World Champion D Gukesh qualified for the knockout stage in the first event of the Freestyle Grand Slam Tour, despite losing to the world’s highest-rated player, Magnus Carlsen of Norway, in the ninth and final round of the qualifiers.

Carlsen, the world’s highest-rated chess player since 2010, will take a seat in Weissenhaus, Germany, to compete in freestyle chess, previously known as Chess960 and Fischer Random. The starting position of the back row pieces is randomized, removing a top grandmaster’s lifetime of memorization and theory on how to open a chess game.

World Champion D Gukesh managed to scrape through to the quarter-finals of the Weissenhaus event of the Freestyle Chess Grand Slam Tour despite failing to collect a single win in the Round Robin stage,

Magnus Carlsen questioned the validity of classical chess as a measure of skill, favoring rapid chess. Gukesh acknowledged the quality of their championship match, while Carlsen ruled out a title clash.

The 18-year-old reigning classical world champion didn’t win a single game in nine rounds but still managed to sneak into the top eight and qualify for the knockout stage

Classical World Champion D. Gukesh lost to World No. 1 Magnus Carlsen in the last round of the round-robin stage at the Freestyle Chess Grand Slam tour on Sunday.

Freestyle Chess Grand Slam tour boss Jan Henric Buettner and all-time great Magnus Carlsen have called on International Chess Federation (FIDE) president Arkady Dvorkovich to resign after talks over an agreement about the new series fell through.

The five-tournament series will unfold through the year, with Paris, New York, New Delhi and Cape Town being the other four host cities. It will end with the final competition from December 5 to 12

World Champion D Gukesh advanced to the knockout stage of the Freestyle Grand Slam Tour despite losing to Magnus Carlsen in the final round. Gukesh secured eighth place with 3.5 points. Alireza Firouzja and Javokhir Sindarov topped the table,

This isn't just another chess tournament though, with a public spat between Carlsen and the promoters of the FCGT with FIDE in the build-up to the tournament.