FIDE statement on the "Freestyle Chess" project

[John Swain]

FIDE has stated its position about Freestyle (a.k.a. Fischer Random or Chess 960 because there are apparently 960 possible starting positions):
https://www.fide.com/news/3392

[Christopher Kreuzer]

After the preamble, the serious bit is this:

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 the not so distant past.

Although the formal status of 2025 Freestyle Chess series has yet to be determined, FIDE wants to ensure that all players can plan their schedules for 2025. That is why - as a matter of goodwill and to provide sufficient comfort to the players for the immediate future - FIDE took the decision to accommodate the 2025 Freestyle Chess series in the calendar and to refrain from invoking relevant legal clauses in previously signed contracts concerning players' participation in 2025 Freestyle events.

Nevertheless, FIDE retains all its legal rights related to the World Championship title and will be ready to challenge organizers and initiators of any series that decide to brand themselves as a "World Championship" without the approval of FIDE.

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.

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.

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.

[John Upham]

Worth noting is:

Hans-Walter Schmitt, chairman of the Frankfurt Chess Tigers e.V. and an advocate of the variant, started a brainstorming process for creating a new name, which had to meet the requirements of leading grandmasters; specifically, the new name and its parts:

should not contain part of the name of any grandmaster;
should not include negatively biased or "spongy" elements (such as "random" or "freestyle"); and
should be universally understood.

[Roger de Coverly]

Worth noting is:

That's from the wiki article. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chess960

The quote rules out the old name of Fischer Random.

The traditional position and its mirror with kings and queens the other way round are presumably counted in the 960.

There's also a discussion in the article about how much of an advantage, if any, is given by having the first move.

[John Upham]

The traditional position and its mirror with kings and queens the other way round are presumably counted in the 960.

From memory these are positions #518 and #536 respectively but I need find my spreadsheet of FR set-ups.

I've referred to #536 as the School Chess Club set-up.

[Kevin Thurlow]

"Nevertheless, FIDE retains all its legal rights related to the World Championship title and will be ready to challenge organizers and initiators of any series that decide to brand themselves as a "World Championship" without the approval of FIDE."

FIDE's belief that they own the words "World Championship" might be tested one day.

I believe "Fischer Random" started as the pieces being entirely shuffleable (if that's a word) on the back row, but probably with the white pieces mirroring the black pieces. So you could get Ka1 and 8, Bb1 and 8, Rc1 and 8, Bd1 and 8....

"Chess960" has the additional criteria that the king is somewhere between the rooks, the two bishops occupy different coloured starting squares, and the king can castle (reaching the same position of king and rook as in proper chess, with the usual requirement that there's nothing in the way, or no square the king starts from, crosses, or arrives at being attacked). There are 960 legal starting positions. I think Fischer and various Polgars discussed this a lot when he was living in Budapest.

[Paul Heaton]

I believe "Fischer Random" started as the pieces being entirely shuffleable (if that's a word) on the back row, but probably with the white pieces mirroring the black pieces. So you could get Ka1 and 8, Bb1 and 8, Rc1 and 8, Bd1 and 8....

"Chess960" has the additional criteria that the king is somewhere between the rooks, the two bishops occupy different coloured starting squares, and the king can castle (reaching the same position of king and rook as in proper chess, with the usual requirement that there's nothing in the way, or no square the king starts from, crosses, or arrives at being attacked). There are 960 legal starting positions. I think Fischer and various Polgars discussed this a lot when he was living in Budapest.

Fischer formulated all these rules, when formulating what he called Fischerandom (ie one word). Hans Walter Schmitt just coined the name Chess960, when setting up the initial tournaments in Mainz, supposedly because Fischer did not want him to use his name.

[Matt Mackenzie]

I've referred to #536 as the School Chess Club set-up.

Bishops and Knights the "wrong" way round is another one of those.

[NickFaulks]

The traditional position and its mirror with kings and queens the other way round are presumably counted in the 960.

Mirrors are in fact independent positions, because of the castling rule.

[John Upham]

I've referred to #536 as the School Chess Club set-up.

Bishops and Knights the "wrong" way round is another one of those.

The school chess club position is the King and Queen wrong way round position.

[John Swain]

Chess.com has commented on the FIDE v Freestyle power struggle: https://www.chess.com/news/view/fide-is ... tyle-chess

[Richard Bates]

Should be in the “not chess” section.

[Geoff Chandler]

https://x.com/chess_freestyle/status/18 ... 3018870010

An Open letter from Jan Henric Buettner to Emil Sutovsky and FIDE

Dear Emil,

Over the past year, you, Arkady, and FIDE have come a long way — from you singing opera songs to me over the phone, to your request to host the FIDE Chess960 World Championship in Weissenhaus last year, to Arkady meeting with Henrik and me in London for hours to coordinate tournament schedules, ensuring players wouldn't face conflicting commitments.

However, the collaboration has become increasingly strained. A notable example was Arkady's invitation for Magnus and Fabiano to play a Freestyle Chess Summit in Singapore, only for us to be stonewalled and ignored upon arrival. It seems FIDE's approach of "good cop (Arkady) / bad cop (Emil)" tactics was bound to fail. Now, FIDE appears to have dropped the pretense entirely, adopting a confrontational stance toward the players. In my opinion, this shift is counterproductive. Instead of engaging constructively with us - the organizers of the Freestyle Chess Grand Slam Tour - FIDE has alienated the very players who are its greatest assets. Nonetheless, Freestyle remains open to dialogue and is committed to working collaboratively with FIDE to avoid unnecessary conflict.

Let me clarify once again: our tour is not a "World Championship" in the traditional sense, as I have explained to both Arkady and Vishy. It is titled the "Freestyle Chess Grand Slam Tour." At the end of each year, we crown a champion in Freestyle Chess — a format that might evolve in the future, potentially moving beyond Chess960 to other new formats, but not classical chess.

The title of "world champion" in this context reflects the unique format of our events, not an attempt to challenge FIDE's traditional World Championship cycle. If FIDE's issue truly lies with the use of "World Championship" terminology, it would have to address similar cases, such as the Bughouse World Championship, where even players like Ding Liren have participated. Yet FIDE has not penalized Ding or others for taking part. This inconsistency reveals the true motive behind FIDE's actions: money.

Despite Freestyle's willingness to offer $100,000 annually to FIDE — purely as a gesture of goodwill and to avoid harassment - this has been rebuffed. FIDE's demand for $500,000, an unjustifiable sum for a format it has no involvement in, suggests that monetary gain is the primary driver.Our sponsors, many of whom prefer to avoid association with FIDE altogether, support our decision to remain independent.

FIDE's recent actions, such as threatening players with sanctions and demanding they sign agreements under undue pressure and without legal counsel, are deeply troubling. This is neither ethical nor professional. FIDE is attempting to exploit its dominant market position to strong-arm players into submission. Such tactics are unacceptable, and Freestyle will continue to defend the players' interests against these abuses of power.

Contrary to FIDE's approach, Freestyle prioritizes the players. This is why we have retained legal counsel to protect them from FIDE's overreach. No player has violated their obligations; instead, FIDE is the party acting improperly. Freestyle's focus remains on creating a positive environment for players, allowing them to concentrate on their games without the burden of unnecessary political interference.

To summarize:

Freestyle is not competing with FIDE, nor does it claim to be "bigger than FIDE."

FIDE does not own the rights to all chess-related activities, nor does it hold exclusive authority over the word "world."

Freestyle seeks peace, not conflict. We are still willing to contribute $50,000 annually to ensure the players are left undisturbed.

If FIDE continues its harassment, Freestyle will stand firm in defending the players to the fullest extent.

Rather than escalating this situation, I urge FIDE to return to the table and engage in constructive discussions. Harassing, threatening, or sanctioning players is not only counterproductive but also undermines the principles of fair competition and respect for the chess community.

I remain available for a conversation with you or Arkady at any time.

Best regards,

Jan

[Geoff Chandler]

...and there has been a reply. (this is fun)

When one sees public rhetoric coming from Freestyle Chess leaders, it becomes clear, that the project is bound to fail.

" F U ", "They are so stupid", "Horse sh.t" etc.

And why all that? Because you want your private project to be called World Championship? Instead of finding a way to cooperate - as we do with several major organizers, to align the Calendar as we proposed for the benefit of players and fans.

So, to hype the things up you start a campaign belittling classical/regular chess, orchestrating media publications, and spicen it up with personal attacks?

That is not how you win hearts or money. And money is by far the main objective for this commercial project.

This is also not the way to appeal to chess community: you may hire lawyers and try to convince some players to violate their obligations. But it won't work at large - especially when you have nothing sustainable to offer. And chess players know that FIDE delivers and will keep delivering.

And you completely neglect entire chess society, focusing on few people interest - and for that sake go to war, demanding your project to be called World Championship?

All the above (and there is much more) are signs of the attitude that will lead to a failure.

FIDE is known for its readiness to be mindful, flexible, and to go extra miles towards partners, and especially players - and that was mistaken for weakness.

"I am bigger than FIDE" concept did not work even for Fischer and Kasparov - who tried it being reigning World Champions, while having a real dominance over their rivals at the time. Of course, initially the public may back a superstar vs the governing body. And you may lure in a couple of naive investors. But that is unsustainable - and we saw many examples of the kind.

Today FIDE is probably in the best position ever - and chess community sees it - we deliver unprecedented number of projects around the world, we keep increasing prize funds for top players and support for educational and social programs, and we can plan far ahead thanks to our partnerships East and West.

We'd love to work with any private project - in particular with ambitious ones.

But if you want a war - try us. 8:16 AM · Jan 28, 2025

https://x.com/EmilSutovsky/status/18841 ... -escalates

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[Kevin Thurlow]

"FIDE is known for its readiness to be mindful, flexible, and to go extra miles towards partners, and especially players - and that was mistaken for weakness."

Er...