Following the success of the inaugural Freestyle Chess G.O.A.T. Challenge, former world champion Magnus Carlsen has made the decision to transform the unique chess event into a ‘tour format‘, with India being selected as the first destination for the event.
The tour, named the Freestyle Chess Grand Slam Tour, is scheduled to kick off in India in November, offering a substantial $500,000 (approximately Rs 4 crore) as prize money for the Indian segment of the tour. The concept is to hold a series of five tournaments annually, ideally on five different continents.
In a press release released on Friday, Carlsen and his partner, German entrepreneur Jan Henric Buettner, announced that after the initial leg in India, the next stop on the tour will be Weissenhaus in Germany from February 7-14, 2025. The organizers intend to host the remaining events in New York, Cartagena (Colombia), Cape Town, and Australia in 2026.
Carlsen, a five-time classical chess world champion, secured victory in the first edition of the Freestyle Chess G.O.A.T. Challenge, which took place at a luxurious nature retreat in northern Germany last month. Carlsen expressed his delight with the tournament, stating, “This tournament has been a dream come true for me.
I would have said that regardless of how the tournament had gone, but I felt that this whole tournament was a joy to play and I think all the players really, really enjoyed this format and will be happy to be back. So, just a joy to start from start to finish and I can’t wait for the next one.”
An intriguing aspect of the event was Carlsen’s selection of his seven challengers: reigning world champion Ding Liren, Fabiano Caruana, Levon Aronian, Alireza Firouzja, Vincent Keymer, Nodirbek Abdusattorov, and Gukesh Dommaraju.
