Magnus Carlsen reveals why he loves freestyle chess: 'Middlegame is where things really happen'

World No 1 Magnus Carlsen recently revealed what he loves about Freestyle chess and said that in this format of the game, the middlegame is where things actually happen. Carlsen was speaking on the sidelines of the 2025 Freestyle Chess Grand Slam Tour, with the first leg currently taking place in Weissenhaus, Germany.

In March 2024, Carlsen along with German business entrepreneur Jan Henric Buettner launched the Freestyle Chess Players’ Club (FCPC) and also announced the launch of the Freestyle Chess Grand Slam Tour. The tour will take place across five legs in different parts of the world throughout 2025.

‘Middlegame is where things happen’: Carlsen on why he loves freestyle chess 

“I just love the general idea of sitting down at the board and having some time to think. Of course it’s even better that when I’m thinking from the first move, it’s a new position, it’s a fresh position. Like there are tactics from the get-go. You’re basically thrown into the middlegame, which has always been my favorite part of the game,” the Norwegian said in a video uploaded on Chess.com’s “X” handle.

“I’m good at the endgame, but the middlegame is where things really happen! I just wanted a way to play classical chess and for every game to be an interesting one. I am really happy that the players and fans are enjoying it as well,” he added.

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Magnus on what he loves about #FreestyleChess!

"From the get-go you're basically thrown into the middlegame, which has always been my favorite part of the game. I'm good at the endgame, but the middlegame is where things really happen!" pic.twitter.com/iBqWCPUOsX

— chess24 (@chess24com) February 9, 2025

Ever since the Freestyle Chess Grand Slam was launched, Carlsen and Freestyle Chess have been at loggerheads with the International Chess Federation (FIDE) over the use of the term “World Championship”. While the FIDE was initially ready to add Freestyle chess tour to its 2025 calendar “out of goodwill”, the global chess body changed its stance once it got to know about Freestyle chess’s intention to use the term World Championship for its events.

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A war of words between Carlsen and the FIDE soon followed, with the former even accusing FIDE Arkady Dvorkovich of “coercion of players, misuse of power and broken promises” and even demanded his resignation. FIDE had also asked players to sign a waiver stating that they won’t participate in a non-FIDE World Championship. Last week, the Freestyle chess, on their part, decided to remove the World Championship term from tournament regulations and as a result, the players were no longer needed to sign the waiver.

Carlsen reached the quarter-finals of the Weissenhaus leg of the Freestyle Chess Grand Slam Tour after finishing fourth in the 10-player standings . Carlsen is currently facing Nodirbek Abdusattorov in the last-eight clash and won the first game of the two-game quarter-finals on Sunday. The second game will take place on Monday.