The Freestyle Friday of April 10, 2026 was a curious affair where GM Jan-Krzysztof Duda led the field with a 100% score and two full points after the ninth round, only to lose to GMs Pranav Venkatesh and Parham Maghsoodloo in the last two rounds. This resulted in all three of them tying for first place with nine points apiece at the end of the 11th and final round, and Maghsoodloo won the first prize on tiebreak score, ahead of Pranav and Duda. They pocketed prizes of $400, $250, and $150, respectively.
This also enables them to move up in the overall standings of the Freestyle Friday Championship. GM Sanan Sjugirov won the fourth prize of $100 with eight points.
GM Alexandra Kosteniuk won the top women prize of $100 with 6.5 points, and moves closer to the leader GM Anna Muzychuk in the leaderboard for women.
Curiously, the tournament saw the participation of top GM Fabiano Caruana, on his rest day at the FIDE Candidates Tournament 2026. Caruana withdrew after losing the fifth round to Duda and conceding a walkover to Maghsoodloo in the sixth round. A total of 105 players participated in the event.
The final round was a heartbreak for Duda who still enjoyed a point’s lead over the rest of the field. He played efficiently from the opening stage and looked to enjoy a huge advantage, only to see it evaporate after overlooking his opponent’s threat at a crucial moment.
Earlier, Duda had won his game against Caruana in the fifth round after a curious blunder from the latter.
Though Maghsoodloo suffered losses against GMs Dmitry Andreikin and Benjamin Bok, while Pranav was routed by Sjugirov and GM Nikita Matinian earlier in the tournament, both fought on doggedly to finish the tournament on a high. While Maghsoodloo won all of his final four games, Pranav likewise did his with his final five. Especially impressive was his game against GM Pavel Eljanov in the ninth round.
Maghsoodloo did not get too many positions to show his creative brilliance, but strived his maximum for usual sacrificial play.
April 10 Freestyle Friday | Final Standings (Top 10)
(Full final standings.)
Freestyle Friday is Chess.com’s weekly tournament dedicated to Freestyle Chess for titled players. The tournament begins at 11:00 a.m. Eastern Time/17:00 Central European/20:30 Indian Standard Time.
