New Delhi: Reigning world champion D Gukesh recently opened up on the controversy between the Freestyle Chess Grand Slam Tour and the International Chess Federation – FIDE. The Freestyle Chess Grand Slam Tour got underway in Weissenhaus, Germany on Friday (7 February) after the organisers of the tournament ended their feud with the world governing body of chess.
Both parties were at loggerheads for the last couple of months over the use of the term ‘world championship’ by the Freestyle Chess Grand Slam Tour. The feud ended after Freestyle Chess organisers agreed to remove the term from their regulations. Gukesh is among several big names from the chess world who are currently taking part in the tournament in Germany.
While Gukesh said he was happy to experiment with the Chess960 format in the Freestyle Chess Grand Slam Tour, the world champion insisted he doesn’t see the new format taking over classical chess anytime soon. Gukesh, who became the youngest world champion at 18 after defeating China’s Ding Liren last year, said the Classical World Chess Championship cycle will always be more important for him.
“I think 960 is nice as an experiment, but I don’t see it taking over classical chess. The Classical World Chess Championship cycle will be much more important than 960, so I am glad to experiment with the 960,” said Gukesh.
The Freestyle Chess Grand Slam Tour has been co-founded by world no,.1 Magnus Carlsen and German entrepreneur Jan Henric Buettner. The duo intended to use the tag ‘world champion’ for the winner of the tournament. However, FIDE expressed their reservations over the use of the tag which kickstarted an ugly feud between the two parties.
Both parties levelled serious accusations against each other while Carlsen also demanded the resignation of FIDE President Arkady Dvorkovich of “broken promises, coercing players misuse of power”. Carlsen earlier also shared chats between his father and Dvorkovic where the FIDE President had promised him that the players taking part in the Freestyle Chess Grand Slam Tour will face no negative action from the global body.
D Gukesh makes sluggish start at Freestyle Chess Grand Slam Tour
World champion Gukesh made a sluggish start on Day 1 of the Freestyle Chess Grand Slam Tour 2025 in Germany as he played three draws and suffered a lone defeat. He started with a draw against Uzbekistan’s Nodirbek Abdusattorov before suffering a defeat in his second game against Alireza Firouzja of France. Gukesh then played two draws against Levon Aronian of the United States and Javokhir SIndarov of Uzbekistan in the 3rd and 4th rounds, respectively.
Reigning world champion D Gukesh recently opened up on the FIDE vs Freestyle Chess Grand Slam Tour controversy and said he doesn’t see the new freestyle format taking over classical chess in the future. Other Sports Sports News: Latest Cricket News, Cricket Live Score, Sports Breaking News from Sports Today
