of 2026 FIDE Freestyle Chess World Championship It will be held this weekend in Weissenhaus, Germany with GM. magnus carlsen Top an 8-player field featuring GM levon aronian, Fabiano Caruana, vincent keymer, Arjun Erigaishi, Jabokir Sindarov, Hans Niemannand Nodirbek Abdusatrov. Ahead of the new tournament, we cover seven topics.

1. Didn’t we just crown Magnus Carlsen the Freestyle Chess Champion?
2. Is this really the 1st Official FIDE Freestyle Chess World Championship?
3. What’s the problem?
4. When, where and how to watch?
5. Who is playing…and where is Hikaru?
6. What is a format?
7. Who will win the FIDE Freestyle Chess World Championship?

1. Didn’t we just crown Magnus Carlsen the Freestyle Chess Champion?

yes! magnus carlsen Won the Freestyle Chess Grand Slam Tour with two days left. Just two months ago in South Africa. He won the title by 37 points over Aronian and finished the five-tournament series at Weissenhaus, Paris, Karlsruhe, Las Vegas and South Africa with an $805,000 lead.

2025 Freestyle Chess Grand Slam Final Ranking: Top 8

However, it was not a world championship as Freestyle Chess withdrew from the attempt to crown a world champion after a bitter battle with the International Chess Federation (FIDE) over the rights to the title. lastly an agreement was reached This month, they will jointly hold the “First Official FIDE Freestyle Chess World Championship.”

2. Is this really the 1st Official FIDE Freestyle Chess World Championship?

Yes and no. This is the first time a championship with such precise branding has been hosted by Freestyle Chess and the FIDE organization, although FIDE previously hosted the official Chess960 (Fisher Random) World Championship in 2019 (won by GM) Wesley Thaw), 2022 (acquired by GM) Hikaru Nakamura).

Carlsen and Nakamura also had an “unofficial” World Championship match in 2018 (Carlsen won), and the GMs competed against each other at an event in Mainz, Germany from 2001 to 2009. peter leko, peter svidlerAronian, and Nakamura were all world champions.

3. What’s the problem?

The prize money has been reduced compared to the freestyle chess tour, with half the amount wagered on this event compared to the 2025 Weissenhaus Grand Slam. Still, a total of $300,000 and a top prize of $100,000 isn’t too shabby for three days of work…

…Of course, there is also the world championship title.

That’s not all. The top three players have already qualified for the 2027 FIDE Freestyle Chess World Championship. Where will the remaining five players come from?

1 person will be the winner 2026 Grenke Freestyle Chess Open This Easter (April 2-6) is already expected to be the strongest open tournament of the year, even though it coincides with the Candidates Tournament. Registered players.

One player will then qualify from the leaderboard. freestyle fridayChess.com’s weekly event will be open to all players who have earned the title, while three other players will be able to qualify from an event that is yet to be confirmed.

4. When, where and how to watch?

It’s a whirlwind three-day event starting this Friday, February 13th at 9:00 AM ET / 15:00 CET / 7:30 AM IST and ending on Sunday, at the same venue where your freestyle chess adventure began. Freestyle Chess GOAT Challenge It’s Weissenhaus Private Nature Luxury Resort on the Baltic Sea coast northeast of Hamburg, Germany.

You can watch all the action on Chess24 YouTube and convulsions Channel, exciting women, GM and judith polgarCurrently staying in Germany as a member of the commentary team. You can also analyze and follow all games. FIDE Freestyle Chess World Championship Event Page.

5. Who is playing…and where is Hikaru?

The formidable line-up includes eight players, six of whom will qualify based on their finishing positions on the 2025 Freestyle Chess Grand Slam Tour: Carlsen, Aronian, Caruana, Keymer, Arjun, and Sindarov. Freestyle Chess named Niemann as a wild card, but the final spot went to Abdu Satrov. Won a victory in a tough online play-in.

The absence of Nakamura, the current Chess 960 World Champion and player who finished seventh on the 2025 Freestyle Chess Grand Slam Tour despite not being able to play in the final event, raised eyebrows. The mystery was solved when Nakamura, who had previously said he would be at Weissenhaus for the first leg of the 2026 Tour, explained that he was not happy with the change and what he called “the most rushed arrangement in the history of a world championship title.” he told Chess.com:

The first event at Weissenhaus in 2025 was really fun, but it’s a shame the classic length format wasn’t continued. Additionally, this all feels like a hastily arranged tournament with less than a third of the original prize money and now attached to FIDE, which is not a positive development in my opinion.

He said he decided to focus on candidate tournamentCaruana and Sindalov, who play at Weissenhaus, will also be featured.

6. What is a format?

The event begins on Friday with an eight-player single round robin. That is, each player plays against the other player once. The time control is 10 minutes for every move, with each move increasing by 5 seconds starting from move 1. Of course, all games are played in Chess960, with pieces placed semi-randomly in the back row.

Only the top four continue to play for the title in a knockout format. Each match is best-of-four and will be played in 25+10 time control. The semi-finals will be held on Saturday and the final will be held on Sunday, with players who finish in the bottom half of the round robin competing for 5th to 8th place.

There are also bonus events organized by the GM. Alexandra Kosteniuk and Bibisara Assaubayeva The exhibition match will be held ahead of the Women’s Freestyle Chess World Championship scheduled for later this year.

Aleksandra Kosteniuk of Weissenhaus vs. Bibisara Assaubayeva. ⚔️

Freestyle chess exhibition match held during the event period @FIDE_chess The Freestyle Chess World Championship brings together two great players in a freestyle format.

4 games at the highest level.
And a preview… pic.twitter.com/Dd3hyhxoKR

— Freestyle Chess (@chess_freestyle) February 9, 2026

7. Who will win the FIDE Freestyle Chess World Championship?

Of course, as always, Carlsen is the man to beat, but as we’ve seen, one-off freestyle chess events are difficult to predict. For example, round robin is the main contender for banana peel and the world’s number one Failed to qualify for top spot in Las Vegas And was condemned to play just 3rd place (which he duly achieved!).

It is possible to claim that all of Weissenhaus’ players have won the title. Aronian won in Las Vegas and South Africa to finish second overall on the tour, Niemann finished runner-up in Las Vegas, and Keimer won at Weissenhaus in 2025, so he seems to be warming up nicely this time.

Let’s get ready for Weissenhaus 😃#freestylechess pic.twitter.com/QxDlEbrSYi

— Vincent Keemer (@VincentKeymer04) February 6, 2026

Caruana has reached the podium twice in 2025 and was in Germany a week ago to play in the Bundesliga. Score 1.5/2 In the first chess action of 2026.

Arjun may have wanted to skip the Wijk aan Zee match as well, but the Indian star is always dangerous and has started his recovery from Tata Steel Chess with victory Beyond GM Ivan Saric It was their first win in 14 games in the Bundesliga.

That leaves Uzbekistan stars Abdusatrov and Shindarov, the two men at the moment. They topped the Tata Steel Masters standings and have shown their class in freestyle chess as well. Abdusatrov acknowledged that when he qualified for the world championships earlier this year, but Sindalov was a late substitute in 2025, proving it was no fluke by defeating Carlsen in a round robin at Weissenhaus en route to the top, and doing the same at the final South African tournament in 2025.

In addition to that Shindarov wins, title Tuesday He stopped in Dubai on his way to Germany, and it’s natural to expect him to hit the ground running.

Who do you think will win the World Championship title? Let us know in the comments section below.

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