Bulgarian chess prodigy Ivan Kukushkin has made a bold statement after securing his second victory in as many games against an International Master at the 2025 Grenke Chess Freestyle Open. This comes after the world’s No. 1 player, Magnus Carlsen, was crowned champion of the event with a round to spare.
Only four days after such an illustrious event as the Paris leg of the Freestyle Chess Grand Slam Tour, the 2025 Grenke Chess Freestyle Open started. It is now entering its final day, and some of the most prominent names of the chess world have graced this tournament, including Carlsen, who has already ensured victory, and other top names such as Weissenhaus champion Vincent Keymer and runner-up Fabiano Caruana.
"There is also World No. 4 Arjun Erigaisi, who was fifth in Paris earlier in the month, and a controversial American Grandmaster Hans Niemann, who withdrew from the Paris Grand Slam without an explanation but made his way to the Freestyle chess event," said the report.
While the big names in chess have come to the tournament, 10-year-old Kukushkin is stirring the waters. The prodigy has a FIDE rating of 2030 and beat two International Masters thus far: Georg Seul from Germany and Shiyam Thavandiran from Canada, in that order.
Not only have Kukushkin made his name through a win, but also has displayed remarkable chess insight, even claiming an illegal rook move during the clash with Thavandiran. He photogenically expressed pure joy at beating his higher-ranked opponent, further adding to his deck of growing attributes in the chess fraternity.
"I Can Beat Magnus"
After winning over Thavandiran in the round five, Kukushkin was interviewed by ChessBase India, wherein he confidently asserted that he thought he might beat Carlsen, the world's number one player. "Yeah, I know," Kukushkin said when host Sagar Shah pointed out that Carlsen was also competing in the Grenke Open.
“I can beat Magnus. Everybody can beat Magnus. Magnus is the best in the world but he is not a computer. He can make mistakes,” Kukushkin said, citing a "bad move" made by Carlsen in his third-round match against Swedish Grandmaster Nils Grandelius.
Carlsen's Perfect Run at the Grenke Chess Open
Although Kukushkin's confidence is commendable, Carlsen is by no means unbeatable. In fact, he has tasted defeat, such as a semi-final loss to Keymer in the Weissenhaus Grand Slam and a round-robin loss to Erigaisi in Paris, notwithstanding the impressive records he has set.
Where Magnus is concerned, he has not given anyone a chance to beat him at the Grenke Chess Open. With eight victories out of eight, he is out to go for the scudetto, all 9.0 points, on the board on Monday.
The young Kukushkin's bold declaration adds an exciting layer of tension to the tournament, showing that even the top players in the world can be challenged.