Magnus Carlsen in spotlight again as FIDE accuses world No 1 of creating ‘divisions in the chess world’

Things are heating up in the chess world as the International Chess Federation (FIDE) has hit out at Magnus Carlsen’s co-owned Freestyle Chess Players Club (FCPC) for creating “divisions in the chess world” and wrongly projecting its upcoming tournament as the “World Championship”.

Besides World No.1 and five-time chess champion Carlsen, top players like Viswanathan Anand, new world champion D Gukesh , R Praggnanandhaa, Hikaru Nakamura and Fabiano Caruana are also members of the Freestyle Chess Players Club.

FIDE and the Freestyle Chess Players Club have been at odds over using the World Championship for private tournaments. However, last month, FCPC released a statement stating that they have reached an agreement that allows both the Freestyle Chess Grand Slams and FIDE events to exist peacefully.

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FIDE says FCPC can’t call its tournament world event 

But FIDE released a strong-worded statement on Tuesday, raising objections against using the term World Championship for FCPC’s event.

“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.

“Moreover, the line of conduct adopted by FCPC threatens the execution of players’ existing contractual obligations towards FIDE.

“The steps taken by the FCPC project unavoidably lead to divisions in the chess world – and we remember all too well the unfortunate consequences of a similar split that happened in not so distant past.”

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The Freestyle Chess World Championship 2025 will start in Weissenhaus, Germany next month and see participation from 10 of the top players. It will also be played across multiple legs in Paris, New York, Delhi and Cape Town.

FIDE threatens legal action against Freestyle Chess Club

FIDE added that they are willing to engage in “dialogue” with FCPC but threatened legal action if the World Championship is used for Freestyle series events.

“We are open to dialogue, and looking forward to reaching a mutually acceptable agreement, provided that the governing role and its well established authority of FIDE over the World Championships is respected by potential partners,” the chess federation said.

“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.”

The global chess body also said that all qualified players in the 2025-2026 World Championship cycle would need to sign an additional contract with FIDE that would bar them from participating in any “world chess championship” not approved by FIDE.

“As the 2025-2026 World Championship cycle is underway, all qualified players are expected to sign an additional contract, which will include a clause indicating that participation in any alternative world chess championships in any variation of chess not approved by FIDE (except for the Freestyle tour in 2025) would lead to their withdrawal from the two consecutive FIDE World Championship cycles.

“As a part of the contracts FIDE commits to running the cycle events at the highest level with substantially increased prize funds – the dates and locations of those are published in FIDE Calendar.”