NEW DELHI: The official line-up for the Las Vegas leg of the Freestyle Chess Grand Slam Tour was released last Tuesday, and one name was conspicuously absent. Reigning World Champion D Gukesh, who was widely expected to take on Magnus Carlsen once again, was not listed among the 16 players set to battle it out in Sin City from July 16 to 20.Now, Freestyle Chess co-founder and CEO Jan Henric Buettner has revealed the reason behind the late change.“He said he’s exhausted and needs rest,” Buettner told TimesofIndia.com during an exclusive interaction.“His performances have not been that good at any Grand Slam. We were always expecting that he would decline to participate in the next event,” Buettner added.“Anyway, he had an invitation (for the Las Vegas leg). So after his not-so-good performance in Paris, he was still up for the task. He said, ‘We’re gonna come. I will come to Las Vegas,'” he added.“But then, there was Norway Chess. This exhausted him so much. Even I would be exhausted. He was so exhausted that I got a message. He said he’s exhausted and would like to rest. He can’t come to Las Vegas. Unfortunately, he needs rest. So, you know, that’s understandable.”Buettner confirmed that Vidit has now been formally included in the line-up in place of Gukesh. “So we invited Vidit again as a replacement. So Vidit will wear the red jacket of Gukesh this time in Vegas,” he said.
D Gukesh, Vidit Gujrathi, Arjun Erigaisi, and R Praggnanandhaa from right to left (Photo Credit: ChessBase India)
In Freestyle Chess, it has become a tradition for players to wear distinctively coloured jackets — like in Paris, where R Praggnandhaa wore green, Arjun Eigiasi blue, Vidit maroon, and Gukesh red.The withdrawal comes at a time when Gukesh has been trying to strike consistency on the Freestyle Chess circuit. After an eighth-place finish at Weissenhaus and 11th in Paris, the 19-year-old stood 11th overall with just four FCC points. Post-Grenke Open, he dropped further to 16th.However, Gukesh showed his class at the recent Norway Chess tournament, where he finished third — just behind Carlsen and Fabiano Caruana — and notched up wins over the top three FIDE-rated players: Carlsen, Hikaru Nakamura, and Arjun Erigaisi.
Meanwhile, the Las Vegas event, the fourth stop of the 2025 Grand Slam Tour, will be Freestyle Chess’s first ever on American soil. Hosted at the Wynn Las Vegas from July 16 to 20, the tournament will welcome a live audience and feature a prize pool of $750,000, with $200,000 reserved for the winner.In another development first reported by TimesofIndia.com on Thursday, the Indian leg of the Freestyle Chess Grand Slam, scheduled for September 17–24 in New Delhi, has been cancelled due to lack of sponsors. Meanwhile, Jan Henric Buettner will step down as CEO on July 1, with COO Thomas Harsch set to take over daily operations. Buettner will continue as Executive Chairman in a strategic role.
