The Freestyle Chess Tour 2025 is one of the most anticipated events in chess for the 2025 season. The first leg of the tournament already concluded in February, with Vincent Keymer emerging victorious. The next leg of the event will take place in Paris from 8 April and will conclude on 15 April at the Pavillon Chesnaie du Roy, Boid de Vincennes in Paris.
The tournament will feature 12 participants, out of which 11 were already confirmed, while a qualifier event was going on to determine the 12th participant. Vidit Gujrathi emerged victorious by defeating strong opponents like the former World Champion, Ding Lire, in the round of 16, Amin Tabatabaei in the semifinals, and Richard Rapport in the finals with a score of 1.5-0.5.
This victory secured him the 12th and the final spot of the Paris leg of the Freestyle Chess Tour. He will be joining his fellow countrymen and chess stars Gukesh D, Praggnanandhaa R, and Arjun Erigiasi. He will be the fourth Indian chess player to feature in the tournament, showing the country’s dominance in the sport.
Vidit Gijrathi shared his excitement about joining the Paris leg of the Freestyle Chess Tour and said, ”I’m feeling great as for me, it was really unexpected that I would do so well in the tournament because I haven’t been practicing chess for the last three-four months. I’ve not really been playing. I’ve just been busy with other stuff, so it was a very pleasant surprise, and it went very smoothly. I think I won all the matches in the rapid section itself.”
Full Results Of The Qualifiers For The Freestyle Chess Tour
The tournament also awarded significant prize money to all the participants, so here is the full list of results and the prize money.
| Rank | Player | Prize |
| 1 | Vidit Gujrathi | $10,000 |
| 2 | Richard Rapport | $9,000 |
| 3 | Amin Tabatabaei | $8,000 |
| 4 | Rauf Mamedov | $7,000 |
| 5 | Pranesh M | $5,000 |
| 6 | Shakhriyar Mamedyarov | $3,500 |
| 7 | Liem Le | $2,000 |
| 8 | Leinier Dominguez | $1,500 |
| 9-16 | Ding Liren & other RO16 losers | $500 each |
Freestyle Chess Tour 2025: All Participants
The tournament will feature chess legends like the World Number 1 Magnus Carlsen, recent Prague Masters champion Pragg, and world champion Gukesh D. The event will also see Vincent Keymer, who won the first leg in February, so here is the full list of participants.
- Magnus Carlsen (Norway)
- Hikaru Nakamura (United States)
- Gukesh Dommaraju (India)
- Fabiano Caruana (United States)
- Arjun Erigaisi (India)
- Praggnanandhaa Rameshbabu (India)
- Alireza Firouzja (France)
- Ian Nepomniachtchi (Russia)
- Hans Niemann (United States)
- Maxime Vachier-Lagrave (France)
- Vincent Keymer (Germany)
- Vidit Gujrathi (India)
Also Read: Prague Chess Festival: Full Results Of Masters, Challengers, And Futures
