Norwegian grandmaster Magnus Carlsen has made history as the first-ever winner of the Freestyle Chess World Championship. In an exciting final held at the German resort Weissenhaus, the world's top-ranked player defeated American Fabiano Caruana. The tournament, set in the prestigious castle overlooking the Baltic Sea, attracted attention for its innovative format, which eliminates traditional opening preparation in favor of player creativity and intuition.
The first Freestyle Chess World Championship concluded at the Weissenhaus resort in Germany, with Magnus Carlsen emerging as the historic champion. In the final, the Norwegian defeated Fabiano Caruana of the United States with a score of 2.5:1.5. The four-game match took place in the castle setting, with the new format—also known as Fischer Random Chess or Chess 960—randomizing the starting positions to promote originality and reduce reliance on computer analysis. Carlsen, who also holds the World Chess Championship title in classical chess, added this trophy to his collection, though he critically noted it wasn't his most convincing victory. Freestyle Chess, also known as Fischer Random Chess or Chess 960, was developed by the legendary Bobby Fischer in 1996. It aims to limit the role of computer-assisted opening preparation by randomizing the back-rank pieces, forcing players to rely on their own creativity and intuition from the very first move. The path to the final saw Carlsen overcome Nodirbek Abdusattorow of Uzbekistan in the semifinals with a score of 3:1, while Caruana eliminated the top German player, Vincent Keymer. <cytat autor=