Aronian Wins Freestyle Chess in Las Vegas

source: chess.com

Levon Aronian just won the Freestyle Chess in Las Vegas against Hans Niemann in the finals. Magnus Carlsen who wasn't at his best in the tournament, settled for third place.

The Freestyle Chess Grand Slam is a high-stakes Chess960 event (back-rank pieces randomized), with a total prize pool of $750,000 in Las Vegas from July 16–20, 2025. Top players competed, including Magnus Carlsen, Hikaru Nakamura and Hans Niemann.

Aronian showed top form in the tournament, beating favorites Hikaru Nakamura and Arjun Erigaisi on his way to the finals. Niemann was also impressive in the tournament, winning over former world title contender Fabiano Caruana to play in the finals.

The crucial win that gave Aronian the title.

After 18 moves, Niemann is down on the clock big time, having only 1:29 left on the clock and made crucial mistakes. There follows 19. d5 (an important move to clear the d-file) 19....Nf4 20. Ne7!+ This move wins the exchange. 20....Rxe7 21. Rxe7 Qxc3 22. bxc3 Bxf2+ 23. Kxf2 Nxd5 24. Be4 f5? another mistake

Easy for Aronian to find the winning move 25. Rxf7! The endgame favors White and Aronian had no problems getting the victory.

Full game: https://lichess.org/broadcast/freestyle-chess-grand-slam-las-vegas--grand-final--match-for-3rd-4th/game-2/WlStldnd/mF9sp4g3

The next Freestyle Chess event will be on Dec 5-12, 2025 in Cape Town, South Africa.

source: https://www.freestyle-chess.com/2025-cape-town/