Carlsen launches Freestyle tour, India first on list

Chess great Magnus Carlsen is launching a world Freestyle Chess tour as the variant of the game, also known as Chess960, is gaining in popularity, the world number one announced on Friday.

Norwegian Carlsen, a five-time classical chess world champion who relinquished his title last year, has partnered with German entrepreneur Jan Henric Buettner to set up a new, exclusive tour that will start in chess powerhouse India in November.

The prize money for the Indian leg of the tour will be 500,000 USD, Carlsen and Buettner said in a joint statement.

“Carlsen, the world’s greatest chess player, and the German entrepreneur Buettner, who initiated and hosted the event, have invited the world’s top chess players to become members of their newly formed, exclusive Freestyle Chess Players Club (FCPC). At the same time, Carlsen and Buettner confirmed the launch of a worldwide Freestyle Chess Grand Slam Tour, a series of five tournaments per year on five continents,” the joint statement read.

Chess960, created by former world champion Bobby Fischer in 1996, has been gaining in popularity after an invitational tournament played at the Weissenhaus Luxury Resort, which hosted the G7 Foreign Minister summit in 2022.

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In Chess960/Freestyle chess, the pieces on the back rank are reshuffled, meaning that computer-backed preparations leading to sometimes dull openings, are meaningless.

The G.O.A.T. Challenge featured eight players – Carlsen and seven grandmasters handpicked by the Norwegian.

While the International Chess Federation (FIDE) has organised world championships in 2019 and 2022 – with an upcoming one this year – they were played in rapid time control while the Freestyle chess tournaments will be decided in standard time control (starting at one hour per player at least).

“In 2025 the next stop will be Germany (Weissenhaus) from February 7-14. Further Grand Slams are currently planned for summer, fall and winter 2025 in New York, Cartagena/Colombia, and Cape Town/South Africa, as well as for Australia in 2026,” Buettner said, adding he was inspired by mainstream sports like Formula One and tennis.

“My personal goal for the Freestyle Chess Grand Slam is nothing short of making it as commercially successful as iconic sports events like the ATP for tennis, PGA for golf, and Formula 1 for motorsport. Central to our approach is placing the players at the forefront of our endeavours,” he explained.