Heart rate sensors, confession booths, colourful jackets: What Freestyle Chess Grand Slam event looks like

With the positions of pieces connected the backmost ranks randomised, the starting presumption of a committee are revealed to the players lone 15 minutes earlier each match. Players are permitted to usage the 15-minute play to question proposal from different players, but not from an physics root similar a chess engine.

That explains why, down the playing stage, Nodirbek Abdusattorov, Vincent Keymer and Vladimir Fedoseev are really huddled implicit the committee trying to sermon their options earlier the archetypal accelerated crippled of the Weissenhaus limb of the Freestyle Grand Slam Chess Tour starts. They chuckle, they determination pieces, they susurration successful conspiratorial tones.

Magnus Carlsen, Nodirbek Abdusattarov and Levon Aronian sermon an opening presumption earlier a crippled connected Friday astatine the Freestyle Chess Grand Slam Tour lawsuit successful Weissenhaus. (Screenshot: YouTube/Chess24)

This is chess with a twist aft all.

After months of warfare distant from the chess board, enactment returned to the 64 squares arsenic the archetypal lawsuit of the Freestyle Chess Grand Slam Tour was held astatine a backstage luxury edifice successful Germany’s Weissenhaus.

What other volition beryllium antithetic astatine the Freestyle Tour events? We explain:

Heart-rate sensors and headphones

All players astatine Freestyle Tour volition person heart-rate sensors to show their cardiac enactment portion competing. The players’ bosom rates are not displayed the full clip of the lucifer connected screen, but shown connected broadcast to heighten the play playing out. There person been immoderate efforts made to proceedings specified sensors successful chess previously, similar successful 2022 erstwhile an lawsuit of the FIDE Grand Prix Series saw players’ bosom rates being tracked by AI. Sports similar archery person besides tried it successful the past.

Players volition besides beryllium fixed an enactment to athletics “noise cancelling equipment” during games due to the fact that the assemblage volition beryllium allowed adjacent to the players (as adjacent arsenic 2 meters). To forestall players getting disturbed, organisers person offered to supply players with voluntary sound cancelling equipment.

Colourful jackets, ‘neat shirts’

There is simply a formal codification for the freestyle lawsuit arsenic good (Although it does not notation whether players tin deterioration jeans, which was the sticky constituent betwixt Magnus Carlsen and FIDE astatine the FIDE World Rapid Championship).

Hikaru Nakamura, Fabiano Caruana, Javokhir Sindarov and Vincent Keymer sermon an opening presumption earlier a crippled connected Friday astatine the Freestyle Chess Grand Slam Tour lawsuit successful Weissenhaus. (Screenshot: YouTube/Chess24)

“Wearing a neat garment and ceremonial overgarment to beryllium provided by the organiser is mandatory. Shoes and agelong trousers indispensable look ‘smart casual’ to lucifer the authoritative precocious assemblage attire. Shorts, shot caps, oregon immoderate different headgear are not allowed,” the organisers of the Freestyle lawsuit person said successful their guidelines.

All players person been fixed a unique, agleam overgarment that they had to athletics successful each game. This edition, Carlsen volition beryllium seen sporting a pearly achromatic overgarment portion D Gukesh plays successful a pinkish jacket.

Confession booth

Just similar astatine Norway Chess, determination volition beryllium a “confession booth” astatine the Freestyle Grand Slam events. In their regulations, organisers person “urged” players to participate confessional-booths to springiness a short, connected camera, connection connected the crippled truthful far.

This means during the game, a subordinate tin locomotion into the booth and aerial their views astir their crippled straight into the camera without anyone asking them.

Format

The 10 players — including five-time satellite champion Carlsen and reigning champion Gukesh — volition beryllium competing successful two-day-long round-robin enactment successful the accelerated clip power to determine seedings. There volition beryllium 5 rounds contiguous and 4 tomorrow. At the extremity of these 9 rounds, each players volition person played the different contenders erstwhile and the standings volition find the seedings for the tournament.

The apical 8 players aft these 9 rounds of accelerated chess volition past play quarter-finals. The remaining 2 players volition beryllium eliminated and “urged to execute commentary tasks”. Otherwise, their prize wealth volition beryllium reduced by 50 per cent.

Usually, classical chess is played implicit a azygous crippled that lasts anyplace betwixt 4 to six hours. The objection is the FIDE World Cup, wherever players play connected 2 consecutive days with colours reversed. At the Freestyle Tour events, each lucifer volition beryllium best-of-two games, played with each subordinate having 90 minutes and getting a 30-second increment per move.

Prize money

The prize wealth for each Grand Slam lawsuit successful 2025 is acceptable astatine $7,50,000 (approximately Rs 6.5 crore). Of this, $2,00,000 (approx Rs 1.7 crore) volition spell to the winner. $1,40,000 (Rs 1.2 crore) for subordinate finishing second, $1,00,000 (Rs 87 lakh) for third, $60,000 (Rs 52 lakh) for fourth, $50,000 (Rs 43 lakh) for fifth, $40,000 (Rs 35 lakh) for sixth, $30,000 (Rs 26 lakh) for seventh, $20,000 (Rs 17 lakh) for eighth, $12,500k (Rs 11 lakh) for ninth, and $7,500 (Rs 6.5 lakh) for tenth place.