 "FIDE slams Magnus Carlsen for 'misleading' claims about threatening players: 'Conveniently forget to mention'")
FIDE CEO and Grandmaster Emil Sutovsky has criticised Magnus Carlsen and other players for promoting a “misleading” narrative that the International Chess Federation is "threatening" players against joining the Freestyle Chess Grand Slam tour . Sutovsky explained that top players already have contracts with FIDE that prohibit participation in “World Championships” not approved by the federation. He emphasised that these contracts were signed willingly, making it unfair to claim that FIDE is coercing players against their will.
Sutovsky’s statement comes amid an escalated tension between FIDE and Freestyle Chess Players Club (FCPC) which world No.1 Magnus Carlsen has co-founded. Besides Carlsen, German technology investor Jan Buettner also co-founded the initiative. The FCPC is a private group of elite players with an ELO Rating of a minimum 2725.
Carlsen accuses FIDE of threatening players
Last year, they hosted the inaugural 2024 Freestyle Chess G.O.A.T. Challenge in Weissenhaus, Germany and Carlsen won it. The tournament has now been expanded to a year-long series of events. The first leg of the Freestyle Chess Grand Slam Tour will take place in Weissenhaus in February, with matches also scheduled to take place in Paris, Delhi, New York, and Cape Town later in 2025.
The lineup for the February tournament includes Carlsen, D Gukesh, Hikaru Nakamura, Fabiano Caruana, Nodirbek Abdusattorov, Levon Aronian, Alireza Firouzja, Vincent Keymer, Vladimir Fedoseev and Javokhir Sindarov.
The Grand Slam tour will be played in Freestyle chess format which is also known as Chess960 or Fischer Random. In Freestyle chess, the starting position of the pieces on the back rank is drawn randomly in advance.
The Freestyle Chess G.O.A.T. Challenge was a huge success and the organisers are looking forward to a more successful Grand Slam tour but the problem stems from their effort to present it as a “World Championship”.
Impact Shorts
More ShortsFIDE recently threatened to take legal action against FCPC if they continue to project their upcoming Grand Slam tour as a World Championship.
“The attempts by FCPC to present their project as a World Championship are in contradiction with the well-established status of FIDE and its authority over world championship titles in all relevant variations of chess - including Chess960/Freestyle chess, as outlined in the FIDE Handbook,” FIDE said in a statement on Tuesday.
“…Should such an agreement not be reached, FIDE demands that the Freestyle series does not carry the status of a “World Championship”. FIDE will not hesitate to use all legal means against those who violate its rights – be it initiators, organizers and/or investors of the project.”
FIDE’s statement comes after Carlsen had accused them of trying to threaten players against participating in the Freestyle Chess Grand Slam Tour. However, FIDE Sutovsky has now claimed that Carlsen and players like world No.3 Hikaru Nakamura, who have called for a boycott of FIDE amid the controversy , are misleading the fans with statements that the global chess body is threatening players.
FIDE counters Carlsen’s ‘misleading’ claims
Sutovsky said that Carlsen and Nakamura are well aware of their contracts with FIDE that bans players from participating in any non-FIDE-approved chess World Championship for four years.
“One more thing Magnus, Hikaru and proponents of Freestyle Chess conveniently forget to mention: All top players ALREADY have a binding contract with a clause of their non-participation in “World Championships” not approved by FIDE,” Sutovsky said on X.
“This clause, mentioning four years of non-participation in alternative World Championships was in all contracts for FIDE major events since the unification (after the split of 90ies) - for the obvious reason: you can’t properly plan and decently fund the World Championships and the entire cycle without knowing that top players are committed to not join alternative ones.”
One more thing Magnus, Hikaru and proponents of Freestyle Chess conveniently forget to mention:
— Emilchess (@EmilSutovsky) January 22, 2025
All top players ALREADY have a binding contract with a clause of their non-participation in "World Championships" not approved by FIDE.
This clause, mentioning four years of…
Sutovsky added that Carlsen signed the FIDE contract in 2023 and other top players in 2024, which means legally they can’t take part in a World Championship that is not approved by FIDE.
“The agreement was signed by Magnus in 2023, and by other top players in 2024,” he added. “So, this whole narrative of threatening players is deliberately misleading.”
Neither Carlsen nor Nakamura has responded to Sutovsky’s claims so far.
 "Russian drones over Poland: Trump’s tepid reaction a wake-up call for Nato?")
 "As Russia pushes east, Ukraine faces mounting pressure to defend its heartland")
 "Why Mossad was not on board with Israel’s strike on Hamas in Qatar")
 "Turkey: Erdogan's police arrest opposition mayor Hasan Mutlu, dozens officials in corruption probe")
 "Russian drones over Poland: Trump’s tepid reaction a wake-up call for Nato?")
 "As Russia pushes east, Ukraine faces mounting pressure to defend its heartland")
 "Why Mossad was not on board with Israel’s strike on Hamas in Qatar")
 "Turkey: Erdogan's police arrest opposition mayor Hasan Mutlu, dozens officials in corruption probe")
