The stage is set for the Freestyle Chess Grand Slam Tour, which commences its first-ever tournament on February 7, 2025 in Weissenhaus, Germany. The event, embroiled in controversy well before its start, features world number one Magnus Carlsen as well as world champion D Gukesh apart from eight other elite players. (More Chess News)
The five-tournament series will unfold through the year, with Paris, New York, New Delhi and Cape Town being the other four host cities. It will end with the final competition from December 5 to 12. Each tournament, called a Grand Slam a la tennis, aims to have top players competing in a structured format combining rapid and classical games.
The source of controversy is the global chess body FIDE (International Chess Federation) taking issue with Freestyle Chess Grand Slam Tour's calling itself a 'world championship', stating that FIDE has the sole authority "over world championship titles in all relevant variations of chess - including Chess960/Freestyle chess, as outlined in the FIDE Handbook".
The Freestyle Chess promoters, Carlsen himself and German entrepreneur Jan Henric Buettner, have levelled allegations of blackmail and coercion on FIDE, with Carlsen publicly seeking FIDE president Arkady Dvorkovich's resignation. After a lot of back and forth, the Freestyle Chess organizers have removed the term 'World Championship' from their promotional materials, though only for the next 10 months.
What Is Freestyle Chess?
Freestyle Chess is the new name given to Fischer-Random chess, created by former world champion Bobby Fischer in 1996. It employs what is now known as 'Chess960', a format in which the pieces on the first and eighth rank are shuffled randomly (with some constraints). The number 960 comes from the total possible positions for how the game can start.
Freestyle Chess Grand Slam Tour: Roster For Weissenhaus
The first leg of the tour in Weissenhaus, Germany comprises an all-star group of 10 players. Apart from Carlsen and Gukesh, the line-up boasts of Fabiano Caruana (world rank 2), Hikaru Nakamura (world no. 3), Nodirbek Abdusattorov (world rank 6), Alireza Firouzja (world no. 7), Levon Aronian (world rank 11), Vincent Keymer (world no. 20), Vladimir Fedoseev (world rank 26) and Javokhir Sindarov (world no. 37).
Indian chess legend Viswanathan Anand was originally slated to be a part of the tournament as a wild card entrant, but eventually withdrew after Carlsen's criticism of his position with FIDE.
Freestyle Chess Grand Slam Tour: Format
The 10 competitors will first take part in a round-robin stage with rapid time control (10 minutes + 10-second increments per move). After each player faces all others once in the round-robin stage, the top eight players will progress to the knockout stage. This stage will have classical time controls (90 minutes + 30-second increments per move).
The players ranked ninth and tenth will compete in a playoff to determine the final rankings.
Freestyle Chess Grand Slam Tour: Schedule
Friday, February 7: Five rounds to be played
Saturday, February 8: Four rounds to be played
Sunday, February 9: Quarter-finals (one classical game per day)
Monday, February 10: Quarter-finals (one classical game per day)
Tuesday, February 11: Semi-finals (one classical game per day)
Wednesday, February 12: Semi-finals (one classical game per day)
Thursday, February 13: Final (one classical game per day)
Friday, February 14: Final (one classical game per day)
The tour will continue with its second leg, which is scheduled to take place in Paris, France, from April 8 to 15.
Freestyle Chess Grand Slam Tour: Live Streaming
The event will be streamed live on Freestyle Chess's official YouTube channel.
