Magnus Carlsen won FIDE Freestyle Chess
World Championship 2026
¨
Magnus Carlsen won FIDE
Freestyle Chess World Championship 2026.
¨
On 15 February, the FIDE
Freestyle Chess World Championship 2026 title has been clinched by Magnus
Carlsen of Norway.
¨
The championship final
was won after defeating American grandmaster Fabiano Caruana in Weissenhaus,
Germany.
¨
A final score of 2.5–1.5
was secured by Carlsen to claim the championship.
¨
The tournament is
historic as it is the first official freestyle chess world championship
recognised by the international chess governing body FIDE.
¨
With this victory,
Carlsen also added the freestyle crown to his collection, taking his total to
21 world titles across different chess formats.
¨
Uzbekistan’s Nodirbek
Abdusattorov finished third, while Germany’s Vincent Keymer placed fourth.
¨
The event carried a total
prize fund of $300,000, with $100,000 awarded to the champion.
¨
The top three finishers
have qualified for the 2027 Freestyle World Championship.
¨ In a women’s exhibition
match, Kazakhstan’s Bibisara Assaubayeva defeated Switzerland’s Alexandra
Kosteniuk held alongside the Freestyle Chess World Championship in Germany.
¨ With this victory, she became the first player to qualify for the 2026 Women’s Freestyle Chess World Championship.
¨ The FIDE Freestyle Chess World Championship 2026 took place from 13 to 15 February and featured the world's top chess players competing in the increasingly popular freestyle (also known as Fischer random) chess format.
