Carlsen’s Undisputed 7/7 at Grenke Freestyle Chess Open 2025
After seven rounds of the Grenke Freestyle Chess Open 2025 in Karlsruhe, Germany, Magnus Carlsen is running the show. The world’s top-rated player holds an unperturbed 7/7 in this Chess960 extravaganza, slicing through opponents like a hot knife through butter. Going into the final day, Carlsen will take on one of the two players trailing him by a full point—GM Rauf Mamedov. Iran’s no. 1 Parham Maghsoodloo gave Magnus a run for his money but ended losing on time in heartbreaking fashion in a position which seemed difficult to navigate. With €225,000 and a New York Grand Slam spot on the line, Carlsen’s freestyle flair is dazzling, but the pressure’s mounting.
The tournament’s seen shocks aplenty—Fabiano Caruana, Ian Nepomniachtchi, Arjun Erigaisi and Wesley So all took early hits, leaving them behind in the title race. Even though Caruana showed impressive recovery after his third-round loss to Bacrot, he finds himself in joint 4th place, 1.5 points behind the leader. The highly anticipated dream clash, Magnus-Hans, will remain a dream for the Grenke Open since the American has looked lacklustre with only 4.5 points on the board.
Nearly 50 players, including Liang, jumped from the classical Grenke Open to Freestyle before round five, shaking up the standings, but no one has been able to move the rock of Carlsen at the top. Would the seasoned Azeri be able to upset him?
With two rounds left on April 21, 2025, the 3,000-player festival is electric. Carlsen’s still the man to beat, but in Freestyle Chess, one rogue move can flip the script. Catch the action live from 8:15 GMT—things are about to get wild.
Photo courtesy: Dariusz Gorzinski
