Magnus Carlsen has proven once again why he’s held the World Number 1 title for so long. In the Grenke Chess Open 2025, held at the Karlsruhe Convention Centre in Germany, the chess legend won with a perfect score of 9/9. The event featured a unique dual format, including a traditional and freestyle chess format. The event saw massive participation, attracting nearly 300 participants.
Magnus Carlsen entered the tournament as the top seed and dominated the event with extraordinary wins against some of the world’s top-class grandmasters. Carlsen had already secured his win in round eight however, he made a historic moment, and he won the final against Vincent Keymer.
This perfect score drew immediate comparisons from the world’s legendary chess players like Bobby Fischer, who scored 11/11 in the 1963-64 U.S. Magnus Carlsen himself acknowledged the rarity of this milestone and said, “It’s incredible. I have never done that in classical chess, or in any format — and it’s not gonna happen again! It feels amazing.”
Magnus Carlsen’s Perfect Score
| Round | Opponent | Result |
| 1 | GM Vincent Keymer | W |
| 2 | GM Rauf Mamedov | W |
| 3 | GM Parham Maghsoodloo | W |
| 4 | GM Awonder Liang | W |
| 5 | GM Victor Mikhalevski | W |
| 6 | GM Etienne Bacrot | W |
| 7 | GM Nils Grandelius | W |
| 8 | IM Vaclav Finek | W |
| 9 | Vinzenz Hillermann | W |
Interestingly enough, this was not the only thing that made the Grenke Chess Open stand out. Behind Magnus Carlsen, seven players tied for second place with 7 points each, finishing two points behind the champion. Since Carlsen had already qualified for the upcoming Freestyle Chess Grand Slam event in Las Vegas in July, the spot for the tournament will be decided among the seven players who tied for second place through a tiebreaker to be held at a later date.
Top 15 At The Grenke Chess Open 2025
| Rank | Player | Points |
| 1 | GM Magnus Carlsen | 9 |
| 2 | GM Leinier Dominguez Perez | 7 |
| 3 | GM Fabiano Caruana | 7 |
| 4 | GM Andrey Esipenko | 7 |
| 5 | GM Alexey Sarana | 7 |
| 6 | GM Parham Maghsoodloo | 7 |
| 7 | GM Arjun Erigaisi | 7 |
| 8 | GM Frederik Svane | 7 |
| 9 | GM Alexander Grischuk | 6.5 |
| 10 | GM Ray Robson | 6.5 |
| 11 | GM Wesley So | 6.5 |
| 12 | GM Maxime Vachier-Lagrave | 6.5 |
| 13 | GM Yu Yangyi | 6.5 |
| 14 | GM Rauf Mamedov | 6.5 |
| 15 | GM Nils Grandelius | 6.5 |
Also Read: Magnus Carlsen, World Number 1 Wins The Freestyle Chess Tour Paris Leg
