All posts tagged: FIDE Chess

FIDE Chess has officially joined the World Games Association

FIDE Chess has officially joined the World Games Association

Published by Webster

The International World Games Association (IWGA) is pleased to announce that the International Chess Federation (FIDE) has been granted membership status within the organisation. The IWGA Members confirmed the collaboration at the Annual General Meeting (AGM) held at the Olympic Museum in Lausanne on 25 April 2026. Following a review of the submitted application, IWGA Members voted to approve FIDE’s admission. With this decision, the number of IWGA Member Federations increases to 40. FIDE’s inclusion represents an important step in the continued development and diversification of the IWGA, further strengthening its global reach and the range of sports represented within The World Games Movement. As the international governing body for chess, FIDE brings a well-established global structure and a strong community of players and stakeholders. IWGA CEO, Joachim Gossow, welcomed the decision, stating: “We are very pleased to welcome FIDE as a Member of the IWGA. Chess is one of the most widely practised and recognised disciplines worldwide, and its inclusion reflects our commitment to embracing a diverse range of sports, including mind sports, within …

FIDE announce major overhauls to Circuit path for Candidates qualification, to merge next two cycles into one

FIDE announce major overhauls to Circuit path for Candidates qualification, to merge next two cycles into one

Published by Webster

FIDE, the International Chess Federation, has announced a comprehensive overhaul of its Circuit Rating system, one of the pathways to the prestigious Candidates Tournament, for the upcoming 2026-27 cycle. The most important update is the merger of the next two years into a single, unified circuit. This replaces the previous annual cycle, which saw Fabiano Caruana and R. Praggnanandhaa secure their Candidates 2026 spots through the 2024 and 2025 circuits, respectively. FIDE’s statement reads, “For the first time, the FIDE Circuit will operate over a two-year cycle. Instead of an annual ranking, results from the 2026 and 2027 seasons will be combined into a single Circuit ranking. A player’s final score will be calculated as the sum of their twelve highest event scores achieved across the two-year period, or all event scores if fewer than twelve are available.” Major Shift 2-YEAR Circuit Cycle Replaces Annual System Change 01 Expanded Results Counting More tournament results now contribute to final Circuit rankings, rewarding consistency Change 02 Open Circuit Sub-Ranking New separate ranking system creates additional pathway through …

Silver for Nihal Sarin, Vantika Agrawal finishes 4th

Silver for Nihal Sarin, Vantika Agrawal finishes 4th

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Indian Grandmaster Nihal Sarin defeated GM Bardiya Daneshvar of Iran in the final round to clinch the silver medal in the open category at the Asian Chess Championships 2025 in Al Ain, UAE, on Thursday. Nihal and Bardiya finished the tournament on the same number of points (7/9), but owing to a better tiebreak, the latter was crowned champion. Both players, however, qualified for the FIDE Chess World Cup 2025. Going into the final round, Bardiya held the sole lead, but Nihal played an excellent queen’s pawn opening to outclass his opponent in the final round and confirmed a medal for India. Incidentally, Nihal was the top seed of the tournament, but after a poor start to the tournament, he was out of the top 10 at the halfway mark. However, a streak of four consecutive wins pushed him to a podium finish. 🚨#News l GM Nihal Sarin secures the silver medal at the Asian Chess Championships🏆 Nihal Sarin defeated the eventual champion GM Bardiya Daneshvar of Iran in the final round💪 He finished the …

‘Cannot deal with a partner who has such business culture’

‘Cannot deal with a partner who has such business culture’

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FIDE president Arkady Dvorkovich has accused organisers of Freestyle Chess of leaking personal texts sent by him during the terse negotiations over the past few months. Dvorkovich told The Indian Express in an exclusive interview on Tuesday that messages that he had sent Jan Henric Buettner, the man behind the freestyle chess tour, were being shared with players ‘within seconds’ during the negotiations. FIDE president Arkady Dvorkovich speaks at an event during the FIDE World Chess Championship in Singapore last year.(PHOTO: FIDE/Maria Emilianova) After talks between FIDE and organisers of Freestyle Chess collapsed on Monday, Buettner posted a long open letter addressed to the FIDE president where he also made public personal messages sent to him by Dvorkovich. Soon, this was followed by Magnus Carlsen sharing on X messages sent by Dvorkovich to his father to convince the world no 1 to play in the FIDE World Blitz Championship in December. Soon, Carlsen’s trainer Peter Heine Nielsen also shared private messages sent to him by FIDE CEO Emil Sutovsky in 2018. Story continues below this …

FIDE president reveals one clause that became sticking point and more

FIDE president reveals one clause that became sticking point and more

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A day after talks broke down between FIDE and organisers of the Freestyle Chess Grand Slam Tour, Arkady Dvorkovich, the president of the global chess body, has revealed the clause that became a sticking point in negotiations between the two parties. Just days before the bitter fallout, FIDE and organisers of the Freestyle Tour had been confident that an agreement would be reached. There was even a press release drafted and kept ready to announce that both parties had found middle ground. But on Monday, FIDE announced that there was no agreement. This led to open letters from Freestyle Chess’ main organiser Jan Henric Buettner and a post on social media from Magnus Carlsen where he demanded that Dvorkovich step down. Now, Arkady Dvorkovich had revealed to The Indian Express what had gone wrong, why FIDE Council had no faith in Freestyle Chess organisers, what FIDE could have done better, why FIDE are not perfect and more. Excerpts from an interview: What went wrong? Story continues below this ad Arkady Dvorkovich: We had very intensive …

As FIDE vs Freestyle Chess war intensifies, Magnus Carlsen, trainer share private text messages from FIDE president, CEO

As FIDE vs Freestyle Chess war intensifies, Magnus Carlsen, trainer share private text messages from FIDE president, CEO

Published by Webster

The FIDE versus Freestyle Chess war intensified late on Monday after peace talks collapsed between the two parties. In the immediate aftermath of the feud reigniting, there were open letters from both sides with fresh allegations. Members from the Freestyle Chess camp also aired private messages from FIDE officials like president Arkady Dvorkovich and CEO Emil Sutovsky. World No 1 Magnus Carlsen posted a couple of texts that Dvorkovich had sent to his father Henrik Carlsen on his X handle before asking the Russian to resign. Story continues below this ad Carlsen posted on X: “Coercion of players, misuse of power and broken promises. FIDE President Dvorkovich, to convince me to play the Rapid & Blitz in New York, you wrote Dec 19th to my father: ‘Just want to pass a message to you and Magnus that whatever happens between FIDE and Freestyle in terms of recognition, players will NOT be affected in any way. They can decide on their own and FIDE will not take any negative action.’ The Norwegian added: “You added later …

As peace talks fail, Freestyle Chess and FIDE blame each other

As peace talks fail, Freestyle Chess and FIDE blame each other

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Peace talks between FIDE and Freestyle Chess Grand Slam Tour collapsed on Monday, with the latter calling on the world body’s president Arkady Dvorkovich to “resign immediately” and threatening to take legal action. “You will have to resign immediately from your position as President, because you have now proven for the third time within two months that you cannot even speak for FIDE,” Jan Henric Buettner, the man behind the Freestyle Chess Tour, wrote in the letter shared with The Indian Express. Talks seem to have broken down due to a lack of mutual trust, with both parties claiming the other was to blame for the continuing impasse. Freestyle Chess has also threatened to take FIDE to court in this matter. Story continues below this ad Buettner claimed that while negotiations were still on, FIDE had chosen to post a press statement on their social media handles that there had been no agreement between the two parties due to the “other party’s refusal to acknowledge FIDE’s status as the sole regulator of World Chess Championships …

FIDE vs Freestyle Chess dispute continues as ‘intensive negotiations’ lead nowhere

FIDE vs Freestyle Chess dispute continues as ‘intensive negotiations’ lead nowhere

Published by Webster

The global governing body of chess, FIDE, has announced that talks with the organisers of Freestyle Chess Grand Slam Tour have not yielded much as the impasse continues in chess. “Despite intensive negotiations, the FIDE Council states that there is currently no agreement regarding the Freestyle Tour. This is due to the other party’s refusal to acknowledge FIDE’s status as the sole regulator of World Chess Championships and its authority to award a World Championship title,” FIDE posted on their X handle on Monday afternoon. It went on to add that it would be releasing a “full statement” on the matter later on Monday. Story continues below this ad FIDE and organizers of the upcoming Freestyle Chess Grand Slam Tour have been at loggerheads for over two months now. This feud has seen both sides write open letters and level serious allegations against each other. The biggest issue between the two parties had been over the use of the phrase ‘world championship’. As the global governing body of chess, FIDE has stated unequivocally that only …

As peace talks fail, Freestyle Chess and FIDE blame each other

FIDE and freestyle chess organisers close to amicable agreement after 2-month-long dispute

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The prospect of ‘war’ looming over the world of chess seems to be easing up after the organisers of Freestyle Chess Grand Slam Tour and FIDE are close to an amicable agreement, The Indian Express can reveal. After two months of uncertainty in the sport punctuated by open letters and allegations against each other, a ceasefire appears likely. In fact, over the past three days there have been three one-on-one phone calls between German entrepreneur Jan Henric Buettner, the brains and financial muscle behind the ambitious freestyle tour, and FIDE president Arkady Dvorkovich to smoothen out matters. “I already had two phone calls with Arkady yesterday and the day before, and we’re going to have another one today. I can tell you that we are pretty close to reaching an amicable agreement that will lead to a good situation where we kind of bury the hatchet and say, ‘okay, let’s move on with an agreement that works for both sides,’” Buettner told The Indian Express on Friday. Story continues below this ad The phone calls …

As FIDE bans sneakers, chess player vents frustration at ‘level of ignorance’

As FIDE bans sneakers, chess player vents frustration at ‘level of ignorance’

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A year after she was fined 100 euros by FIDE for wearing what the organization’s arbiters deemed “sports shoes”, Dutch chess player and popular streamer Anna-Maja Kazarian has slammed the global governing body for the sport for formally banning sneakers at this year’s FIDE Rapid and Blitz tournament. “Seems like FIDE doubled-down after last year’s mess: NO sneakers allowed at all at the World Rapid & Blitz! It’s very frustrating to see the level of ignorance and old-fashioned standards,” posted Kazarian on Twitter. She also shared images from a FIDE guide presentation for players which had a chapter called: “Dress for Chess to Impress.” It had photographs showing “guiding samples of approved outfits” and what not to wear. Under the second category, the guidelines had images of sneakers, jeans, T-shirts and torn clothing. “The dress code for the playing venue is Smart Business Attire, aiming for a balance between professionalism and comfort. This allows for individual expression while maintaining a consistent level of elegance,” said the presentation prepared by grandmaster Ahmed Adly, who is the …