Freestyle Chess World Championship - Live!

by ChessBase
2/13/2026 – The FIDE Freestyle Chess World Championship is taking place on 13-15 February at the Weissenhaus resort in Germany. Eight players, including Magnus Carlsen and Fabiano Caruana, have qualified through the 2025 Grand Slam Tour and online competition. On Friday, the participants battle in a rapid round-robin stage with a 10+5 time control. The top four players advance to the semifinals, while the remaining players move into placement matches. | Follow the games live with expert commentary starting at 15.00 CET (9.00 ET, 19.30 IST)
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Round-robin stage

The FIDE Freestyle Chess World Championship 2026 is staged from 13 to 15 February at the Schloss Weissenhaus resort in Wangels, Germany. It is the first world championship under that title and the third official World Chess960 Championship organised by FIDE.

  • Friday, February 13: The tournament opens with a rapid round-robin stage, following the format used in the Freestyle Chess Grand Slam events. All eight players face each other once with a time control of 10 minutes plus 5-second increment. The top four players advance to the semifinals, while the remaining players move into placement matches.
  • Saturday, February 14: The knockout stage begins with the semifinals and placement matches, played with a time control of 25 minutes plus 10-second increment. The semifinals will be played as four-game matches.
  • Sunday, February 15: The final, played over four games, and the placement matches use the same 25 minutes plus 10-second increment. In the final, the FIDE Freestyle Chess World Champion is determined.

All final places from first to eighth will be decided over the board. The total prize fund is $300,000, with $100,000 awarded to the FIDE Freestyle Chess World Champion.

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Freestyle Chess World Championship 2026

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See also

Freestyle Chess World Championship: The fun begins on Friday

2/12/2026 – The FIDE Freestyle Chess World Championship 2026 will take place from 13 to 15 February at the Schloss Weissenhaus resort in Germany, marking the first jointly organised world title event in this format under an agreement between FIDE and a private organiser. Eight players, including Magnus Carlsen and Fabiano Caruana, have qualified through the 2025 Grand Slam Tour and online competition, while a women's exhibition match will also be staged alongside the main event. | Photo: Freestyle Chess / Lennart Ootes

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Weissenhaus Play-In: Abdusattorov, Pranav, Oparin and Tabatabaei make it to knockout stage

1/15/2026 – The Swiss stage of the online Play-in for the Freestyle Chess World Championship has determined the four players who remain in contention for the final qualification place. Over nine rounds of Freestyle Chess, Nodirbek Abdusattorov, Pranav Venkatesh (pictured), Grigoriy Oparin and Amin Tabatabaei finished level on 7/9 to secure places in Thursday's knockout stage. | Photo: Fujairah Superstars / Anna Shtourman
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