New Delhi: World no.1 Magnus Carlsen is excited to take on reigning world champion D Gukesh as the Weissenhaus leg of the Freestyle Chess Grand Slam Tour 2025 gets underway on Friday, February 07. Carlsen will be joined by some of the best chess players from across the globe, including Indian Grandmaster Gukesh in the tournament which he has co-founded alongside German entrepreneur Jan Henric Buettner.
Carlsen and Buettner were involved in a long-standing feud with the International Chess Federation – FIDE over the Freestyle Chess Grand Slam Tour after the world governing body of chess expressed their reservations over the winner of the tournament being given the tag of a ‘world champion’. The feud lasted over a couple of months with both parties levelling accusations against each other.
There were open letters shared on social media, chats leaked and jibes thrown at each other as none of the parties decided to back down. However, the feud ended earlier this week after the Freestyle Chess Grand Slam Tour organisers agreed to remove the term ‘World Championship’ title from their regulations.
The first event of the Freestyle Chess Grand Slam Tour is set to get underway in Weissenhaus where some of the top names from around the globe will be in action. When asked who is he looking forward to playing against in the tournament, Carlsen said he is excited for his battle against reigning world champion Gukesh.
“I’m very much looking forward to playing the classical world champion, Gukesh. Obviously, I look forward to playing everybody, but getting a chance to play Hikaru Nakamura here… last year there was a bit of a generational battle. I’ll be trying a little bit harder to beat the youngsters,” said Carlsen, a five-time world champion.
Apart from Carlsen and Gukesh, the likes of world no.2 Fabiano Caruana, world no.3 Nakamura, Levon Aronian, Alireza Firouzja, Vincent Keymer, Vladimir Fedoseev and Javokhir Sindarov will also be taking part in the Freestyle Chess Grand Slam Tour 2025. Speaking about ending the dispute with FIDE, Carlsen said things could have been resolved earlier but insisted he is happy to focus on the tournament.
“Generally unfortunate what has happened. Happy to focus now on the tournament. Things could have been resolved at an earlier point. Right now it is very hard to have a relationship with any of the FIDE leadership. Speaking for myself and my father,” said the five-time world champion.
D Gukesh calls Carlsen the best in the world
Gukesh, who has often expressed his admiration for Carlsen, had recently called the world no.1 the best player in the world at present despite being the current world champion. Gukesh said he doesn’t consider himself the best in the world yet as he is just 18 and has a long way to go. He said he believes Carlsen is the best chess player in the world at present.
World no.1 Magnus Carlsen said he is looking forward to playing against reigning world champion D Gukesh in the upcoming Freestyle Chess Grand Slam Tour 2025. Other Sports Sports News: Latest Cricket News, Cricket Live Score, Sports Breaking News from Sports Today
