The grenke Chess Festival has started. To kick things off, the more than 3,500 participants were welcomed with a film showing highlights from last year – accompanied by the European anthem, Beethoven’s “Ode to Joy.”
Welcome and vision of the festival
Tournament director Sven Noppes welcomed the participants and was impressed by the packed hall:
“This is the greatest chess stage in the world.”
At the same time, he outlined the concept behind the festival:
“Mass and class come together in one place.” “We want to bring chess to the world.”
Wolfgang Grenke, the namesake of the main sponsor, as well as a representative of grenke AG, also addressed the participants. The roots of today’s tournament go back to a meeting between Grenke and Christian Bossert in 1997, which laid the foundation for top-level chess in Baden-Baden and Karlsruhe.
For the second main sponsor Freestyle, GM Sebastian Siebrecht welcomed the players.
Media, streams and reach
A strong focus this year has been on media coverage. Teams from Chess.com, ChessBase India and Freestyle Chess are on site, along with various TV and radio stations.
The SWR even reported live from the playing hall at times.
For the first time, a larger group of streamers is also involved, having received a guided tour of the venue before the tournament began.
Freestyle kickoff and commentary
Fiona Steil-Antoni hosted the opening ceremony and announced the starting position for the Freestyle competition, drawn by Christian Bossert: number 906.
For many top players, the format offers a refreshing change. Hans Niemann said in an interview with ChessBase India:
“I’ve never been so relaxed in my life.”
The tournament is being commented on by Peter Leko and Alexander Donchenko, while Klaus Bischoff provides on-site analysis.
Results of the first round
In the first round of the Freestyle competition, major upsets were largely absent. However, Levon Aronian was held to a draw by Aleksander Kumala.
Magnus Carlsen secured a comfortable win against Narmin Khalafova from Azerbaijan.
An interesting matchup took place between Vincent Keymer and Sonja Maria Bluhm, who have known each other since their youth. Keymer won convincingly. Commentator Peter Leko particularly praised the move 20. Ba7, describing it as “Karpov-style.”
Outlook
“A wonderful day, just as expected,” summarized Peter Leko at the end of the day.
The tournament has thus started successfully – with further rounds to follow in the coming days. ♟️
The grenke Chess Festival kicks off today at 18:30 with the big opening show.
We’re excited to present former World Championship challenger and coach of Vincent Keymer, Peter Leko, alongside German national team regular Alexander Donchenko as our commentary duo.
The grenke Chess Festival starts on Thursday, April 2. To ensure a smooth start to the tournament, please note the following important organizational details.
Confirmation of Participation & Check-in
All players must confirm their participation on April 2nd in order to be paired for the first round. Players who fail to do so in time will not be included in the Round 1 pairings.
The new documentary “The Next Move” by Freestyle Chess now also features scenes from the grenke Chess Festival 2025 in Karlsruhe for the first time—bringing together two major chess events in a single narrative.
The film first takes viewers to Paris, where many of the world’s top players competed in the freestyle format. A new chapter has now been added: from minute 34 onwards, the focus shifts to Karlsruhe and the grenke Chess Festival 2025, showing how the form, tension, and momentum from Paris carried over just days later.
Among those featured are Magnus Carlsen, Fabiano Caruana, and Vincent Keymer, who played key roles in both events.
The documentary thus offers not only a look back, but also an atmospheric preview of what’s to come at the grenke Chess Festival 2026. ♟️
The preparations for the grenke Chess Festival are in full swing.
Exactly four weeks before the start of the tournament, 2,900 registrations have already been received. Taking into account the registrations and withdrawals that can still be expected, a new participation record of more than 3,000 players appears very likely.
Organization behind the scenes
While the list of participants continues to grow, various teams are working intensively behind the scenes. Registration confirmations have to be prepared, catering and numerous additional services need to be organized. In addition, thousands of emails and phone inquiries must be answered in advance – already an impressive achievement by the entire organizing and arbiters’ team.
The setup of more than 50,000 chess pieces in the Schwarzwaldhalle and the Gartenhalle also requires careful planning. An impression of the enormous scale of the event is conveyed by the spectacular drone video from last year, which flies through the huge playing hall with its seemingly endless rows of chessboards.
Excitement about prominent participants
Participants and spectators can look forward to five days full of excitement and emotion, side by side with world stars such as Magnus Carlsen and Vincent Keymer. The opportunity to qualify for the FIDE Freestyle Chess World Championship as well as an attractive prize fund have attracted 14 super-grandmasters with ratings above 2700 to Karlsruhe.
With Alexandra Kosteniuk and Mariya Muzychuk, two former Women’s World Champions will also take part. In addition, well-known German players such as Niclas Huschenbeth and Elisabeth Pähtz will be competing. The announcement that Artur Yusupov will participate in the Freestyle Open has generated particularly strong reactions on the Instagram channel grenkechess.
Streamers and international media interest
A special innovation of this year’s festival is the deliberate inclusion of streamers. For this purpose, a dedicated streaming area with 15 to 20 DGT boards will be set up, where influencers can broadcast their games live using a compact streaming setup.
The accredited streamers come from many different countries, including Germany (WIM Sonja Maria Bluhm, Niklas Steenfatt), the United States (IM Kostya Kavutsky), Türkey (GM Cem Kaan Gökerkan), Australia (Hannah Sayce), Morocco (Sarah El Barbry) and India (IM Suyog Wagh). In this way, the games – and especially the unique atmosphere of the grenke Chess Festival – will reach audiences around the world. Overall, a particularly strong international media presence is expected this year.
A frequently asked question concerns spectator access. Admission for spectators is free, and no tickets are required. The only request for visitors is to maintain silence in the playing hall and not to take photos inside the playing hall during the games.
Side events and program
Once again this year there will be live commentary on selected games from the Freestyle A Open and the classical A Open. For this purpose, a dedicated commentary room will be set up again.
The large Chess Tigers sales booth will once again offer visitors the opportunity to purchase chessboards and books – or simply browse through a chess book.
Another highlight of the supporting program will be the exhibition “Capture” by star photographer Stev Bonhage, who will present some of his most impressive chess photographs.
The organizers are looking forward to a great chess festival and invite all players who have not yet registered to do so. Registration is still possible via the following link:
