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Business Manager: Brendan Flaherty
Email: bflaherty1@umassd.edu
With the Freestyle Chess tournament starting and featuring both previous and current grandmasters of chess, the chess world has experienced a few interesting bumps in the road.
If you know chess, you know that there are many openings that people can play and many versions of those openings that players can choose to work with. Freestyle chess is all about mixing it up so that there is no way for anyone to utilize the openings, working more with their wits.
Freestyle chess is essentially regular chess, with the difference being that the pieces in the back rank are mixed up instead of being in their normal spots.
There are a few rules when it comes to the placement of the pieces, but for the most part, they are randomized. This forces players to play in a way to try and do away with the use of openings, allowing for more creative chess games.
This idea was first introduced to the public and popularized last year with the Freestyle Chess G.O.A.T. Challenge 2024. This event featured plenty of grandmasters who faced off against one another to hopefully create a completely unique and interesting version of the game.
So why is this important, and why does this pose a problem?
The International Chess Federation (FIDE) oversees the chess world. They regulate it by choosing who wins what titles and manage tournaments for professional chess players.
FIDE also has control over who gets crowned a world chess champion in the other facilities like freestyle chess… or so they think.
Magnus Carlsen, co-founder of the freestyle tournament and five-times world champion, is calling for the resignation of the FIDE president after the request to crown a World Champion of chess at the freestyle event was denied.
With this, the Freestyle Chess Players Club (FCPC) was born in order to facilitate a place for freestyle players to operate under their own terms, free from the terms of FIDE.
FIDE has since recognized that this club can exist in its own way but has also mentioned that FIDE controls the rights to give out the title of World Champion, as they are the only recognized and developed federation for the game of chess.
This has not been the only point of contention with Carlsen, as the grandmaster has had a previous altercation during a “World Rapid & Blitz Championship (where the Norwegian was suspended for a breach of dress code), that was eventually smoothed out,” as mentioned by ESPN.
Now, Carlsen and the other founder, Jan Henric Buettner of the Freestyle Chess Grand Tour (FCGT), have called for the current president of FIDE to resign on the basis of broken promises to carry out more freestyle chess matches.
Freestyle chess had occurred in the past under the supervision of FIDE, but that was back in 2019.
The frustration from the incompetence and lack of understanding for the separate championship has caused the two founders of the FCGT to seek understanding from FIDE.
According to Reuters, Buetter commented on the president of FIDE saying: “He should just go away. They’re a completely incompetent and amateur organisation.”
FIDE has also gone out of their way to create a waiver that allows players of FCGT to participate in the event whilst still being under FIDE regulations.
“We note that this document does not impose new requirements on the players but provides them with a one-off exception from their existing contractual obligations towards FIDE,” said FIDE.
As of now, the conclusion that the two organizations have come to is that the FCGT will refrain from using the title of World Champion in their tournament for the next 10 months.
Though, judging by the nature and hostility that the hosts of the freestyle tournament hold for FIDE, they will likely push for the title to be instituted to the winner of the tournament.
Carlsen, who is fed up with the behavior of the president, has come out on X quoting a previous conversation that took place between his father and the president in order to get Carlsen to play in the FIDE regulated tournament.
These claims of broken promises and failed negotiation attempts have caused much stress in the chess world.
Now, the players and the founders of the FCGT wait in anticipation for FIDE’s next move in the matter. Will they stick to their promises, or will they stand firm as the world’s recognized and established chess federation?