Carlsen and Abdusattorov lead Freestyle Chess Paris day 1

Day 1 of the Freestyle Chess Grand Slam Tour 2025 in Paris took place on April 7, 2025, marking the start of the second leg of this prestigious Chess960 (Freestyle Chess) tournament. The day featured the first half of the 11-round rapid round-robin phase with a time control of 10 minutes plus a 10-second increment per move. Twelve elite grandmasters competed, with the top eight set to advance to the knockout stage later in the tournament. Scroll down for the full results, pairings, and standings. See all details of Freestyle Paris 2025 here / Live games

The events of Freestyle Paris Day 1

Magnus Carlsen, the world number one, and Nodirbek Abdusattorov emerged as the early leaders, each securing five wins out of six matches. Carlsen defeated three of the four Indian participants—World Champion D Gukesh, Vidit Gujrathi, and R Praggnanandhaa—but lost a game to Arjun Erigaisi.

Round 2 of #Freestylechess Paris is full of surprises! @ArjunErigaisi defeats World N1 Carlsen, @viditchess wins against World Champion Gukesh

https://t.co/OJdSZzVUPj

— Chessdom (@chessdom) April 7, 2025

Abdusattorov, a last-minute replacement for Hans Niemann (who withdrew for alegedly personal reasons), also impressed with his strong performance. Meanwhile, Gukesh struggled, losing four of his six matches, including games against Carlsen and Hikaru Nakamura. Among the Indian contingent, Arjun Erigaisi stood out with 3.5 points, including notable victories over Carlsen and Fabiano Caruana, making him the best-performing Indian player of the day. Praggnanandhaa earned 2.5 points with two wins and a draw, while Vidit Gujrathi managed just one win, placing him at the bottom of the standings.

Round 1 on 2025/04/07 at 13:00
Bo.	Rtg		White	Result		Black	Rtg
1	2782	GM	Erigaisi, Arjun	1 – 0	GM	Caruana, Fabiano	2776
2	2837	GM	Carlsen, Magnus	1 – 0	GM	Vidit, Santosh Gujrathi	2720
3	2787	GM	Gukesh, D	1/2-1/2	GM	Vachier-Lagrave, Maxime	2722
4	2804	GM	Nakamura, Hikaru	0 – 1	GM	Nepomniachtchi, Ian	2757
5	2758	GM	Praggnanandhaa, R	0 – 1	GM	Rapport, Richard	2722
6	2718	GM	Keymer, Vincent	0 – 1	GM	Abdusattorov, Nodirbek	2773
Round 2 on 2025/04/07 at 14:00
Bo.	Rtg		White	Result		Black	Rtg
1	2776	GM	Caruana, Fabiano	0 – 1	GM	Abdusattorov, Nodirbek	2773
2	2722	GM	Rapport, Richard	0 – 1	GM	Keymer, Vincent	2718
3	2757	GM	Nepomniachtchi, Ian	0 – 1	GM	Praggnanandhaa, R	2758
4	2722	GM	Vachier-Lagrave, Maxime	1/2-1/2	GM	Nakamura, Hikaru	2804
5	2720	GM	Vidit, Santosh Gujrathi	1 – 0	GM	Gukesh, D	2787
6	2782	GM	Erigaisi, Arjun	1 – 0	GM	Carlsen, Magnus	2837
Round 3 on 2025/04/07 at 15:00
Bo.	Rtg		White	Result		Black	Rtg
1	2837	GM	Carlsen, Magnus	1 – 0	GM	Caruana, Fabiano	2776
2	2787	GM	Gukesh, D	1 – 0	GM	Erigaisi, Arjun	2782
3	2804	GM	Nakamura, Hikaru	1 – 0	GM	Vidit, Santosh Gujrathi	2720
4	2758	GM	Praggnanandhaa, R	0 – 1	GM	Vachier-Lagrave, Maxime	2722
5	2718	GM	Keymer, Vincent	0 – 1	GM	Nepomniachtchi, Ian	2757
6	2773	GM	Abdusattorov, Nodirbek	1 – 0	GM	Rapport, Richard	2722
Round 4 on 2025/04/07 at 16:00
Bo.	Rtg		White	Result		Black	Rtg
1	2776	GM	Caruana, Fabiano	1 – 0	GM	Rapport, Richard	2722
2	2757	GM	Nepomniachtchi, Ian	1/2-1/2	GM	Abdusattorov, Nodirbek	2773
3	2722	GM	Vachier-Lagrave, Maxime	1 – 0	GM	Keymer, Vincent	2718
4	2720	GM	Vidit, Santosh Gujrathi	0 – 1	GM	Praggnanandhaa, R	2758
5	2782	GM	Erigaisi, Arjun	0 – 1	GM	Nakamura, Hikaru	2804
6	2837	GM	Carlsen, Magnus	1 – 0	GM	Gukesh, D	2787
Round 5 on 2025/04/07 at 17:00
Bo.	Rtg		White	Result		Black	Rtg
1	2787	GM	Gukesh, D	0 – 1	GM	Caruana, Fabiano	2776
2	2804	GM	Nakamura, Hikaru	0 – 1	GM	Carlsen, Magnus	2837
3	2758	GM	Praggnanandhaa, R	1/2-1/2	GM	Erigaisi, Arjun	2782
4	2718	GM	Keymer, Vincent	1 – 0	GM	Vidit, Santosh Gujrathi	2720
5	2773	GM	Abdusattorov, Nodirbek	1/2-1/2	GM	Vachier-Lagrave, Maxime	2722
6	2722	GM	Rapport, Richard	0 – 1	GM	Nepomniachtchi, Ian	2757
Round 6 on 2025/04/07 at 18:00
Bo.	Rtg		White	Result		Black	Rtg
1	2776	GM	Caruana, Fabiano	1/2-1/2	GM	Nepomniachtchi, Ian	2757
2	2722	GM	Vachier-Lagrave, Maxime	1 – 0	GM	Rapport, Richard	2722
3	2720	GM	Vidit, Santosh Gujrathi	0 – 1	GM	Abdusattorov, Nodirbek	2773
4	2782	GM	Erigaisi, Arjun	1 – 0	GM	Keymer, Vincent	2718
5	2837	GM	Carlsen, Magnus	1 – 0	GM	Praggnanandhaa, R	2758
6	2787	GM	Gukesh, D	0 – 1	GM	Nakamura, Hikaru	2804

A fascinating game right from the start. In position 828 of the #FreestyleChess Paris round 1, @GMHikaru wasted an opening advantage with white to lose vs @lachesisq . Nakamura – Nepo 0-1 , replay all games here https://t.co/OJdSZzVUPj https://t.co/fmp3V9Floc

— Chessdom (@chessdom) April 7, 2025

Other highlights included Nakamura suffering an upset loss to Ian Nepomniachtchi in the first round despite an early advantage with White. The day concluded with Carlsen and Abdusattorov leading, while all players remained in contention for the knockout spots as five more rapid rounds were scheduled for the following day, April 8, 2025.

World N1 @MagnusCarlsen and the replacement of Hans Niemann, Nodirbek Abdusattorov, lead #FreestyleChess Paris after day 1https://t.co/OJdSZzVUPj

— Chessdom (@chessdom) April 7, 2025

As the day finished, there was still no official statement from Hans Niemann on his withdraw from Freestyle Paris 2025

Timeline of Hans Niemann withdrawing from Freestyle Chess Paris

05.04. Norwegian TV reports that Niemann is withdrawing after he was informed about anti-cheating
05.04 Breaking: Hans Niemann withdraws from Freestyle Chess Paris 2025 (rolling updates)
06.04 Reactions to Hans Niemann withdrawing from Paris Freestyle Chess 2025
06.04 Chess Song: Disappearing stars (Hans Niemann & Alireza Firouza) #TweetOftheDay
06.04 The organizer of Freestyle Chess Paris comments on the withdraw of Hans Niemann

Pairings Freestyle Chess Paris day 2

Round 7 on 2025/04/08 at 13:00
Bo.	Rtg		White	Result		Black	Rtg
1	2804	GM	Nakamura, Hikaru		GM	Caruana, Fabiano	2776
2	2758	GM	Praggnanandhaa, R		GM	Gukesh, D	2787
3	2718	GM	Keymer, Vincent		GM	Carlsen, Magnus	2837
4	2773	GM	Abdusattorov, Nodirbek		GM	Erigaisi, Arjun	2782
5	2722	GM	Rapport, Richard		GM	Vidit, Santosh Gujrathi	2720
6	2757	GM	Nepomniachtchi, Ian		GM	Vachier-Lagrave, Maxime	2722
Round 8 on 2025/04/08 at 14:00
Bo.	Rtg		White	Result		Black	Rtg
1	2776	GM	Caruana, Fabiano		GM	Vachier-Lagrave, Maxime	2722
2	2720	GM	Vidit, Santosh Gujrathi		GM	Nepomniachtchi, Ian	2757
3	2782	GM	Erigaisi, Arjun		GM	Rapport, Richard	2722
4	2837	GM	Carlsen, Magnus		GM	Abdusattorov, Nodirbek	2773
5	2787	GM	Gukesh, D		GM	Keymer, Vincent	2718
6	2804	GM	Nakamura, Hikaru		GM	Praggnanandhaa, R	2758
Round 9 on 2025/04/08 at 15:00
Bo.	Rtg		White	Result		Black	Rtg
1	2758	GM	Praggnanandhaa, R		GM	Caruana, Fabiano	2776
2	2718	GM	Keymer, Vincent		GM	Nakamura, Hikaru	2804
3	2773	GM	Abdusattorov, Nodirbek		GM	Gukesh, D	2787
4	2722	GM	Rapport, Richard		GM	Carlsen, Magnus	2837
5	2757	GM	Nepomniachtchi, Ian		GM	Erigaisi, Arjun	2782
6	2722	GM	Vachier-Lagrave, Maxime		GM	Vidit, Santosh Gujrathi	2720
Round 10 on 2025/04/08 at 16:00
Bo.	Rtg		White	Result		Black	Rtg
1	2776	GM	Caruana, Fabiano		GM	Vidit, Santosh Gujrathi	2720
2	2782	GM	Erigaisi, Arjun		GM	Vachier-Lagrave, Maxime	2722
3	2837	GM	Carlsen, Magnus		GM	Nepomniachtchi, Ian	2757
4	2787	GM	Gukesh, D		GM	Rapport, Richard	2722
5	2804	GM	Nakamura, Hikaru		GM	Abdusattorov, Nodirbek	2773
6	2758	GM	Praggnanandhaa, R		GM	Keymer, Vincent	2718
Round 11 on 2025/04/08 at 17:00
Bo.	Rtg		White	Result		Black	Rtg
1	2718	GM	Keymer, Vincent		GM	Caruana, Fabiano	2776
2	2773	GM	Abdusattorov, Nodirbek		GM	Praggnanandhaa, R	2758
3	2722	GM	Rapport, Richard		GM	Nakamura, Hikaru	2804
4	2757	GM	Nepomniachtchi, Ian		GM	Gukesh, D	2787
5	2722	GM	Vachier-Lagrave, Maxime		GM	Carlsen, Magnus	2837
6	2720	GM	Vidit, Santosh Gujrathi		GM	Erigaisi, Arjun	2782

Standings after day 1

1	GM	Carlsen, Magnus	NOR	2837	5
2	GM	Abdusattorov, Nodirbek	UZB	2773	5
3	GM	Vachier-Lagrave, Maxime	FRA	2722	4.5
4	GM	Nepomniachtchi, Ian	FRE	2757	4
5	GM	Nakamura, Hikaru	USA	2804	3.5
6	GM	Erigaisi, Arjun	IND	2782	3.5
7	GM	Praggnanandhaa, R	IND	2758	2.5
8	GM	Caruana, Fabiano	USA	2776	2.5
9	GM	Keymer, Vincent	GER	2718	2
10	GM	Gukesh, D	IND	2787	1.5
11	GM	Rapport, Richard	HUN	2722	1
12	GM	Vidit, Santosh Gujrathi	IND	2720	1