FIDE Freestyle Chess World Championship 2026: Magnus Carlsen and Fabiano Caruana into the finals
Magnus Carlsen and Fabiano Caruana will face each other in the finals of the FIDE Freestyle Chess World Championship 2026. In the semifinals, Magnus won his match against Nodirbek Abdusattorov with a score of 3-1, and Fabiano Caruana defeated Vincent Keymer to secure his spot in the finals. After losing to Carlsen in the World Chess Championship 2018, this is a great chance for Caruana to win his first World Championship title. In the lower bracket, Arjun Erigaisi won his match against Javokhir Sindarov, and Hans Neimann sealed the deal against Levon Aronian. Arjun and Hans will be playing each other in the match for 5th place. The Finals will be played on Sunday, February 15th, at Local Time 3:00 pm CET/ 7:30 pm IST. Photos: Aditya Sur Roy/Chessbase India
A new World Champion will be Crowned Today
The International Chess Federation (FIDE) and Freestyle Chess Operations GmbH agreed to stage the first official FIDE Freestyle Chess World Championship in Weissenhaus, Germany. The event is governed by FIDE in collaboration with Freestyle Chess. On January 7, 2026, FIDE and Freestyle Chess signed a cooperation agreement, giving the green light to the first joint World Championship. This is the first time that the World Championship title in this format is awarded under a joint framework between FIDE and a private organiser.
And today, we are going to witness the first FIDE Freestyle Chess World Champion
Magnus Carlsen vs Nodirbek Abdusattorov (3-1)
The Match between Magnus Carlsen and Nodirbek Abdusattorov started with 2 draws; in both games, both players showed their class, and there was no way one could outplay the other. In the 3rd game of the match, Magnus got white pieces, and the game was also going towards a draw, but Abdusattorov made a huge mistake, and Magnus converted the third game with ease.
In the fourth game, it was a must-win situation for Abdusattorov to force tie-breaks, but the pressure of playing against Magnus in a must-win situation is not easy to handle. Abdusattorov tried to make the game complex, but it's Magnus who prevailed in the end.
Magnus vs Abdusattorov, Game 3
Everything was going according to the plan for Abdusattorov, but in this position, he played 33....Re2 with the idea of trading the rooks to get a comfortable position, but he missed 34.Qg4+ followed by Rxe2. Magnus immediately figured it out and converted the advantage easily.
Magnus vs Abdusattorov, Game 3
Black to play, find the best move
Semifinal Games: Carlsen vs Abdusattorov
Fabiano Caruana vs Vincent Keymer (2.5-1.5)
The match between Fabiano Caruana and Vincent Keymer was full of twists and turns. Fabiano started the match with a beautiful win with the black pieces and gained the lead after the first game. The second game ended in a draw, and now Caruana was just 1 point away from the finals, but in the 3rd game, Vincent grabbed the opportunity to attack Fabi's king and gained the advantage to win the game.
Finally, the score is 1.5-1.5 going into the last game, and in this game Caruana just outplayed Vincent in the opening and finished the game in 22 moves to reach the finals.
Vincent vs Caruana, Game 1
At this point, playing with the white side, Vincent decided to play a normal-looking development move 11.Ncd3, but he missed super strong 11.Ba4! and now the position is really bad for white as he can't move the rook otherwise the pawn on e2 will fall, and the bishop and queen on the h8-a1 diagonal are also eyeing towards the king. Caruana managed to grab this one in his bag.
Semifinal Games: Caruana vs Vincent
Hans Neimann vs Levon Aronian (2.5-1.5)
The match between Hans and Levon was also very interesting as Hans won the first game to take the lead, but immediately in the second game Aronian striked back to make it 1-1. Now in the third game, Hans won with the black pieces, making it 2-1. The last game was a must-win for Aronian to force the tiebreaks, but Hans held his nerves and drew his last round game.
Semifinal Games (Lower Bracket): Hans vs Levon
Arjun Erigaisi vs Javokhir Sindarov (3-1)
Arjun once again proved why he is considered one of the best players in the world of chess right now. The last few events were not good for Arjun, but here in Germany, he barely missed the top 4 spot in the round-robin stage after losing to Caruana in the last round. In the semis, he played some beautiful games to secure the victory over Javokhir Sindarov. Arjun will be playing Hans for the 5th-place match today.
The match started with 2 draw, making it 1-1. In the 3rd round, Arjun played one of the best games of this tournament to secure the lead over Sindarov. Going into the final gam,e it was Sindarov who was in a must-win spot, and he crumbled under the pressure, and Arjun won his game in 23 moves.
Arjun vs Sindarov, Game 3
Arjun Erigaisi and Javokhir Sindarov drew their first two games, but the third game was a real treat for the viewers. Javokhir moved his queen to a5 on the second move itself and then chopped off the pawn on a7. Arjun sacrificed his rook on b8, but after Qa4, the white queen was trapped. Amazing things continue to happen in this game as Javokhir brought his bishop to g5. After the bishop takes bishop the queen tried to wriggle out from c7. The game is an absolute master class by both players in freestyle chess and shows how beautiful this format is.
Arjun vs Sindarov, Game 4
White to play and finish the game with a quiet move
Semifinal Games (Lower Bracket): Arjun vs Sindarov
Standings
Alexandra Kosteniuk vs. Bibisara Assaubayeva (1-1)
The score of the exhibition match between Alexandra Kosteniuk and Bibisara Assaubayeva is 1-1, and they will be playing the remaining games today
Photo Gallery by Aditya Sur Roy: Here
The Venue: Weissenhaus, Germany
Replay all the games from the Semifinals
Standings of Upper Bracket
Rk. | SNo |
| Name | FED | Rtg | Pts. | TB1 | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
1 | 1 | GM | NOR | 2887 | 3 | 0 | ||
2 | 2 | GM | USA | 2809 | 2,5 | 0 | ||
3 | 3 | GM | GER | 2780 | 1,5 | 0 | ||
4 | 4 | GM | UZB | 2697 | 1 | 0 |
Standings of Lower Bracket
Rk. | SNo |
| Name | FED | RtgI | Pts. | TB1 | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
1 | 2 | GM | IND | 2732 | 3 | 0 | ||
2 | 3 | GM | USA | 2722 | 2,5 | 0 | ||
3 | 1 | GM | USA | 2786 | 1,5 | 0 | ||
4 | 4 | GM | UZB | 2718 | 1 | 0 |
Format and Schedule
• Friday, February 13: The tournament opens with a rapid round-robin stage, following the format used in the Freestyle Chess Grand Slam events. All eight players face each other once, with a time control of 10 minutes plus a 5-second increment. The top four players advance to the semifinals, while the remaining players move into placement matches.
• Saturday, February 14: The knockout stage begins with the semifinals and placement matches, played with a time control of 25 minutes plus 10-second increment. The semifinals will be played as four-game matches.
• Sunday, February 15: The final, played over four games, and the placement matches use the same 25 minutes plus 10-second increment. In the final, the FIDE Freestyle Chess World Champion is determined.
All final places from first to eighth will be decided over the board. The total prize fund is $300,000, with $100,000 awarded to the FIDE Freestyle Chess World Champion.
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