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The ongoing feud between organisers of the Freestyle Chess Grand Slam Tour and FIDE, the global governing body of chess, is close to an amicable agreement.
In recent days, there have been one-on-one calls between Jan Henric Buettner, the brains and financial muscle behind the upcoming freestyle event, and FIDE President Arkady Dvorkovich to reach a compromise. This is significant as both had not spoken to each other since the start of December, according to Buettner.
The development has come nearly two months after the tussle began. It saw FIDE on one side and prominent players such as Magnus Carlsen and Hikaru Nakamura on the other, aligned with the organisers of the freestyle event. Why was the chess world in turmoil and what has changed now? We explain.
The Freestyle Chess Grand Slam Tour is a series of five events which will be held in cities such as Weissenhaus (Germany), Paris, New York, New Delhi, and Cape Town. The event will be played in freestyle chess, a variant of the sport where games start with pieces on the back ranks in a randomised order.
FIDE has said that for 2025, any player competing in the Freestyle Tour will not face any repercussions. However, as tensions between the two organisations soared, five-time world champion Viswanathan Anand, who is also a deputy president of FIDE, abruptly pulled out of the first event in Weissenhaus.
What was the feud about?
The dispute between FIDE and organisers of freestyle chess is over the use of the phrase “world championship”. FIDE contends that as the guardian of the sport, only it has the right to decide which event can be called a world championship. The organisers of the freestyle tour, however, dispute this.
In an open letter, Buettner claimed that freestyle chess event organisers had offered to pay FIDE $100,000 “purely as a gesture of goodwill and to avoid harassment”. He said FIDE had rebuffed the offer and allegedly demanded $500,000.
“We are still willing to contribute $50,000 annually to ensure the players are left undisturbed,” Buettner wrote.
What has FIDE said?
FIDE CEO Emil Sutovsky has said prestigious events such as the world championships are some of the ways that FIDE raises money, which it then funnels into other programs to popularise the sport at the grassroots level. Therefore, FIDE cannot allow anyone to start a rival event and call it a world championship.
FIDE has also said that over the past couple of years, the contracts that players signed for events such as the Candidates and the World Championships had a clause stating they cannot play in world championships that do not have FIDE’s blessing. With many prominent players, including Carlsen, signing those contracts, FIDE can take action if players compete in unsanctioned events.
According to FIDE’s statement, “As the 2025-2026 World Championship cycle is underway, all qualified players are expected to sign an additional contract, which will include a clause indicating that participation in any alternative world chess championships in any variation of chess not approved by FIDE (except for the Freestyle tour in 2025) would lead to their withdrawal from the two consecutive FIDE World Championship cycles.”
Currently, FIDE organises prominent world championship events across all three formats. The biggest of these is the classical World Championship (where Gukesh defeated Ding Liren). There is also a women’s world championship. Then there are the World Rapid and Blitz Championships, which crown world champions across the faster time controls.
Notably, FIDE organised a Freestyle/Chess960 World Championship for a few years till 2022 but had to stop it due to a lack of sponsors.
What have the freestyle tour’s organisers and players said?
The freestyle tour’s organisers have accused FIDE of “alienating” players by “adopting a confrontational stance” towards them.
“FIDE’s recent actions, such as threatening players with sanctions and demanding they sign agreements under undue pressure and without legal counsel, are deeply troubling. This is neither ethical nor professional. FIDE is attempting to exploit its dominant market position to strong-arm players into submission,” Buettner wrote. He said his organisation has arranged legal help for players.
Five-time world champion Carlsen, who is one of history’s greatest players, has sided with the organisers of the freestyle tour. World No 3 Hikaru Nakamura has also accused FIDE of threatening players against playing in the freestyle events.
