Keymer Beats Carlsen In Semifinal Game 1

GM Vincent Keymer defeated world number-one GM Magnus Carlsen in game one of the 2025 Weissenhaus Freestyle Chess Grand Slam Semifinals. GM Fabiano Caruana vs. GM Javokhir Sindarov ended in a draw, though the Uzbek GM missed a big chance at the end of the game.

We had two more draws in the matches for fifth place. GM Nodirbek Abdusattorov drummed up a dangerous attack against GM Alireza Firouzja, but the French number-one survived. GM Hikaru Nakamura had some pressure in the endgame against World Champion Gukesh Dommaraju, but it was the most balanced game of the day.

Day six of the 2025 Weissenhaus Freestyle Chess Grand Slam begins on Wednesday, February 12 at 7 a.m. ET / 13:00 CET / 5:30 p.m. IST.

• Semifinals Day 1 Results & Standings
• Keymer 1-0 Carlsen
• Caruana ½-½ Sindarov
• Abdusattorov ½-½ Firouzja
• Nakamura ½-½ Gukesh

Semifinals Day 1 Results

Main Bracket

With the exception of Nakamura vs. Gukesh, on every other board the younger player had the better game. Despite draws on all but one board, there was plenty of action and grand escapes.

Keymer 1-0 Carlsen

The starting formation, position 360, confused just about all of the players. Carlsen, with the black pieces, was concerned he wouldn't even make it out of the opening, as he shared in the confessional booth.

"It feels like it's a fight for survival now from the very first moves. If I have a playable position in 5 moves I'll be very happy & I think I'll be in good shape, but honestly at this point it doesn't feel certain that I'm going to get there, but we'll see!" #FreestyleChess pic.twitter.com/Vgfa7KDl0u

— chess24 (@chess24com) February 11, 2025

Keymer also thought the starting position was "incredibly weird," and correctly said he thought castling queenside was a mistake. Curiously, by the time the world number-one played 8...a6, he returned to the confessional booth to say, "I feel like the worst is kind of over for me," adding in his explanation, "He will have a very big space advantage but also no obvious way to find out where to put his king."

According to the engine, White achieved a clear space advantage with essentially no downside. Carlsen—as any top player often does—weaseled his way back in, and from the moment Keymer announced he was playing for the win with 30.g5! we had a brawl. Keymer summarized: "My position was really, really good and I kind of messed that up by myself... the good thing is his position was so bad to start with that even after my mistakes it was still unpleasant."

After the fantastic 27.g5! from Keymer, Magnus' heartrate went from 80 to 106!https://t.co/K1UaL5RqE3#FreestyleChess pic.twitter.com/rpQBRJVlXN

— chess24 (@chess24com) February 11, 2025

GM Rafael Leitao analyzes the full Game of the Day below.

Just like in the 2023 FIDE World Cup, Keymer won the first classical game of his match against Carlsen. Two years ago, the Norwegian struck right back in the next game, won the match in tiebreaks, and then won the tournament. Keymer is a draw away from advancing to the Final, and we are bound to see an incredible struggle on Wednesday.

Caruana ½-½ Sindarov

Just like in the other match, Caruana didn't have a clear idea of how to start the game. While Keymer started with 1.g4 (the "Grob"?), Caruana thought 1.f3 was better and played it. 

Fabiano Caruana came to the Confessional to talk about his 1.f3 and how no one was sure how to begin the game! #FreestyleChess pic.twitter.com/PiDSRzeYeU

— chess24 (@chess24com) February 11, 2025

In contrast to the other semifinal match, both players navigated the unfamiliar position with stunning accuracy. It was essentially a clean draw except for one critical moment at the end, when Caruana made a game-losing move but Sindarov didn't sense the moment.

After 46.h4? Sindarov spent a matter of seconds of his four minutes to force the draw with 47.Rfa5?. Had he sensed that he could press for more, he would have likely found the king hunt starting with 47...Ra1! or 47...Rf1!, and White would have no defense. On top of that, Caruana had just a minute.

A missed chance for the Uzbek star, who has nevertheless shown he can grapple with the world's best players. 

Just like in the other match, we will have a second classical game on Wednesday. Should it end in a draw, we will have rapid tiebreaks. 

Abdusattorov ½-½ Firouzja

Game one was a missed opportunity for Abdusattorov, who conducted an attack with absolute precision, until a certain point. If Firouzja wins the match on Wednesday, it will be in large part due to the defense he found in this game.

12.g4! is a good move against just about any response, but when Firouzja castled kingside, he was just asking for it. After 11...0-0?, the optimistic computer announces a nearly winning advantage for White, and for a while the Uzbek number-one played more or less perfectly.

Given a chance, however, Firouzja's defense of 19...Rde8 20.Nc4 Nef4! dispelled the initiative, and Leko called that last knight jump the "move of the day." 

Nakamura ½-½ Gukesh

The most even encounter was Nakamura vs. Gukesh. Although the world champion isn't in contention to win the tournament, he was content with the way this game went, especially compared to the match he lost against Caruana. He said:

The first game against Fabi was quite a good game, I thought, but I missed some chances in the second game. I just blundered in the opening. It's quite nice today that at least I played a decent game.

Gukesh has analyzed the opening positions by himself, instead of discussing with other players. He explained why: "I kind of thing it's weird that players discuss together before the game... when the game starts pretty much everyone has the same position, almost always."

He referenced a bad memory from last year, when someone else suggested an idea, he played it, and he lost immediately. At least on Tuesday, analyzing the position alone seemed to work out for the world champion.

Nakamura attempted to press, but Gukesh was up to the task of defending. The critical moment, perhaps a missed chance, that GM Niclas Huschenbeth focused on was the possibility of 20.Rf8!, which would have put much more pressure on the black pieces. As the game went, Gukesh wasn't in much trouble.

You can listen to Nakamura's thoughts in his recap video below.

Wednesday will decide the two finalists who will play for the $200,000 first prize, while whoever loses their semifinal match will still play a match for third place. 

Previous coverage:

• Weissenhaus Day 4: Sindarov Upsets Nakamura, Joins Carlsen, Caruana, Keymer In Semifinals
• Weissenhaus Day 3: Carlsen, Caruana, Keymer Win; Nakamura Lets Sindarov Escape
• Weissenhaus Day 2: Firouzja Wins Rapid As Aronian, Fedoseev Knocked Out
• Weissenhaus Day 1: Caruana, Sindarov Beat Carlsen To Lead Weissenhaus Grand Slam
• Play-In KO 2: Fedoseev Joins Carlsen & Co. In Weissenhaus After Winning Armageddon Thriller
• Play-In KO 1: Nepomniachtchi In Semifinals After Niemann Blunders Mate-In-1
• Play-In Swiss: Fedoseev, Lazavik, Sindarov, Bortnyk Keep Weissenhaus Hopes Alive
• Chess.com Officially Partners With Freestyle Chess To Support 2025 Grand Slam Tour
• $12 Million Raised For 'Revolutionary' Freestyle Series Of Tournaments