Freestyle Chess Grand Slam To Make U.S. Debut In Las Vegas With Live Audience
The third leg of the 2025 Freestyle Chess Grand Slam Tour will take place in Las Vegas from July 16 to 20, the German organizers revealed on Tuesday. The venue for the tour's U.S. debut this summer offers fans the opportunity to follow the star-studded event ringside for the first time.
The tournament will take place at the luxury resort Wynn Las Vegas, allowing fans to attend the event in person for the first time. Ticket tiers range from general admission ($90) to VIP experiences ($550) and private booths with player meet-and-greets.
"Wynn Las Vegas offers an unparalleled stage to introduce Freestyle’s high-energy, immersive format to the U.S.—not just as a game of strategy, but as a world-class spectator experience," said Jan Henric Buettner, CEO and co-founder of Freestyle Chess.
Save the dates!
— freestyle-chess (@chess_freestyle) June 3, 2025
Chesstival: July 13
Las Vegas Grand Slam: July 16 - July 20
Aaaand for the first time, fans can experience Freestyle Chess live. Tickets are available, link in bio🤩 pic.twitter.com/ff0NzvOiV4
The action kicks off a few days earlier on July 13 with Chesstival, a knockout-style celebrity chess tournament featuring current and former NBA stars. The event, produced in partnership with Chess.com, will offer $50,000 in prize money to be donated to charity.
The league has raised $20 million from investors, including NBA star Derrick Rose, who will participate in the festival. "I really believe Chesstival is one of the biggest paradigm shifts, along with Freestyle Chess, that the chess world has ever seen, and I think they're going to help grow the game," said former NBA MVP and investor in Freestyle Chess, Derrick Rose.
The big announcement is here! Freestyle Chess and Derrick Rose's Chesstival land in the U.S. in July! ♟️🤩🏀#FreestyleChess #Chesstival pic.twitter.com/TRfDRZjqLi
— freestyle-chess (@chess_freestyle) June 3, 2025
Freestyle Chess has yet to release a list of players for this third leg, but the tournament is expected to feature GM Magnus Carlsen, the winner of the 2025 Freestyle Chess Paris Grand Slam, along with world number-two GM Hikaru Nakamura, current live number-three GM Fabiano Caruana, and number-five GM Arjun Erigaisi.
The Las Vegas event will also feature a new format, confirming what Buettner revealed in Paris. The event is cut from eight to five days, with a group stage followed by a knockout portion where players are divided between Upper and Lower brackets, where only players in the Upper bracket can fight for the title. The tournament will no longer be played with a classical time control, but "fast-rapid" games where each side has under an hour for all their moves.
While Carlsen had expressed his desire to shorten the event, Nakamura was less enthusiastic, saying:
I’m not a big fan of the change to rapid. I think that, for me, I much prefer the classical, even if I finished second here. I thought that it’s a lot of fun to use your time to figure it out. Trying to play a rapid game is going to be really brutal. I’d be surprised if I do as well.
Despite format tweaks, the stakes remain high: $750,000 in prize money is up for grabs in Las Vegas, and the event will count toward crowning the first-ever Freestyle Chess Champion at the end of the tour.
