyb, who drew his game against the experienced grandmaster Vladimir Onischuk and scored a GM norm.

Sarasadat Khademalsharieh was the best female player in the Open. She is a women grandmaster and scored 6,5 points without losing a game. She started with two wins, scored four draws in a row, but ended the tournament with an excellent 2,5/3 sprint. Second prize was won by Swaminathan Soumya with 6,0 points, the third prize was taken home by Elena Levushkina (5,5).

13 players scored a highly desired norm at the GRENKE Chess Open. Noel Studer (Switzerland), Meilis Annaberdiev (Turkmenistan) and Alexander Seyb (Germany) scored a GM norm. There were IM norms for Davide Arcuti (Switzerland), Liam Vrolijk (Netherlands), Ashot Parvanyan (Armenia), Martin Bruedigam, Bernhard Sinz, Johannes Carow, Mark Kvetny and Emil Schmidek (Germany). The young German players Fiona Sieber and Jana Schneider scored a WIM-norm.

Official website

World Champion Magnus Carlsen, who won the last GRENKE Chess Classic in 2015, will again be competing, ready to defend his title.

His strongest competitors are top ten players Fabiano Caruana, Maxime Vachier-Lagrave and Levon Aronian. Grandmaster Arkadij Naiditsch will once again be joining the race for tournament victory. Naiditsch, competing for Azerbaijan, stood up brilliantly to the World Champion two years ago. In a legendary final he fought against Carlsen in a tiebreak for the title, which the Norwegian only claimed in a final Armageddon game.

Grenke Chess Classic 2017 will be live on Chessdom and you can also follow it live on your mobile via the Chess Arena phone application.

Magnus Carlsen

The organizers of the GRENKE Chess Classic 2017 are also pleased to announce the participation of Hou Yifan, the strongest female chess player in the world. Yifan is one of eight players in a line-up complemented by German national players Matthias Blübaum and Georg Meier.

For the 19-year-old Blübaum it is his first time participating in a grandmaster tournament of this category and will be a great challenge. He qualified for this year’s Chess Classic by winning the GRENKE Chess Open 2016.

The following eight grandmasters will be competing against each other in a round-robin tournament at the GRENKE Chess Classic 2017 (Elo ratings according to the list of 1st March 2017):

Magnus Carlsen, World Champion, Elo: 2838, Norway
Fabiano Caruana, Number 3 on the world ranking list, Elo: 2817, USA
Maxime Vachier-Lagrave, Number 5 on the world ranking list, Elo: 2803, France
Levon Aronian, Number 9 on the world ranking list, Elo: 2774, Armenia
Arkadij Naiditsch, Number 41 on the world ranking list, Elo: 2702, Azerbaijan
Hou Yifan, Number 110 on the world ranking list, Elo: 2649, China
Matthias Blübaum, Number 148 on the world ranking list, Elo: 2632, Germany
Georg Meier, Number 154 on the world ranking list, Elo: 2630, Germany

GRENKE Chess Classic 2017 Schedule:

15th to 17th April 2017: rounds 1 to 3 held at the Schwarzwaldhalle Karlsruhe (running parallel to the afternoon round of the Open)
18th April 2017: rest day and move to Baden-Baden
19th to 22nd April 2017: rounds 4 to 7 held at the Event Akademie Baden-Baden

Official website

Photo credit: Georgios Souleidis

The reigning World champion Magnus Carlsen is the winner of 2015 Grenke Chess Classic!

However, the trophy didn’t come easily. Carlsen tied for the first place with the top German player Arkadij Naiditsch, although the latter defeated him in the third round of the event.

According to the tournament regulations, the winner should have been decided after an additional match.

Carlsen started with a victory in the first rapid game, but Naiditsch bounced back winning the exciting second game.

The players drew the next two blitz games and the Armageddon game (6′ + 2″ vs. 5′ + 2″) was decisive. The drawing of lots destined white pieces for Carlsen and one more minute at the start of the game, but he needed a win to claim the title.

Arkadij Naiditsch chose Sicilian Defence as an answer of Carlsen’s first move 1.e4 and the game became very sharp. Carlsen sacrificed an exchange in order to use the light squares in the opponent’s camp. Soon the mating threats in front of Naiditsch were inevitable and he was forced to resign.

You can replay the games and the thrilling playoff match below!

Official website/ LIVE games with computer analysis GRENKE Chess Classic 2014/ GRENKE Chess Classic 2013

Online chess magazines: Chess Insider pdf and pgn (games from 2014, total 1000 pages) / Chess Times pdf and pgn (games from Jan 2015, total 300 pages)

Final standings:

1 GM Carlsen Magnus 2865 NOR 4½
2 GM Naiditsch Arkadij 2706 GER 4½
3 GM Adams Michael 2738 ENG 4
4 GM Caruana Fabiano 2811 ITA 4
5 GM Aronian Levon 2777 ARM 3½
6 GM Bacrot Etienne 2711 FRA 3½
7 GM Anand Viswanathan 2797 IND  2½
8 GM Baramidze David 2594 GER 1½

The following eight grandmasters participate in the event, playing each other once over seven rounds: Magnus Carlsen, World Champion (rated: 2862), 24, Norway, Fabiano Caruana, World no. 2 (2820), 22, Italy, Viswanathan Anand, World no. 5 (2797), 45, India, Levon Aronian, World no. 6 (2797), 32, Armenia, Michael Adams, World no. 17 (2738), 43, England, Etienne Bacrot, World no. 39 (2711), 31, France, Arkadij Naiditsch, World no. 49 (2694), 29, Germany and David Baramidze, World no. 236 (2594), 26, Germany.

Official website/ GRENKE Chess Classic 2014/ GRENKE Chess Classic 2013

Online chess magazines: Chess Insider pdf and pgn (games from 2014, total 1000 pages) / Chess Times pdf and pgn (games from Jan 2015, total 300 pages)

More: Grenke Chess Classic for the Italian fans / For the Russian fans / For the German fans

Carlsen stunned his opponent with a bold piece sacrifice on move 10. He got two pawns and compact structure in return. But Naiditsch reacted brilliantly, seizing the initiative with a couple of energetic moves.

Later, heading for a complicated endgame, Naiditsch committed an inaccuracy that dropped the advantage, but Carlsen returned the favour and white proceeded to convert into full point.

Naiditsch also beat Carlsen in their previous encounter at the Chess Olympiad in Tromso.

In the other decisive games Fabiano Caruana defeated Levon Aronian, while Michael Adams won against David Baramidze.

Well, that's my fourth third round loss in a row #funfact

— Magnus Carlsen (@MagnusCarlsen) February 4, 2015

Thursday is a rest day, next round is on 6th February.

Round 3 results:
Bacrot Etienne 2711 – Anand Viswanathan 2797 ½ – ½
Aronian Levon 2777 – Caruana Fabiano 2811 0 – 1
Adams Michael 2738 – Baramidze David 2594 1 – 0
Naiditsch Arkadij 2706 – Carlsen Magnus 2865 1 – 0

Round 3 standings:
1-2. GM Caruana Fabiano ITA 2811 and GM Naiditsch Arkadij GER 2706 – 2,0
3-6. GM Adams Michael ENG 2738, GM Carlsen Magnus NOR 2865, GM Bacrot Etienne FRA 2711 and GM Anand Viswanathan IND 2797 – 1,5
7-8. GM Aronian Levon ARM 2777 and GM Baramidze David GER 2594 – 1,0

Round 4 pairings:
Anand Viswanathan 2797 – Carlsen Magnus 2865
Baramidze David 2594 – Naiditsch Arkadij 2706
Caruana Fabiano 2811 – Adams Michael 2738
Bacrot Etienne 2711 – Aronian Levon 2777

The event continues until 9th February.

Round 1 results:
Caruana Fabiano – Anand Viswanathan 1/2-1/2
Bacrot Etienne – Baramidze David 1/2-1/2
Aronian Levon – Carlsen Magnus 1/2-1/2
Adams Michael – Naiditsch Arkadij 1/2-1/2

Round 2 pairings:
Anand Viswanathan – Naiditsch Arkadij
Carlsen Magnus – Adams Michael
Baramidze David – Aronian Levon
Caruana Fabiano – Bacrot Etienne

Kulturhaus LA8

The organisers are delighted to have brought together an exclusive line-up, headed by World Champion Magnus Carlsen and former World Champion Viswanathan Anand.

This is the third edition of the GRENKE Chess Classic, which was also held in 2013 and 2014.

In the 2000s OSG Baden-Baden grew to be the most successful chess club in Germany, and the establishment of the Chess Centre in Baden-Baden in 1996 was another step towards putting the city on the European chess map. The organisation of the GRENKE Chess Classic builds on the tradition of the famous chess tournaments that were held in the spa resort in the last two centuries.

This year’s edition has achieved a rating average of 2752 (1st January 2015), making it a stellar Category 21 tournament. That already makes it the second strongest tournament ever held in Germany, though there’s still time to become the strongest when the February rating list is published. The Baden-Baden Chess Centre’s partners are GRENKELEASING AG and the Brenners Park-Hotel & Spa.

The following eight grandmasters will participate in the GRENKE Chess Classic 2015, playing each other once over seven rounds:

– Magnus Carlsen, World Champion (rated: 2862), 24, Norway
– Fabiano Caruana, World no. 2 (2820), 22, Italy
– Viswanathan Anand, World no. 5 (2797), 45, India
– Levon Aronian, World no. 6 (2797), 32, Armenia
– Michael Adams, World no. 17 (2738), 43, England
– Etienne Bacrot, World no. 39 (2711), 31, France
– Arkadij Naiditsch, World no. 49 (2694), 29, Germany
– David Baramidze, World no. 236 (2594), 26, Germany

The tournament will be played from 2-9 February 2015 in the historic rooms of the Kulturhaus LA8 in the very centre of Baden-Baden – the same location where OSG Baden-Baden plays its home matches in the Bundesliga. Rounds begin each day at 15:00, with a single rest day on Thursday 5 February.

Information on the grandmaster tournament:
Tournament Director Sven Noppes: snoppes@schachzentrum-baden-baden.de, Tel.: +49-172-7258738

General information:
Dr. Markus Keller (Managing Director of Baden-Baden Chess Centre): info@schachzentrum-baden-baden.de; Tel.: +49-7221-50079623

The first hints about the GRENKE Chess Classic 2015 were posted on Twitter

Official website/ GRENKE Chess Classic 2014/ GRENKE Chess Classic 2013