In a recent videoHikaru Nakamura commented on FIDE’s explanation of the Freestyle Chess project. The objective of the Freestyle Chess Organization is to evolve its Freestyle Chess Tour into a Freestyle Chess World Championship. Freestyle Chess is a new name for chess with random starting positions, previously known as Fischer Random Chess or Chess 960 (in reference to the number of possible starting positions).
Hamburg businessman Jan Henric Buettner and Magnus Carlsen both appreciate this innovative form of chess and have set up a company to promote Freestyle Chess. Almost a year ago, the Weissenhaus Luxury Resort hosted its first tournament. Buettner and Carlsen have reportedly found sponsors to finance a full-fledged circuit, the Freestyle Chess Grand Slam, with the aim of staging a series of five tournaments in 2025 – so far, only three are confirmed.
Prior to the World Classical Chess Championship in Singapore, a launch event was held in consultation with the World Chess Federation (FIDE), including Magnus Carlsen and Fabiano Caruana, at which the circuit was announced. Possibilities for cooperation on a Freestyle Chess World Championship were also discussed, and FIDE was interested, for a fee, in handing over the organization to Freestyle Chess.
Anyone who has ever (co-)organized an official FIDE chess tournament knows that it can be a difficult experience. In addition to the actual costs of organizing, there are also numerous fees and honorariums for FIDE officials. In addition, FIDE generally wants to determine every detail of the tournament.
In the course of discussions, positions seem to have hardened, and some observers believe that the “jeans incident” at the World Rapid Championship in New York may also have something to do with this.
In a recent official position paper, FIDE insists on its right to the “World Chess Championship” brand and is thus in conflict with some top players. The latter wish to play a World Championship in Freestyle Chess and point out that FIDE has been unable to organize one for the past two years.
This is also the position of Hikaru Nakamura, who states:
FIDE is just, I guess, worried about losing control or power, or something equally insane, but it’s just not good for chess.
Nakamura calls on top chess professionals to take a stand against FIDE and its obstructive policies. However, Emil Sutovsky points out that the top players have signed a four-year contract with FIDE in which they undertake not to participate in another world championship.
Emil Sutovsky’s response to Hikaru Nakamura’s video
Since you tagged me, I have to share the following:
A – all the players, including Magnus and Hikaru actually signed a binding obligation not to participate in any “World Championship” not approved by FIDE for the period of four years. Magnus signed it in 2023, other top players…
– Emilchess (@EmilSutovsky) January 22, 2025
Since you tagged me, I must share the following:
A – All players, including Magnus and Hikaru, have in fact signed a binding obligation not to take part in a non-FIDE-approved “World Championship” for a period of four years. Magnus signed it in 2023, the other top players in 2024. Yes, you can still claim that you’re primarily a streamer – but that doesn’t mean you don’t have contractual obligations.
B – Chess960/Fischer Random has been listed in the FIDE Manual for over 15 years, and the obligations obviously include this variant.
C – In reporting Dvorkovich’s interview with Sagar, Hikaru omitted the most important part, where Dvorkovich clearly states that the dispute was not about money, but about recognition of FIDE’s rights.
D – FIDE does provide a significant income for top players. All the figures are public. Hikaru may not have won significant sums for a top streamer – but here are the prize funds: World Championship match: $2.5 million, World Cup 2 million+, Rapid and Blitz 1.428 million, Grand Swiss soon to reach almost 1 million, etc.
But we do much more than organize events for the best players. Hundreds of Grand Masters benefit from our work. Thousands of young people. We offer an opportunity to so many talented players. The Chess Olympiads, where representatives from over 180 nations have the chance to show their best because we cover all the costs of their participation. We organize numerous women’s events, and run social and educational programs. All this would have been impossible without FIDE’s leading role in the chess world.
I write about this in detail on my wall.
E – Hikaru mentions the Grand Chess Tour, Stavanger, etc. – but in reality, we’ve been cooperating with these excellent events for several years now, aligning our calendars for the benefit of players. The whole point is that Freestyle Chess doesn’t aim to cooperate. That’s fine. They can do whatever they like, we’ll be happy to align the calendar – but we won’t allow them to call their private series a “World Championship”.
F – The entire narrative of the Freestyle Chess initiators has largely focused on negativity towards classical chess, towards classical time control, towards FIDE. This is visible in every interview, press conference and publication.
It hurts our game – and we won’t accept it.
– Emilchess (@EmilSutovsky) January 22, 2025 “
