Hans Niemann was to do his debut at the Freestyle chess tour in Paris at the beginning of the month, but organized a last minute withdrawal without offering an appropriate explanation for the same thing. The American Grand Master, however, introduced himself to the Grenke event, where Magnus Carlsen, world n ° 1, is one of the players in action.
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The American Grand Master Hans Niemann introduced himself to the Grenke Chess Freestyle open in Karlsruhe, Germany on Friday after organizing a last minute withdrawal from the Grand Chelem in Paris earlier this month. What made his participation in the event more interesting is the fact that he was in competition alongside Magnus Carlsen, a world n ° 1, an individual with whom he has the whole history.
Here is Niemann appearing on the 1st day of the event in Karlsruhe:
Hans Niemann arrived at Grenke #Freestylechess Open that starts soon! pic.twitter.com/hxmmnu3kuc
– Chess24 (@ chess24com) April 17, 2025
The 21-year-old was to do his debut on the Freestyle chess tour of chess in Paris earlier this month, to mysteriously withdraw two days before the event without offering an appropriate explanation. Ouzbekistan GM, Nodirbek Abdusattorov, replaced it in the programming while Carlsen was crowned champion, beating Hikaru Nakamura in the final.
Niemann had been accused of having cheated by Carlsen in the Sinquefield 2022 Cup in St Louis, in the United States, which carried out a trial of $ 100 million deposited against the latter as well as the World 2 Hikaru and Chess.com.
Although the two parties later reached a regulation and the trial rejected, Niemann and Carlsen have shared icy relationships since, the former targeting the five -time world champion in the recent “ jeans scandal ” and accusing him of trying to ruin his life.
High -level names shine through the first Grenke round fails open freestyle
Arjun Erigaisi and Fabiano Caruana are among the other big names in action at the annual failure festival which took place for the first time in 2013 and returned to action in 2024 after a five-year interruption due to the Pandemic of Covid-19.
Niemann has won his two games so far, beating Andreas Ciolek and the Grand Master Russian of Andrei Deviatkin from Andrei during the first two rounds of the event.
There have been surprises with regard to the other boards of directors either, with the first round of Carlsen, Caruana, Erigaisi and the other best names confronted with low -ranking players with an ELO note in the 2200 range.
The 1st minutes while Magnus Carlsen faces Vaclav Finek, 15, Tour 2 of the Grenke #Freestylechess Open! pic.twitter.com/ty3uueipz4
– Chess24 (@ chess24com) April 18, 2025
The Freestyle event takes place simultaneously alongside the Grenke Chess Open, which happens to be among the biggest open events in the world.
The tournament takes place in a Swiss system of nine rounds with a time control of 90 + 30, in which the winner will win a place at the next event of the Grand Slam – Las Vegas, in the United States in July.
The event also has a price of € 225,000, the winner pocketing € 60,000. The Grand Chelem tour points are also offered, the winner receiving 25 points and the finalist 18.
