 "World No 1 Magnus Carlsen will be facing thousands of members of the Chess.com community in the Freestyle format starting 4 April. Image credit: Freestyle Chess")
After Garry Kasparov and Viswanathan Anand, it’s Magnus Carlsen’s turn to face off against the world in what could end up become the biggest game ever in chess history. Carlsen has been reigning supreme in all three formats of the game for years now, having occupied the top spot in the FIDE Classical Ratings since 2011, and it remains to be seen if a vast army of chess players can stop him next month.
The upcoming showdown, titled ‘Magnus vs The World’, will be a Vote Chess match between the Norwegian chess legend and members of the Chess.com community and will get underway on 4 April. And while Kasparov and Anand triumphed in the traditional Classical format, Carlsen will be facing the world in the Freestyle Chess format – where the pieces other than the pawns start in a semi-random position.
‘Magnus vs The World’ format explained
In this unique game of chess, Carlsen will be playing with white pieces. As for his opponents, members of the Chess.com community will be voting for their next move with the black pieces. The move that gets the highest number of votes during the polling period will ultimately get selected.
Each side will have a total of 24 hours to make a move, so this isn’t exactly your average game of chess with time controls and increments.
Chess.com community members will additionally have a team of well-known coaches guiding them through the game, from analysing their current position on the board to explains the pros and cons of various possible options. The coaches, who are yet to be announced by the website will be guiding the community in the comment section below the chessboard.
How Kasparov and Anand had fared against the world
Russian legend Kasparov, who continues to hold the record for the most time spent as the world No 1 (over 20 years), had faced more than 50,000 players on the MSN Gaming Zone in 1999, which at the time was celebrated as the biggest match in the history of chess. Kasparov, who turned 36 during the course of the game, ended up winning what he would describe as “the greatest game in the history of chess.”
Anand, India’s first Grandmaster who had also spent 21 months as the world’s top-ranked player, would take things a notch higher when he faced off against nearly 70,000 players on the 25th anniversary of Kasparov’s game. The five-time world champion ended up winning the battle dubbed ‘Vishy vs. The World’ in just 24 moves – less than half of what the Russian had needed for victory.
Given Carlsen’s popularity, the upcoming match might end up surpassing the number of participants who took on Anand. The 34-year-old might end up getting the bragging rights for the biggest game of chess in the sport’s history by the time this game is done and dusted.