Magnus Carlsen has won the first FIDE Freestyle Chess World Championship, defeating Fabiano Caruana in the final match held in Germany.
Carlsen came up with a fine exchange sacrifice maintaining parity, and after 49 moves the draw was a just result giving the best player in the world a deserving 1.5-0.5 victory.
Reigning world chess champion D Gukesh has stated that he is open to competing in all formats of chess, including the newly popular freestyle format, but believes that classical chess, with its rich history, will always hold the greatest significance. Despite concerns of a potential split in the sport between supporters of freestyle and classical chess, Gukesh sees no reason for division, highlighting the excitement of freestyle while acknowledging the importance of the traditional format's legacy.
World champion D Gukesh finished last after losing to Iranian-French Grandmaster Alireza Firouzja in the second game of their seventh place play-off match at the Freestyle Chess Grand Slam.
World Champion D Gukesh began his campaign at the Freestyle Chess Grand Slam tour with a mixed bag of results, including three draws and a lone loss, signaling that he is adapting to the new format.
Chess960, created by former world champion Bobby Fischer in 1996, has been gaining in popularity after an invitational tournament played last year at the Weissenhaus Luxury Resort, which hosted the G7 Foreign Minister summit in 2022.
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.
Grandmaster D Gukesh threw one salvo after another to beat world No. 1 Magnus Carlsen of Norway, Levon Aronian of Armenia and eventually reigning world champion Ding Liren of China on the first day of the Weissenhaus Chess Challenge that got underway in Wangels (Germany).
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