World Chess Weekly: Tata Steel Is Over—But The Freestyle World Champs Is Coming Up
Tata Steel is over for another year, and it had left some fascinating takeaways, not least the amazing success (again) of Uzbekistan's young stars.
But don't despair: another big event is just around the corner. Or at least we think it'll be a big event.
It is now less than a week before the inaugural Freestyle Chess World Championship starts—an event that could shake-up chess forever. Or, it could never be seen again.
Freestyle Chess Operations GmbH, the company running the event in partnership with FIDE, having been busy telling the world their blockbuster show will usher in a new era in the game. Out with the old, in the with the new. This is the "Formula One of chess," they say.
That certainly could happen if the fans enjoy it as much as the eight participants, who stand to share $300,000 in prize money. The freestyle format has its advocates, particularly the man pumping money into it: Hungary-based businessman Jan Henric Buettner.
Freestyle Chess, which ran an unofficial forerunner, the 2025 Freestyle Chess Grand Slam in preparation, even buried its feud with FIDE to make it happen.
Making Money
Buettner was clearly expecting sponsors to hop on board and support the project. On Thursday, Freestyle Chess announced a new strategic partnership with Make (make.com), the AI workflow automation platform headquartered in Prague. Yet so far, that's the only backer that's appeared.
But the show must go on.
Players will arrive at Buettner's venue in Weissenhaus, Germany, on February 11 before play starts on February 13. Expect a lot of activity on their social media accounts.
You can also expect a bit of blowback. While the line-up headed by its co-founder GM Magnus Carlsen is undoubtedly stellar, two notable names are missing.
In 2019, GM Wesley So won the inaugural FIDE World Fischer Random Chess Championship—which was basically the same thing, but with fewer bells and whistles—and then in 2022 GM Hikaru Nakamura became FIDE's second champion and has reigned since.
Neither will travel to Germany. According to FIDE, So didn't qualify. Nakamura, meanwhile, said he was invited but declined the invitation.
Both seemed annoyed.
In an interview with the Indian Express, So was asked whether it was a surprise not to see his name on the invited list.
He replied: "I'm not particularly surprised, because I never get invited to Magnus Carlsen's events. I believe when that (FIDE Grand Slam Tour) started, he was the one who handpicked which players to invite.
"This is why you’ll also never see GM Anish Giri there either. It’s fine, but to call it a World Championship, and then handpick seven out of eight players, does not seem like a World Championship.
"When the event started… the players were mostly handpicked. And now they are selecting the top seven of last year’s tour, but all the players were handpicked anyway to begin with," he added.
So went went further: "For fans to follow Freestyle is difficult. I myself don’t really follow the games. I mean, I love following chess, but Freestyle is hard for me because I will never see the starting position or remember that I saw it before.
"They have a lot of books about Chess960 and Freestyle, but I wonder who actually reads those."
So also said he believes this will be the first and last Freestyle Chess
World Championship.
Nakamura also laid into FIDE for organising, what he believes, is a rushed title event.
The American said: "I think it might hold the record for most rushed arrangement for a World Championship title in history.
"I truly enjoyed the first event in Weissenhaus in 2025, and it's a shame that the classical length format wasn't continued. Furthermore, this all feels like a hastily arranged tournament with less than 1/3rd the prize fund it originally had, and now it's attached to FIDE, which isn't a positive development in my opinion."
Instead, the lineup is:
- GM Magnus Carlsen
- GM Levon Aronian
- GM Fabiano Caruana
- GM Vincent Keymer
- GM Arjun Erigaisi
- GM Javokhir Sindarov
- GM Hans Niemann
- PLUS one qualifier to be determined.
All are worthy entrants, but it does seem odd to exclude the two title-holders from the tournament this new event is replacing.
"Freestyle" is the new name used for the variant Chess960 or Fischer Random where the pieces on the back rank are randomised at the start of the game. The idea is to limit opening preparation.
Whether the event will excite fans without So and Nakamura and this new World Championship title can prove it holds weight will become clearer this month.
It will be certainly be a fascinating watch—not just for the chess.