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The former world chess champion, Magnus Carlsen, and the German entrepreneur, Jan Henric Buettner, have announced the brand-new Freestyle Chess Grand Slam Tour, which will begin in India in the winter of 2024. The joint announcement came after the success of the inaugural edition of the Freestyle Chess G.O.A.T Challenge last month in Weissenhaus, Germany.
Notably, Magnus Carlsen defeated Fabiano Caruana to win the Freestyle Chess G.O.A.T Challenge, which was played as per the new Chess960 variant. According to the organisers, it had a worldwide media reach of half a billion, which played a key role in allowing them to expand the chess tournament into a world tour spectacle.
Freestyle Chess Grand Slam Tour: All you need to know
When will the Freestyle Chess Grand Slam Tour begin?
The Freestyle Chess Grand Slam Tour will begin in India from November 10 to 17, 2024.
What are the scheduled tournaments for the Freestyle Chess Grand Slam Tour?
The Freestyle Chess Grand Slam Tour is currently slated to have six tournaments across six continents.
- November 10 to 17, 2024: India
- February 7 to 14, 2025: Weissenhaus, Germany
- Summer 2025: New York, the USA
- Fall, 2025: Cartagena, Colombia
- Winter 2025: Cape Town, South Africa
- 2026: Australia
Which players are eligible to play in the Freestyle Chess Grand Slam Tour?
There are 25 players eligible to play in the Freestyle Chess Grand Slam Tour, who have positively responded and joined the newly formed Freestyle Chess Players Club (FCPC), boasting a ranking higher than 2725 points, along with “significant current international activity level,” meaning that Sergey Karjakin and Veselin Topalov won’t be a part of it.
What are the names of players who have agreed to play in the Freestyle Chess Grand Slam Tour?
Apart from Magnus Carlsen, the players who have agreed to play in the Freestyle Chess Grand Slam Tour currently are Hikaru Nakamura, Fabiano Caruana, Nodirbek Abusattorov, Ding Liren, Alireza Firouzja, Wesley So, Ian Nepomniachtchi, Wei Yi, Arjun Erigaisi, and Vishwanathan Anand.
What will be the format for tournaments on the Freestyle Chess Grand Slam Tour?
The format for the tournaments on the Freestyle Chess Grand Slam Tour will have a preliminary rapid, followed by knockout stages. Each tournament on the tour will have 10 players, instead of the eight players participating in the recently concluded Freestyle Chess G.O.A.T Challenge last month.
What will be the prize money for tournaments on the Freestyle Chess Grand Slam Tour?
The prize money for the first tournament on the Freestyle Chess Grand Slam Tour in India will be $500,000, which will be increased to $750,000 for the tournament in Weissenhaus, Germany, after the Freestyle Chess G.O.A.T Challenge in the city had a prize money of just $200,000 last month. Moreover, the prize fund for the remaining of the tournaments on the tour will be $1 million.