2/11/2025 – Vincent Keymer will keep good memories of his Tuesday game in Weissenhaus, as he managed to beat Magnus Carlsen in the first semifinal game at Freestyle Chess tournament. Keymer's win was achieved in the only decisive game on the day. The other semifinal saw Javokhir Sindarov missing a chance to beat Fabiano Caruana in a tricky endgame. | Photo: Freestyle Chess / Lennart Ootes
2/11/2025 – At the beginning of the Weissenhaus Freestyle Chess Tournament Jan Henric Buettner was inundated with interview requests. The dispute with FIDE had attracted a lot of media attention and everyone wanted to know exactly what it was all about and what the current situation was. At the start of the Freestyle Chess Grand Slam in Weissenhaus Buettner invited the ChessBase team to his office for an interview.
2/6/2025 – In their latest episode of "Two Knights Talk", Johannes Fischer and Arne Kähler welcome Katharina Reinecke, the well-known and popular German streamer. They discuss the pros and cons of Freestyle Chess, the upcoming Freestyle Tournament in Weissenhaus, the Tata Steel tournament in Wijk aan Zee, the performance of Faustino Oro in Wijk and Levy Rozman's qualities as an entertainer.
2/6/2025 – The Freestyle Chess Grand Slam Tour is set to begin with its inaugural tournament in Weissenhaus, Germany, from 7 to 14 February. This new five-event series, featuring elite players competing in the Freestyle Chess format (a.k.a. chess960), marks a significant addition to the chess calendar. With a structured format combining rapid and classical games and a $660,000 prize fund, the tour aims to establish itself as a premier competition. World number one Magnus Carlsen and world champion Gukesh Dommaraju will both be competing. | Photos: Gregor Poniewasz
1/29/2025 – The dispute between FIDE and Freestyle Chess continues. After Jan Henric Buettner attacked FIDE in an interview with Norwegian broadcaster NRK, Buettner has now published an open letter to FIDE CEO Emil Sutovsky. In this letter he addresses the development of the conflict, and concludes by saying: "Freestyle seeks peace, not conflict. We are still willing to contribute $50,000 annually to ensure the players are left undisturbed." Sutovsky was quick to respond, sharing his view of the conflict on X/Twitter, although he did not comment on Buettner's offer. | Picture: Pixabay
1/24/2025 – Javokhir Sindarov, the 19-year-old Uzbek prodigy, will join the inaugural leg of the Freestyle Chess Grand Slam in Weissenhaus, stepping in for Viswanathan Anand. A former Chess Olympiad gold medallist and one of the youngest grandmasters in history, Sindarov's inclusion adds excitement to the ten-player field. After an impressive run in the online qualifier, Sindarov is eager to face Magnus Carlsen, Hikaru Nakamura and the remaining top players who make up the elite field.
1/21/2025 – Freestyle Chess is an alternative to standard chess involving a number of top players. As the best tournament of its kind, the Freestyle Grand Slam has the status of a world championship, but FIDE reserves the right to this brand name, as it emphasised in a statement today. At the end of the year there were already some differences between the parties involved on this issue.
1/14/2025 – Even before the start of the Bundesliga season, the announcement that Magnus Carlsen would be playing for the Hamburg club St. Pauli caused a huge media stir. Last weekend the world's best chess player made his debut for his new club - and created a real chess hype, not only in Hamburg. | Photos: André Schulz
1/9/2025 – The Weissenhaus Freestyle Chess Tournament is set to kick off the inaugural Freestyle Chess Grand Slam with an exciting lineup of top players, including Magnus Carlsen, Gukesh Dommaraju and Vishy Anand. However, it was a gripping online play-in stage that determined the final spot in the elite 10-player field. Javokhir Sindarov and Vladimir Fedoseev battled through a fierce knockout bracket to reach the dramatic final. Fedoseev emerged victorious following a sensational Armageddon decider.
11/22/2024 – On 21 and 22 November Magnus Carlsen and Fabiano Caruana, the world's number 1 and the world's number 2, clash in the "Freestyle Chess Summit" in Singapore. Just before the start of the World Chess Championship match between Gukesh D and Ding Liren, Carlsen and Caruana play two freestyle games with a time limit of 60 minutes for the whole game and 30 seconds increment per move. The games start at 20.00 local time (13.00 CET, 7.00 ET). Follow the event live with commentary by Tania Sachdev and Danny Rensch.
11/20/2024 – On 20 November Magnus Carlsen and Tania Sachdev will play two Freestyle (Chess960) "Hand and Head" games with a time control of 10+10 against Fabiano Caruana and Maurice Ashley. On 21 and 22 November, Carlsen and Caruana will play a small Freestyle match of two games with a time control of 60+30. Follow the "Hand and Head" match live with commentary by Daniel Rensch and Sagar Shah.
10/31/2024 – Fresh off his US Championship win, Fabiano Caruana clinched another title with a commanding performance at the Chess 9LX Champions Showdown in Saint Louis. Caruana's 7½/9 score, with six wins and no losses, secured him the crown in the chess960 event. Behind him, Hikaru Nakamura finished half a point short, while Garry Kasparov put on a noteworthy display. | Photo: Lennart Ootes
10/30/2024 – The Chess 9LX tournament, organised by the Saint Louis Chess Club, is taking place on 28-30 October at the World Chess Hall of Fame. Top US grandmasters, including Fabiano Caruana and Hikaru Nakamura, are joined by former world champion Garry Kasparov in a rapid, chess960 (a.k.a. Fischer Random) tournament. | Follow the action live from 19.00 CET (14.00 ET, 23.30 IST).
10/29/2024 – The rise of chess960, Bobby Fischer's favoured variant, continues with a new edition of the Chess 9LX event in Saint Louis. Legendary Garry Kasparov returns to compete against elite players, including newly crowned US Champion Fabiano Caruana, who leads the standings after a perfect opening day. Meanwhile, top rivals Hikaru Nakamura, Sam Sevian, and Wesley So are sharing second place. | Photo: Lennart Ootes
10/27/2024 – The Chess 9LX tournament, organised by the Saint Louis Chess Club, starts on Monday. On Sunday, the event is inaugurated with the Ultimate Moves exhibition match. The players take turns in two teams: Team Rex v. Team Monopoly. Among those taking part will be Garry Kasparov (pictured, 2023) and main sponsor Rex Sinquefield. | Follow the action live from 19.00 CET (14.00 ET, 23.30 IST).
10/24/2024 – The 2024 US Chess Championships concluded with Fabiano Caruana and Carissa Yip emerging as outright winners in their respective sections. Caruana secured his fourth national title by defeating Sam Shankland in the final round, finishing 1½ points ahead of his closest rivals. Meanwhile, Yip had already clinched her third US Women's Championship with a round to spare, despite back-to-back losses in rounds 9 and 10. In the women's section, Gulrukhbegim Tokhirjonova claimed second place thanks to her final-round victory over Tatev Abrahamyan, while Alice Lee finished third after a tightly contested final round. | Photo: Lennart Ootes
10/14/2024 – Magnus Carlsen and Fabiano Caruana are set to compete in an exciting Freestyle Chess match in Singapore, just days before the Classical World Chess Championship between Ding Liren and Dommaraju Gukesh. Organised by Jan-Henric Buettner, the match is part of a broader effort to popularise Freestyle Chess, or chess960, as Buettner’s company prepares for the 2025 Freestyle Chess Grand Slam.
8/15/2024 – The chess world is set to witness a historic shift after the announcement on Thursday, 25th July: ‘Magnus Carlsen raises $12 Million for Freestyle Chess Grand Slam.’ This project promises to bring high-level, exclusive chess tournaments to the global stage. While the format was initially introduced in February 2024, certain developments will make it exciting for players, fans, media, organizers, sponsors, and everyone involved. Jan Buettner is the co-founder of this project along with Magnus and in a candid interview with ChessBase India, he shares his journey of starting Freestyle Chess to raising US$12 million!
8/4/2024 – As we try to improve our chess, much of the work involves considerable analysis, which is hugely expedited by talking to our silicon masters. The important thing, however, is not merely to sit at the Oracle's feet and genuflect, but to ask sufficient questions so as to develop our own understanding and, on a very good day, to do some of the work ourselves. | Pictured: Ray Robson | Photo: Lennart Ootes / Saint Louis Chess Club
8/2/2024 – Not long ago, ChatGPT received another update. Time for Arne Kaehler to check the AI's opinions about chess related questions. Who is the greatest player of all time? Who will win the world championship? Which nation will dominate chess in 2030? And finally, Arne challenges ChatGPT for a chess game over the board. But maybe he should wait for the next major update.
7/25/2024 – Magnus Carlsen, investor Jan Henric Buettner and VC Left Lane Capital launched a new company to establish a tournament series that aims to revolutionise the world of chess. The event series will showcase the world's best chess players in a new format which aims to be attractive for media, spectators and consumers. The participants will be nine super GMs hand-picked by Magnus Carlsen, who has committed himself to playing Freestyle Chess exclusively at the Grand Slam series.
7/21/2024 – After five rounds of classical chess at the GM Triathlons, the final phase is quickly approaching. Le Quang Liem defended his lead in the Masters with a draw against Haik Martirosyan, while Praggnanandhaa kept his chances of qualifying for the final phase by beating Sam Shankland. In the Challengers, it seems clear who will progress to the final phase: Saleh Salem, Vaishali, Alexander Donchenko and Jonas Bjerre. | Photos: Biel Chess Festival
7/15/2024 – The 57th Biel Chess Festival kicked off the past weekend, this year extended with a Challengers Tournament. Chess960 and rapid chess were the first events. In the Masters, Armenian GM Haik Martirosyan was the top scorer in the rapid section, while German GM Alexander Donchenko prevailed in the Challengers. | Photo: Biel Chess Festival
7/10/2024 – The 57th edition of Biel Chess Festival begins this Saturday and will once again attract chess enthusiasts from all over the world to the watchmaking metropolis. There will now be two invitational tournaments for the elite: the GMT-Masters and the GMT-Challengers, which will each be contested by six players. The field of participants will be led by the world number 8, Praggnanandhaa from India. There is also a whole range of tournaments on the programme for amateurs, including a new one-week tournament in the morning and the physicians' tournament. Registrations for the open tournaments are still possible at short notice.
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