GM Magnus Carlsen tops the first-ever Freestyle Chess score checklist, hitting the 2900 barrier after dominating the chess variant in his newest occasions.
Already the world number-one in FIDE’s official classical, speedy, and blitz scores, the 34-year-old Norwegian now additionally leads the newly-introduced checklist for Freestyle Chess, also called Fischer Random or Chess960, formally introduced by Freestyle Chess on Thursday.
The checklist locations Carlsen first with a staggering 2909 score. “A brand new commonplace has been set,” the Norwegian informed Freestyle Chess after the checklist’s publication, additionally joking: “My spouse is far more drawn to me now that I’ve achieved 2900.”
My spouse is far more drawn to me now that I’ve achieved 2900.
—Magnus Carlsen
Carlsen sits 91 factors forward of the second participant on the checklist, GM Hikaru Nakamura at 2818. GM Fabiano Caruana is third with 2804, 105 factors behind Carlsen. Meaning the order of the three highest-ranked Freestyle Chess gamers follows the present order of the classical FIDE rating.
The highest 10 Freestyle checklist additionally reveals notable contrasts with conventional scores: GM Vincent Keymer shines with 2766 in sixth place, whereas present world champion GM Gukesh Dommaraju is twenty sixth at 2701, 21 locations under his classical rank. You may see the highest 30 under, whereas the complete checklist is accessible in PDF.
| # | Title | Title | Freestyle Score (06/2025) |
| 1 | Magnus Carlsen | GM | 2909 |
| 2 | Hikaru Nakamura | GM | 2818 |
| 3 | Fabiano Caruana | GM | 2804 |
| 4 | Praggnanandhaa Rameshbabu | GM | 2773 |
| 5 | Ian Nepomniachtchi | GM | 2771 |
| 6 | Vincent Keymer | GM | 2766 |
| 7 | Alireza Firouzja | GM | 2764 |
| 8 | Arjun Erigaisi | GM | 2758 |
| 9 | Leinier Dominguez Perez | GM | 2749 |
| 10 | Wesley So | GM | 2737 |
| 11 | Levon Aronian | GM | 2737 |
| 12 | Shakhriyar Mamedyarov | GM | 2726 |
| 13 | Richard Rapport | GM | 2724 |
| 14 | Ding Liren | GM | 2723 |
| 15 | Hans Niemann | GM | 2722 |
| 16 | Yu Yangyi | GM | 2718 |
| 17 | Vladimir Fedoseev | GM | 2716 |
| 18 | Vidit Gujarathi | GM | 2713 |
| 19 | Parham Maghsoodloo | GM | 2712 |
| 20 | Quang Liem Le | GM | 2711 |
| 21 | Andrey Esipenko | GM | 2710 |
| 22 | Aravindh Chithambaram | GM | 2707 |
| 23 | Nodirbek Abdusattorov | GM | 2702 |
| 24 | Javokhir Sindarov | GM | 2702 |
| 25 | Alexey Sarana | GM | 2702 |
| 26 | Gukesh Dommaraju | GM | 2701 |
| 27 | Maxime Vachier-Lagrave | GM | 2700 |
| 28 | Ray Robson | GM | 2687 |
| 29 | Frederik Svane | GM | 2681 |
| 30 | Awonder Liang | GM | 2680 |
This score checklist contains 578 gamers and attracts from over a yr of classical-length video games throughout 5 main Freestyle occasions. Freestyle Chess famous that Carlsen has gained 79 score factors in 14 months after beginning with a 2830 mark along with his win within the Freestyle Chess G.O.A.T Problem 2024.
Earlier this yr, the Norwegian 34-year-old additionally received the Freestyle Chess Grand Slam Paris, convincingly defeating Nakamura within the closing, earlier than he dominated the 2025 Grenke Freestyle Chess Open to attain a historic 9/9.
Carlsen’s end in Karlsruhe was top-of-the-line of his profession, akin to Fischer’s 11/11 within the 1963/64 U.S. Championship. It was a unprecedented achievement by the Norwegian, who beat each single opponent. Six of them have been grandmasters ranked among the many 50 finest gamers on this planet.
Mehmet Ismail, a Lecturer and Assistant Professor in Economics at Kings School in London, specializing in recreation idea, calculated a efficiency score of 3191 for the efficiency, exceeding Caruana’s 3096 efficiency from the 2014 Sinquefield Cup.
The previous world champion has beforehand reached the 2900 mark in sooner time controls. His blitz peak is an astonishing 2986 from December 2017, whereas he hit 2919 in July the identical yr. In classical, he reached the best score ever recorded with 2882, a mark he hit in 2014 and 2019.
Carlsen determined to shift objectives after saying that he would quit his world championship title in 2022. As an alternative, he set his eyes on reaching 2900 in classical, an unattainable goal that proved to be too bold.
“The objective of breaking 2900 has largely been about motivating myself to be in prime form once I play classical chess. I’ve put that objective on maintain a bit, so as an alternative I will carry it again up if I get nearer,” he mentioned on the time.
Whereas this marks the primary scores within the variant, the concept has been floated for years. In 2018, Gunnar Bjornsson of the Icelandic Chess Federation proposed that FIDE would create such scores, however whereas the proposal initially was met with enthusiasm, it by no means gained traction. One of many discussions revolved round whether or not there could be a necessity for 3 separate lists for every time management.
Bjornsson, chatting with Chess.com, welcomed the brand new scores, however mentioned FIDE ought to take cost. “My concept was merely to have one score all the time controls. One way or the other, this calculation by no means began. And my feeling is that Fischer Random might need grown sooner than it did it it had been carried out.”
My concept was merely to have one score all the time management. One way or the other this calculation by no means began.
—Gunnar Bjornsson, President of the Icelandic Chess Federation
“For my part, FIDE ought to comply with my suggestion from 2020 and begin calculating scores for Fischer Random,” he added.
Whereas the score checklist relies on a restricted variety of occasions, 2025 has seen an elevated curiosity within the variant. The 2025 Freestyle Chess Grand Slam Tour, initially performed with a classical time management, will see additional occasions performed as speedy, which implies that the upcoming Freestyle Chess Grand Slam Las Vegas from July 16-20 is not going to have an effect on scores.
