In a transfer that would probably shake up the chess world, GM Magnus Carlsen and German entrepreneur Jan-Henric Buettner have launched the Freestyle Chess Grand Slam Tour, a brand new formidable sequence of Chess960 tournaments that can run throughout 5 continents and collect the creme de la creme of the chess world.
In February, Carlsen beat GM Fabiano Caruana within the closing to win the inaugural version of the 2024 Freestyle Chess G.O.A.T. Problem, the brand new Chess960 super-tournament that, regardless of the awkward event identify, proved to be a hit and achieved a worldwide media attain of half a billion, in accordance with the organizers.
In a joint press launch on Friday, the previous world champion, together with the millionaire proprietor of the five-star Weissenhaus resort, unveiled their newly shaped Freestyle Chess Gamers Membership (FCPC). Eligible for membership are the 25 gamers rated larger than 2725 “who’ve a major present worldwide exercise stage,” which suggests solely GMs Sergey Karjakin and Veselin Topalov are excluded from the sequence.
Buettner expressed his enthusiasm and mentioned: “We’re excited that each one 25 invited, eligible gamers have responded positively and joined the FCPC.”
We’re excited that each one 25 invited, eligible gamers have responded positively and joined the FCPC.
—Jan-Henric Buettner
Chess960, which has been rebranded as Freestyle Chess, is a chess variant during which the items on the primary and eighth rank are shuffled randomly (with just a few limitations). The quantity 960 comes from the variety of doable positions in how the sport can begin.
Members of the newly shaped membership are eligible for a possible invitation to a number of of the tournaments deliberate. Along with Carlsen and Caruana, the organizers additionally secured the participation of the 9 gamers following them on the score record, together with world number-three and reigning World Fischer Random Champion GM Hikaru Nakamura. The American was invited to the Freestyle Chess G.O.A.T Problem, however turned down the invitation on account of different commitments.
The opposite contributors are GMs Nodirbek Abusattorov, Ding Liren, Alireza Firouzja, Wesley So, Ian Nepomniachtchi, Wei Yi, Arjun Erigaisi and Viswanathan Anand.
It will be a packed chess calendar because the chess world will now see the start of a 3rd world chess tour, after Chess.com’s Champions Chess Tour and the Grand Chess Tour. The primary occasion of the Freestyle Chess Grand Slam Tour will happen at an undisclosed metropolis in India in November:
- November 10 – 17, 2024: India
- Summer time 2025: New York, U.S.A
- Fall, 2025: Cartagena, Colombia
- Winter 2025: Cape City, South Africa
- 2026: Australia
The prize fund for the primary occasion in Weissenhaus was $200,000, however will probably be elevated to $500,000 for the India Grand Slam, then to $750,000 for the subsequent Weissenhaus Grand Slam, after which to $1 million for every Grand Slam thereafter.
The format stays the identical with preliminary fast, adopted by a knockout occasion, however future occasions will probably be held with 10 gamers, as an alternative of eight as was the case on the Weissenhaus in February.
One other distinction is that the 2 gamers who’re knocked out will be a part of as commentators for the remaining occasion, event director GM Sebastian Siebrecht advised German chess web site Perlen von Bodensee.
Buettner mentioned in his welcome letter to the participant that his objective is to make the Freestyle Chess Grand Slam “as commercially profitable as iconic sports activities occasions just like the ATP for tennis, PGA for golf, and Formulation 1 for motorsport.”
“It is my earnest need to see every of our FCPC members thrive professionally, even to the extent of securing particular person sponsorship offers outdoors of FCPC’s purview. Drawing from the successes of those famend sporting occasions, we perceive the paramount significance of cultivating recognizable and distinct personalities throughout the realm of chess. Our goal is to create a league of chess icons whom the youthful technology throughout numerous worldwide markets can relate to and admire.”
Our goal is to create a league of chess icons whom the youthful technology throughout numerous worldwide markets can relate to and admire.
—Jan-Henric Buettner
“The response from the chess world to our inaugural occasion in Weissenhaus in February was overwhelming. It wasn’t simply the gamers who had been enthusiastic in regards to the new format. We achieved a worldwide media attain of greater than half a billion. This underscores that we’ve made appreciable progress on our method to popularizing chess and provoking a further new viewers world wide. The Freestyle Chess Gamers Membership and the worldwide Freestyle Chess Grand Slam Tour are the logical subsequent steps,” Buettner mentioned.
FIDE had been unable to search out any organizers for the World Fischer-Random Championship earlier this 12 months, and reportedly had negotiations with Buettner over internet hosting the occasion on the Weissenhaus later this 12 months. In accordance with Perlen von Bodensee, that did not lead wherever, however discussions are underway with the world-governing chess physique a few collaboration.
