CHESS

Leonard Barden

An imminent showdown between Magnus Carlsen, the world No 1, and Gukesh Dommaraju, the youngest ever world champion, was overshadowed last week by a war of words between the global body Fide and Jan Henric Buettner, the Freestyle Chess founder and chief. The dispute was kicked into the future by an uneasy truce. The issue was whether Freestyle’s new global $3.75m four-continent circuit, which started last Friday and for which Carlsen is a strong favourite, can legitimately be called a world championship. After a post by Carlsen on X, an open letter by Buettner, and a Fide statement, the 2025 Freestyle circuit went ahead as a Grand Slam event. The 10 invitees and qualifiers for the first leg in Weissenhaus, Germany, included six of the top eight in the live…

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Guardian Weekly (Digital) - 1 Issue, 14 February 2025

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