Niemann gets Freestyle Paris wildcard, after Grenke co-operation
21-year-old GM Hans Moke Niemann (USA) gets a wildcard entry for Paris Freestyle Chess Grandslam (April 8-15, 2025) in lieu of Grenke Chess Classic, thanks to the co-operation arrived between Freestyle chess & German chess sponsor Grenke. World No.18 Niemann Hans Moke (2734) has been in the news regularly, albeit for chess spice, which puts into shade his highly consistent performance under all formats. Known for his fighting chess, Niemann brings excitement on and off the board, a big boost for chess worldwide.
Recently, GM Niemann went down in a thrilling World Blitz Championship 2024 quarter-final match at New York against World No. 1 Magnus Carlsen. In the best of four games, Niemann took the lead defeating Carlsen in the second game. When an upset appeared on the cards, the Norwegian pulled back winning the 3rd & 4th blitz games to take the match with a 2.5 – 1.5 score. A similar Carlsen – Niemann meet up in Freestyle Paris is a very good possibility and is bound to take viewer interest to the top.
To quote the press release, “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Classic 2025 is not taking place, the qualification of the 2024 Open winner Hans Moke Niemann for the Classic 2025 is no longer valid.To emphasize the close ties between Freestyle Chess and longtime chess sponsor Grenke, Jan Henric Buettner, CEO of Freestyle Chess, has decided to invite the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).”
GM Niemann expressed his gratitude in a post on X (formerly Twitter), “I am deeply grateful for the opportunity to compete in the Freestyle Paris edition. Winning the Grenke Open last year was an incredible experience, and I am eager to return to the Freestyle/Grenke Open. No matter what opportunities come my way, I will continue to let my chess speak for itself. Thank you to everyone who has supported me on this journey”.
The Grenke & Freestyle co-operation provides further expansion of chess variant Freestyle where it gets integrated into mainstream chess. This year Grenke has shelved the Classical round-robin replacing it with Freestyle Open (Euros 225000) offering thrice the amount of prize money compared to the Grenke Open (Euros 70000). The confirmed participation of World No. 1 Magnus Carlsen & Freestyle Grand Slam Weissenhaus winner Vincent Keymer gives the Freestyle Open a huge boost.
In addition, the winner of the Freestyle Open (A) will be seeded to the next leg of the Freestyle Chess Grand Slam Tour in New York (July 17-24, 2025). And the top ten finishers will win points for the Freestyle Chess Grand Slam Tour 2025.
A Grenke novelty that will have an unique impact, is the special tournament feature, that 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 an opportunity to opt for the freestyle format during the course of the tournament.
Picture courtesy: FIDE (International Chess Federation)
Official Site: https://www.grenkechessopen.de/de/
