GM Hikaru Nakamura became the first player to win five Freestyle Fridays on July 4 after scoring an undefeated 10/11, following his first perfect run in last week’s edition. Nakamura has now gone 29 games without a loss in Freestyle Fridays, with his last loss coming at the hands of Vietnamese streamer GM Tuan Minh Le in May.
Here’s a fun stat for everyone:
In his last three Freestyle Fridays, @GMHikaru has 29 wins, 3 draws, and 1 loss.The results of those three Freestyle Fridays?
1st place, 1st place, 1st place. pic.twitter.com/xCWjObTj6T
— Freestyle Chess (@chess_freestyle) July 4, 2025
Rather than celebrating the most famous U.S. federal holiday with fireworks and fanfare, Nakamura opted to put on a show of his own, toppling no less than three super-GMs—Arjun Erigaisi, Vincent Keymer, and Aravindh Chithambaram—to win the event.
By round six, Nakamura had announced himself as the firm favorite following a 10-move win over the three-time winner Arjun, giving him a half-point buffer over the competition.
Subsequent victories against GMs Pranav Venkatesh, Nils Grandelius, and Keymer pushed Nakamura to 8.5./9, setting the stage for a salivating showdown with GM Hans Niemann. Early in their clash, Niemann built a comfortable endgame edge after procuring the bishop pair but fell victim to Nakamura’s knights during a time scramble.
Resilient defense by Niemann in a bishop vs. four-pawn ending earned him a draw and limited Nakamura’s lead to a single point heading into the final round.
Since Nakamura drew with the only player who could catch him back in round six (GM Zhamsaran Tsydypov), he was paired with Aravindh instead. Although a draw would have secured the title, the tournament’s top seed pressed for a win and achieved this in 22 moves.
All 11 of Nakamura’s games can be viewed below.
One of the standout performers on Friday was the player who took out the $100 best women’s prize, 14-year-old WFM Diana Preobrazhenskaya. Despite her FIDE rating (2029) being lower than most of her opposition, she scored 6.5/11, beating three GMs—Roven Vogel, Andrei Devitakin, and Alexander Rustemov—along the way.
As well as Nakamura and Preobrazhenskaya, Tsydypov, Arjun, and Aravindh won prizes for their respective podium placements. Aravindh was particularly fortunate to eclipse seven other players who scored 8/11 on tiebreak to earn the $100 prize for fourth.
July 4 Freestyle Friday | Final Standings (Top 20)
| Rank | Seed | Fed | Title | Username | Name | Rating | Score | Tiebreak 1 |
| 1 | 1 | GM | Hikaru | Hikaru Nakamura | 2882 | 10 | 78 | |
| 2 | 8 | GM | Zhuu96 | Zhamsaran Tsydypov | 2758 | 9 | 71.5 | |
| 3 | 7 | GM | GHANDEEVAM2003 | Arjun Erigaisi | 2745 | 8.5 | 65.5 | |
| 4 | 23 | GM | Vaathi_Coming | Aravindh Chithambaram | 2638 | 8 | 71.5 | |
| 5 | 13 | GM | Msb2 | Matthias Bluebaum | 2696 | 8 | 69 | |
| 6 | 18 | GM | ckgchess | Cem Kaan Gokerkan | 2649 | 8 | 68 | |
| 7 | 5 | GM | vi_pranav | Pranav V | 2741 | 8 | 68 | |
| 8 | 16 | GM | Grandelicious | Nils Grandelius | 2677 | 8 | 67.5 | |
| 9 | 4 | GM | Sina-Movahed | Sina Movahed | 2758 | 8 | 62 | |
| 10 | 15 | GM | wonderfultime | Tuan Minh Le | 2658 | 8 | 59 | |
| 11 | 53 | FM | theblitzchamp | Daniel Chan | 2511 | 8 | 58.5 | |
| 12 | 3 | GM | HansOnTwitch | Hans Niemann | 2750 | 7.5 | 68.5 | |
| 13 | 17 | GM | rasmussvane | Rasmus Svane | 2652 | 7.5 | 65.5 | |
| 14 | 45 | IM | blitzking1729 | Srihari L R | 2503 | 7.5 | 64.5 | |
| 15 | 6 | GM | mishanick | Aleksei Sarana | 2708 | 7.5 | 58.5 | |
| 16 | 20 | GM | OparinGrigoriy | Grigoriy Oparin | 2623 | 7.5 | 57 | |
| 17 | 35 | GM | Sevenstar82 | Saptarshi RoyChowdhury | 2507 | 7 | 70.5 | |
| 18 | 36 | GM | Igor_Janik | Igor Janik | 2486 | 7 | 65 | |
| 19 | 42 | NM | Little_Skib | Ethan Sheehan | 2480 | 7 | 62.5 | |
| 20 | 85 | GM | Iskusnyh | Sergei Iskusnyh | 2295 | 7 | 59.5 | |
| 31 | 117 | WFM | Preobrazhenska_D2011 | Diana Preobrazhenskaya | 2205 | 6.5 | 58.5 | |
Prizes: Nakamura $400, Tsydypov $250, Arjun $150, Chithambaram $100, Preobrazhenskaya $100.
Freestyle Friday is Chess.com’s weekly tournament dedicated to Freestyle Chess for titled players. The tournament begins at 11 a.m. ET / 17:00 CEST / 20:30 IST.
