Freestyle Chess takes centre-stage in quick time, gives FIDE plenty of reasons to ponder over future

With some of the world's best players in action, Freestyle Chess has been dominating the conversation so far in 2025, having successfully conducted events in Weissenhaus and in Paris in a span of four months with the Grenke Chess Freestyle Open currently underway. read more
Some of the world's top names including Magnus Carlsen, Hikaru Nakamura, D Gukesh and Fabiano Caruana among others have been in action in the inaugural Freestyle Chess Grand Slam Tour. Image credit: Freestyle Chess
'Yeah, I do think it's definitely the future of the sport. Not the immediate near future but for the next-to-next generation, or maybe a century later, at some point in the future. But probably it won't happen in the next 10 years.'
In an exclusive interaction with Firstpost a little over a month before he made an impressive debut in the Freestyle Chess Grand Slam Tour in Paris, Arjun Erigaisi stated that he did not expect the Fischer Random format to surpass Classical chess anytime in the near future. The Indian Grandmaster's comment was in contrast with what world No 1 Magnus Carlsen and Freestyle Chess co-founder Jan Henric Buettner have been claiming in recent months.
Advertisement
Carlsen has gone to the extent of publicly expressing his dislike for the Classical format – which led to the Norwegian chess star voluntarily vacating his World Championship in 2022 instead of defending in order to become a six-time world champion.
And Carlsen's support for Freestyle Chess at the cost of the Classical format also came at a time when the world No 1 found himself feuding with FIDE, the Lausanne-based world governing body that has been in existence for more than a century.
The feud that escalated with the infamous ' jeansgate scandal' in December reached an all-time high when FIDE firmly denied Freestyle Chess permission to conduct 'World Championships', stating that only the governing body for the sport had the authority to organise tournaments that could produce world champions.
While Buettner and Carlsen reluctantly admitted defeat on the 'World Championship' front, they certainly can't complain with regards to how the inaugural Freestyle Chess Grand Slam Tour has turned out so far.
How Freestyle is dominating the chess conversation in 2025
We're nearly done with the fourth month of the year and Freestyle Chess has already successfully conducted two events – the inaugural event taking place in Germany's Weissenhaus in February, two months before the Paris event.
The third event is set to take place a couple of months away, with the caravan moving to the United States, where it will set camp in Las Vegas in July. That, however, has not stopped Freestyle Chess from continuing to hog headlines at present.
Four days after the conclusion of the Paris Grand Slam, where Carlsen emerged as the winner after defeating world No 2 Hikaru Nakamura in an 'El Chessico' final, another Freestyle Chess event got underway. Germany is currently hosting its second Freestyle event of the year, with the Grenke Chess Freestyle Open taking place in Karlsruhe.
Advertisement
Magnus Carlsen and Hikaru Nakamura had faced off in an 'El Chessico' final in the Paris leg of the Freestyle Chess Grand Slam Tour. Image credit: Freestyle Chess
And the hectic schedule has not prevented some of the top names in the world, including Carlsen, Erigaisi and Fabiano Caruana, from competing at the event. Even controversial American GM Hans Niemann, who was at the centre of the infamous cheating scandal in 2022 that led to a $100 million federal lawsuit, has made his Freestyle debut at this event after staging a mysterious pull-out from the Paris Grand Slam right before the event got underway.
FIDE, on the contrary, has hardly been in the conversation between staging the World Championship matches in December and in April, won by D Gukesh and Ju Wenjun, respectively. And the only non-Freestyle events that have come close to getting the kind of attention that the lucrative Grand Slam Tour has so far are the Tata Steel Chess (January and February) and Prague Chess (March), neither of which is a FIDE event.
FIDE will inevitably return to the conversation when it conducts the World Cups in the 'Women' and 'Open' categories later this year, the latter taking place in India in the month of November.
Advertisement
There's also the Grand Swiss that's scheduled to take place in September, while the Rapid and Blitz Championships will be conducted in December, exactly a year after Carlsen decided to show up in a pair of jeans, violating the dress code and controversially sharing the blitz title with Ian Nepomniachtchi.
Having a finger on the pulse on the current generation
However, the manner in which Freestyle Chess has been dominating the conversation as far as the sport of chess goes in the first half of the year, as well as the fact that the Tour spans the entire year, certainly will not make the bosses in the governing body happy.
Add to that the fact that the Grand Slam Tour will be reducing time controls from the Las Vegas event onwards, with the knockouts set to feature 45-minute games with 10-second increments, compared to 90 minutes and 30-second increments that were in place in the first two events.
The decision, which came about following a suggestion from Carlsen's father Henrik as revealed by Buettner, certainly highlights the fact that Freestyle Chess has a finger on the pulse of the current generation and their short attention spans, and knows how to capitalise on it.
Compare that with FIDE, which had hosted a couple of world championships in the 'Fischer Random' format, in 2019 and 2022 respectively, but failed to make the most of the format's potential, cancelling the 2024 edition of the event.
Advertisement
FIDE might have brushed off the threat from Freestyle Chess, assuming it to be another version of the Professional Chess Association, which was a short-lived rival organisation created by the legendary Garry Kasparov in the 1990s.
The challenge from Freestyle Chess, however, might not be like anything that FIDE has faced in its 100 years of existence.

Try Our AI Features

Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:

Learn with AIFact CheckingText to SpeechAI Summary

Related Articles

The Hindu

a day ago

• The Hindu

Italian MotoGP: Marquez claims 100th career pole with lap record in qualifying

Marc Marquez took the 100th pole of his career on his Ducati debut at the Mugello Circuit at their home Italian Grand Prix on Saturday in a qualifying session where the lap record was broken several times. It was Marquez's sixth pole of the season and the 72nd MotoGP pole of his career to go with his 14 poles in Moto2 and 14 more in the 125cc World Championship. 'I'm super happy because it was a real pole position, it was without (using) the slipstreams, alone and just trying to find my limits,' Marquez said. 'The pace was not bad but (I have to) be patient because in the afternoon with a warm temperature, it can change everything. But at the moment we are there and ready to fight for the sprint and main race.' Marquez initially took provisional pole when he slotted in behind his brother Alex and used the Gresini bike's slipstream to his advantage. As Alex crossed the line with the fastest time, Marc snatched top spot from him less than a second later with a lap record. Yamaha's Fabio Quartararo then broke the record but before he could celebrate, Marc's Italian team mate Francesco Bagnaia went even faster on his home track where he has won the last three Grands Prix. However, Marc had one more flying lap left in him and when the Spaniard crossed the line, he set a time of one minute and 44.169 seconds to pip Bagnaia to pole by 0.059 seconds. Alex will join them on the front row. 'I tried everything in qualifying, Marc was in super shape and it's tough to beat him. I wanted to start on the front row and this was the best result in qualifying (for me) this season,' Bagnaia said. Quartararo was only fourth fastest despite breaking the lap record and he will be joined on the second row by KTM's Maverick Vinales and VR46 Racing's Franco Morbidelli.

Indian Express

a day ago

• Indian Express

Hans Niemann vs Magnus Carlsen in Las Vegas Freestyle event after American GM qualifies via play-in tournament

Hans Niemann has secured a spot at the Las Vegas Freestyle Grand Slam tournament next month which will see him take on a host of elite players, including nemesis Magnus Carlsen, who is also co-founder of the Freestyle Tour. Niemann defeated Germany's Rasmus Svane, former world champion Ding Liren, China's Yu Yangyi and Denis Lazavik to secure his direct entry into the Las Vegas event. The wins over Yu and Lazavik came for Niemann on a day he turned 22. 'SEE YOU ALL IN LAS VEGAS!!!!' the usually-vocal Niemann posted on his X account. It must be noted that Niemann had also qualified to play at the Paris leg of the Freestyle Chess Grand Slam Tour, but had pulled out at the last minute for 'personal reasons', forcing the organisers to name Nodirbek Abdusattorov as a last-minute replacement. After a long period of silence, Niemann had tried to explain his no-show with a long post on his X handle: 'I withdrew from the tournament strictly for personal reasons that I prefer not to disclose publicly right now. What's been particularly disappointing is witnessing how quickly some people jumped on this moment to perpetuate three years of baseless accusations against me. I genuinely wonder when they'll finally accept reality.' The American GM added: 'I didn't immediately issue a public statement because, frankly, I was deeply frustrated by the organizers' and TV2's absurd speculation suggesting my decision was linked to what they dramatically called 'new, advanced anti-cheating measures.' The article falsely claimed that the last message I received referenced 'enhanced measures'. To be absolutely clear—this is completely false. Unsurprisingly, the usual suspects within the chess mafia eagerly amplified this ridiculous narrative. At the time, I believed publicly responding would only legitimize accusations that have no basis in reality.' The comment about 'years of baseless accusations' is a reference to the infamous cheating scandal in 2022 when Carlsen had withdrawn from the Sinquefield Cup after losing a game to Niemann. This had led to allegations of cheating and a $100 million lawsuit from the American. No implicating evidence was ever found to suggest that Niemann had cheated and the duo had come to a settlement. Now, next month, the Niemann vs Carlsen battle will be the highlight of the Las Vegas leg. The Las Vegas leg of the Freestyle Chess Grand Slam Tour will also be the first time that fans are allowed to watch the event live. Games will be hosted in Wynn's 50,000-square-foot Lafite Ballroom.

First Post

a day ago

• First Post

Challenger to champion: How R Praggnanandhaa learnt to play for victory, not just experience

R Praggnanandhaa emerged as India's leading chess prodigy in 2023 but had a subdued 2024 as world champion D Gukesh took the spotlight. In 2025, however, he's back in form. In an exclusive chat, Praggnanandhaa explains the changes he made to achieve consistent success. read more Before D Gukesh became the youngest chess world champion in 2024, R Praggnanandhaa emerged as India's breakout star in 2023. The then-18-year-old held Magnus Carlsen to two draws in the classical games of the FIDE Chess World Cup . Although he eventually lost to the five-time world champion in the tie-breaks, Praggnanandhaa had already made a significant impact on the global chess stage. Then came 2024. Praggnanandhaa finally secured his first win over Carlsen, the highest-rated chess player of all time, at Norway Chess and also helped India win a historic gold at the 45th Chess Olympiad. But at an individual level, the big trophies were missing. He finished fifth at the Candidates as Gukesh won the tournament at 17 and then went on to beat Ding Liren in December to become the world champion at 18. At the World Rapid Championship, Praggnanandhaa was in joint lead till the penultimate round before a blunder against teenager and eventual winner Volodar Murzin brought everything crashing down for the Indian. STORY CONTINUES BELOW THIS AD Pure ecstasy and brutal agony, all within the span of a few months. Praggnanandhaa stood at a crossroads. Talent wasn't the issue; the challenge was using it to cross the finish line. Something was off. Something had to change. But what, exactly? That's when Praggnanandhaa turned to his most trusted ally in the chess world: his coach, R Ramesh. 'I think Ramesh knows me the best regarding chess. I've been working with Ramesh for the last 11 years,' Praggnanandhaa told Firstpost. 'We had a camp towards the end of the year. We were discussing all these issues in my game. And then we tried to go into details and try to find what is causing those issues and tried to find a solution to it. 'And I think all this work is paying off. In this regard, I think credit should be given to him.' Mental adjustments make Praggnanandhaa a winner But what was the solution? It was something seemingly minor, yet profound enough to be a life lesson. Praggnanandhaa was already beating top players, including Carlsen, but deep down, even he wasn't entirely sure of what he was capable of. In that camp at the end of 2024, Praggnanandhaa realised the fault was not in his game, but in his thinking. You can't beat the best players in the world if you don't think of yourself as the best. Since then, he has been a different player, winning the prestigious Tata Steel Masters at the start of the 2025 by beating Gukesh in a tie-breaker , clinching the Grand Chess Tour Superbet Chess Classic Romania last month and currently leading the FIDE Circuit 2025 standings, which can earn him a spot in the 2026 Candidates. STORY CONTINUES BELOW THIS AD 'I think it's mostly about mental changes, like being more confident in my abilities and trying to be more ambitious in games and not backing down against anyone,' Praggnanandhaa said while explaining what has changed in his game from 2024. 'You know, just fight, fight it out till the end. And as I said, I think once you believe in your abilities, you will fight in every game. Sometimes last year, especially in some tournaments, I was not feeling confident. So I think that was lacking. And once you regain that, you can be more ambitious. And I think now I'm more ambitious and fighting in every game.' A big support in his journey has also been his sponsors, who have made travel and training easy for the teenage chess star. 'Chess is expensive, especially when you travel to Europe for a tournament. You need to have trainers to help you during the tournaments. Apart from the tournament as well,' he said. STORY CONTINUES BELOW THIS AD 'It's difficult when you prepare for tournaments like the Candidates. This is where the Adani Group, coming in and supporting players, is essential. This happened just before the Candidates, so I could prepare my best. I am also able to train with the best facilities. That's showing in my result. I don't need to worry about anything, just focus on the game and keep improving.' With the key to winning decoded and sponsors onboard, Praggnanandhaa appears to be on the right path — grounded, yet ambitious. The teenager is well aware that Magnus Carlsen and elite players like Hikaru Nakamura and Fabiano Caruana aren't going anywhere. And the competition is rising back home too, with the likes of D Gukesh and Arjun Erigaisi. Praggnanandhaa is pleased with the progress he has made, but he knows there's still a long way to go. 'Yeah, I wouldn't really say I've been progressing rapidly,' Praggnanandhaa said. 'There have been some hiccups in between, like last year just didn't go my way. This year has been good for me so far, and I hope to continue that way. If you compare just these six months, then it's been good. STORY CONTINUES BELOW THIS AD 'But if you like, take into account the last year, then I think it's just normal progress and considering our last few months, definitely happy with my games and I want to continue playing this way,' he signed off.