by “Freestyle chess” is a new name for the version in which the back-ranking pieces are randomly placed, so that the game is more a test of skill and imagination than a memorization of book openings. It was called Fischer Random after its inventor, then Chess 960 or Chess 9LX after the number of possible starting positions.
Elite old masters like it, and this week a $200,000 event was held at the Weissenhaus resort on Germany’s Baltic coast. Half of the eight competitors, including the World No 1, Magnus Carlsen, and the world champion, Ding Liren, were over 30s, and the other four under-21s.
The quick section, to decide the classic knock-out pairings, was a disaster for Ding, who struggled with health issues and lost seven matches in a row. Levon Aronian beat him in 18 moves with a queen sacrifice.
Carlsen prepared at a training camp in Spain alongside England gold medalist David Howell, but made a slow start, although he won a brilliant 19 moves of his own.
The event then moved into its knockout stages, where Carlsen lost his first match against Alireza Firouzja before coming back to win 3-1, as Ding’s exciting form continued. The under-21s could only produce one semi-final, where the pairings of Nodirbek Abdusattorov v Carlsen and Fabiano Caruana v Aronian, decided their quarter-final by another thumbnail shown in this week’s answer.
Carlsen won the tournament and the $60,000 first prize after three hours of play on Friday when he gradually outplayed Caruana and turned over two extra bets in a 44-move game. Aronian, the oldest competitor at 41, beat Abdusattorov to take third place and Ding was the final eight.
Sponsor Jan Buettner said the event would return to Germany in February 2025, when there could also be a Freestyle Tour, with events in the United States in May, India in August , and in Cape Town, South Africa, in November.
Will chess fans be convinced? Decide for yourself by tuning into the Carlsen v Caruana final on Friday. Game two starts at noon GMT, lasts 3-5 hours, and after a 1-1 score follows a quick tiebreaker, blitz and Armageddon.
Next Monday will see the start of Cambridge’s second international tournament, and eight-time British champion Michael Adams will have the opportunity to continue an extraordinary streak.
The Cornishman, 52, won the first Cambridge event in February 2023, followed by the English Championships in May, the British Championships in July, the World Senior Team gold medal in September, the individual World 50+ in November, and the London Classic in December.
Six important competitions, six first prizes, 54 games, 34 wins, 20 draws, no defeats. Bobby Fischer and Carlsen did long streaks without success in their 20s, but doing it in your 50s is something else. The run was achieved in classic, orthodox Adams style, as well as knowing when to win and when to save energy. Cambridge 2024 will be a fresh challenge, as the entry is stronger than last year, with some 2500+ GMs in the field.
Cambridge will also be notable for a quartet of rising British talents. Shreyas Royal, 15, needs a third final norm as well as a handful of rating points to become England’s youngest-ever GM, but he still has to earn it. The 4NCL series, where he plays the best table for Wood Green Youth, could also be an opportunity, but with 3.5/6 he still has work to do.
Frederick Waldhausen Gordon, 13, already has one IM result and could be Scotland’s No.1. He is in good form and won a fine game in 4NCL last weekend against GM John Emms.
A well-analysed Semi-Tarrasch, where Gordon 17 Qd3 innovated on the usual 17 Qf4, and, after a few inaccuracies, won thematically by combining an advance for his pawn with threats to the black king.
Related: Chess: Carlsen meets Firouzja for another Champions Tour title
Supratit Banerjee, who has just moved from Scotland to England, is based near Coulsdon, Surrey. The nine-year-old claims to be world No 1 in his age group, and gained 137 rating points last month with promising results at Hastings, where he drew with IM strong Ameet Ghasi, and in events 4NCL.
Bodhana Sivanandan set historical records last month with her impressive performance at the European Women’s Blitz in Monaco. The octogenarian’s results in slower classical games are not as impressive, but last weekend at the 4NCL she scored a good win against 2000+ opponents, with 41 Nxe6! leading to a crushing attack.
Chess in Schools and Communities, which has introduced chess to thousands of students, as well as organizing the London Classic and working in prisons, has just published a new report. It’s a great read.
Fide is celebrating its centenary this year. Commemorative events began this week with a global torch relay, led by Vishy Anand, Judit Polgar, and others, from the 2022 Olympics in India to the 2024 Olympics in Budapest.
3907: 1 rxd6+! and Black quit. If cxd6 2 Bb6+ Kc8 3 Rc4+ and mate. If Rxd6 wins 2 Rxe8+ Kxe8 3 Qxg8+ and 4 Qxb8.
