India, Feb. 7 -- The chess community found itself embroiled in controversy during the first week of February as the Freestyle Chess Players Club (FCPC) was unable to come to an agreement with FIDE regarding the organization of their world championship tournament. The FCPC recently received official recognition from the international governing body just before the World Rapid and Blitz Championship scheduled for the end of 2024.

In an official announcement, the FCPC disclosed that they had been granted recognition and were engaged in discussions about hosting a Freestyle World Championship. Meanwhile, following his notorious jeans incident in New York, Magnus Carlsen, a co-owner of the FCPC, accused FIDE of intimidating players from participating in the Freestyle Chess Grand Slam Tour.

Hindustan Times reached out to Jan Henric Buettner, co-owner of Freestyle Chess, who indicated that he was on the verge of finalizing an agreement with FIDE. He mentioned that he was in regular communication with FIDE President Arkady Dvorkovich. However, on February 3, FIDE issued a statement confirming that no agreement had been established regarding official recognition for a world championship.

In retaliation, Freestyle Chess published an open letter to FIDE demanding the resignation of Dvorkovich. Subsequently, FIDE released another statement urging players to sign a waiver by February 4, 10:30 PM IST, which pertained to their non-participation in the FCPC's world championship that lacked FIDE recognition. As the deadline approached, Freestyle Chess removed all references to the world championship from their official rules and regulations on their website.

The original intention was to designate the final leg of Freestyle Chess in South Africa as the World Championship. Subsequently, in a series of videos released on the Take Take Take application, co-owned by Carlsen, the World No. 1 expressed his aversion to classical chess. He further asserted that younger players had acknowledged this sentiment, prompting their national federations to fear potential exclusion from the World Championship cycle. Additionally, he noted that these younger players indicated that FIDE was threatening their prospects.

FIDE CEO and grandmaster Emil Sutovsky addressed the recent controversy, offering a differing perspective on the so-called younger players. Among this group is the current world champion D Gukesh, who is affiliated with FCPC.

"Indeed, I must emphasize that the prevailing sentiment among younger chess players, whether Indian or Abdusattorov, is quite clear: they regard the World Championship and the FIDE cycle as paramount. I believe they would not seriously contemplate exchanging it for any private initiatives, regardless of their organization or backing. Regarding Gukesh, he has also signed the waiver we proposed to the players, and I am confident that their primary focus remains on legitimate competitions, so to speak. Naturally, as young and dynamic players, they are eager to explore opportunities, and we do not impose restrictions on that. I would like to reiterate that we were the ones prepared to proceed with the waiver," he stated.

"Thus, the situation is quite straightforward; every chess player aspires to participate in as many tournaments as possible. I want to clarify that we do not impose limitations on freestyle tournaments. On the contrary, we have been coordinating our calendar accordingly; however, we cannot accept any event as a world championship if it is not sanctioned by FIDE."

In his open letter, Buettner expressed his bewilderment regarding FIDE's failure to officially acknowledge his Freestyle World Championship. He noted that he had acquiesced to nearly all of FIDE's stipulations; however, he did not disclose that the FCPC did not conform to a crucial requirement set forth by the international chess organization.

Regarding the lack of agreement on the Freestyle World Championship, Sutovsky stated, "The primary reason for the unsuccessful negotiations was that they fundamentally did not accept FIDE as the governing authority for the world championship. What they were willing to accept was a joint qualifier with FIDE for the event, which would allow FIDE to conduct a qualifier for their world championship, an entirely unacceptable situation. Furthermore, we cannot be relegated to the role of a silent approver of their decisions; that is not how it operates. Any major organizer with whom we collaborate for the world championship has always adhered to the same principle: it is a FIDE World Championship. The organizer possesses specific rights, responsibilities, and relationships among the parties involved, but ultimately, it is a FIDE World Championship."

The essential issue was our inability to accept the notion that we would merely be providing or selling, as suggested in the title. Therefore, any claims that FIDE sought additional funds are fundamentally unjust. One of the points we raised, although not the primary reason, was that for a championship to be recognized as a World Championship, it must have a transparent qualification process. It is insufficient to rely solely on the FIDE Elo ratings of prominent players; a qualifying event is crucial at this stage. The qualification process for the FIDE World Championship is known to be rigorous and lengthy. They proposed a contribution of $300,000 towards this and the establishment of a qualifier. However, this amount is inadequate to support a serious qualification process. While this is one aspect of the issue, the more significant concern is that they have consistently failed to acknowledge FIDE's authority over the World Championship.

Further reinforcing FIDE's complete authority over any chess World Championship, he stated, "FIDE organizes numerous events, competitions, programs, and initiatives. These elements are interdependent. Without FIDE serving as the governing body for the World Championship, we would be unable to secure funding for all our other programs, projects, and rating systems. These components rely on one another. It is not feasible to remove one aspect and expect to generate substantial funding for various initiatives. In 2024 alone, the budget for our flagship event exceeded $40 million. To raise such funds, FIDE requires unequivocal authority."

In recent days, both parties have engaged with one another across various media platforms, with Buettner's public letter also featuring purportedly leaked messages from Dvorkovich. Commenting on the management of the situation, Sutovsky stated, "I do not believe they received favorable publicity due to their approach, including the leaking of messages. I do not think this reflected positively on Freestyle. They may have a different perspective. Regarding FIDE, the situation is quite clear. There are attempts to depict FIDE as an entity that merely sits idly by, preventing players from competing and organizers from organizing. This is simply inaccurate. We have been more than accommodating and continue to fully cooperate, allowing them the freedom to act as they wish while we assist them in navigating the circumstances to prioritize the interests of the players and the fans, especially after the recent conflict, enabling player participation."

Indian fans have also expressed confusion regarding Viswanathan Anand's withdrawal from the Germany segment of the Freestyle Chess Grand Slam Tour. In an interview with Hindustan Times, Buettner suggested that Anand's decision to step back was influenced by his position as FIDE deputy president and the critical remarks made by both Anand and Magnus Carlsen in New York. When questioned about whether FIDE exerted pressure on Anand, Sutovsky responded candidly, "Do you believe that such a legend could be pressured? Vishy made this decision independently. He was certainly in a position to choose, and he made his choice as he saw fit. However, I do not wish to speak on his behalf. It would be best to ask Vishy directly about his primary reasons, but I can assure you that no pressure was placed on him to refrain from participating."

Fans are notably perplexed by Carlsen's apparent disdain for classical chess, particularly when one considers the historical significance of the World Chess Championships. "To address the issue of legacy, it is not solely about Vishy or Garry Kasparov; Magnus himself has built his entire legacy on being a five-time world champion. This achievement is central to his legacy. Currently, it is being utilized to highlight his greatness, which is undeniable, but simultaneously, it seems to be an attempt to diminish the importance of the championship," Sutovsky remarked.

The Freestyle Chess Grand Slam Tour 2025 is set to commence its inaugural leg on February 7, hosted at the Weissenhaus Resort in Wangels, Germany. Additionally, numerous FIDE events are scheduled for this month, with particular attention on the World Senior Team Championships, which will begin on February 17. The FIDE World Junior Championships are also slated to start on February 24. Over the past year, fans have voiced their concerns regarding the prize money in FIDE tournaments. In response, FIDE has decided to raise the prize money for all events by at least 30 percent this year. "The prize funds for this year's cycle will see an increase across all world FIDE events. For instance, qualifiers, candidates, opens, and so forth will be raised by a minimum of 30 per cent compared to the previous edition," Sutovsky disclosed.

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