All posts tagged: Freestyle

Pranav V becomes first Indian to qualify for 2027 FIDE Freestyle Chess World Championship

Pranav V becomes first Indian to qualify for 2027 FIDE Freestyle Chess World Championship

2 min readJun 30, 2026 01:28 PM IST Promising young chess talent Pranav V became the first Indian to qualify for the 2027 FIDE Freestyle Chess World Championship. The 19-year-old from Chennai confirmed his qualification through the first part of the 2026 Freestyle Friday Championship. The former World Junior Champion Pranav joins Magnus Carlsen, Fabiano Caruana, Nodirbek Abdusattorov, and Vincent Keymer in the Open category, as five names are confirmed for the eight-player championship. After 19 weeks of online play, Pranav finished first in the Open standings of the Freestyle Friday Championship with 60 points to secure his place in the 2027 World Championship, which will be played at the Weissenhaus Private Nature Luxury Resort in northern Germany. Before Pranav, Harika Dronavalli had already qualified for the women’s championship, making it two Indian representatives in the event. Ukraine’s Anna Muzychuk has also confirmed her place in the women’s championship through the same Freestyle Friday route. She topped the field in the women’s standings with 88 points from 19 weeks. In the Women’s category, Muzychuk joins …

Aryan Nehra qualifies for the Commonwealth Games in 1500m Freestyle

Aryan Nehra qualifies for the Commonwealth Games in 1500m Freestyle

Gujarat’s Aryan Nehra lit up the Veer Savarkar Sports Complex with a record-breaking performance in the men’s 1500m freestyle and also booked his berth for the Glasgow Commonwealth Games on Day 3 of the 79th National Swimming Championships in Ahmedabad on Thursday. Aryan clocked 15:14.88s to swim 11 seconds faster than the CWG qualification mark which stood at 15:25.48s. Aryan is now only the third Indian swimmer after Sajan Prakash (200m Butterfly) and Srihari Natraj (50m Backstroke) to achieve the mark. Best Indian Time and #CWG2026 qualification for Gujarat’s Aryan Nehra in men’s 1500m freestyle 👏 He clocked 15:14.88s at the Senior National Aquatic C’ships, beating the previous timing of 15:29.76s. Commonwealth Games qualification time was 15:25.48s.#Swimming 🏊 pic.twitter.com/pyfeXcmkFX — The Bridge (@the_bridge_in) June 18, 2026 He led from the start and maintained the pace to better his own Best Indian Performance of 15:20.91, setting a new national benchmark in the event. Karnataka’s Dharshan S (15:38.00s) and Delhi’s Kushagra Rawat (15:41.66s) settled for silver and bronze, respectively. In the women’s 100m Freestyle, Karnataka’s Dhinidhi Desinghu …

India’s Freestyle Wrestlers add nine medals at U23 Asian Championships in Vietnam

India’s Freestyle Wrestlers add nine medals at U23 Asian Championships in Vietnam

Indian freestyle wrestlers continued their impressive campaign at the U23 Asian Championships in Da Nang, Vietnam, with the contingent securing multiple medals on day four of the competition. Kumar Mohit and Chandermohan emerged as the standout performers by clinching gold medals in their respective weight categories, while India also added silver and bronze medals to strengthen its overall tally. Competing in the 65kg category, Mohit delivered a dominant performance in the final, defeating Kyrgyzstan’s Oskonbai Abdisamatov 12-4 to secure the gold medal. Later, Chandermohan edged past Kazakhstan’s Yerkhan Abil in a closely fought 79kg final, winning 7-6 to hand India another title. In the 61kg division, Deepak settled for silver after a tightly contested 4-4 final against Kazakhstan’s Nurdanat Aitanov. Another Indian wrestler named Deepak claimed bronze in the 74kg category with a commanding 10-0 victory over Turkmenistan’s Vatan Annairazov. India’s medal haul further increased with Kumar Punit taking silver in the 92kg division after losing to Kyrgyzstan’s Ulukbek Soorombekov in the final. Mor Sachin secured bronze in the 86kg category by defeating Boburbek Ruzimboev …

What’s the difference between Greco-Roman and Freestyle wrestling?

What’s the difference between Greco-Roman and Freestyle wrestling?

Wrestling, one of the oldest martial arts, has evolved as the most popular and widely practised combat sport globally, giving rise to numerous variations in other individual sports. Modern wrestling, also known as international wrestling, has been a permanent feature of the Olympic Games since the modern era, particularly in its two main disciplines: Greco-Roman and Freestyle. While the ultimate goal in the two disciplines is to finish with more points than your opponents at the final whistle, the two disciplines are still very different from each other. Here are a few differences between the two Olympic Styles of Wrestling: Style of Play The Greco-Roman wrestling style is more traditional, originating from the European folkstyle wrestling, restricting the grappler from any below-the-belt attack. A wrestler can’t attack the legs of their opponents or even use their own legs to apply an attack in Greco-Roman; instead, they have to use their upper-body strength to induce a take-down. On the other hand, freestyle wrestling allows you more of a free flow, and you can make any legal …

Harika Dronavalli stuns world No 24 Awonder Liang at Grenke Freestyle Open

Harika Dronavalli stuns world No 24 Awonder Liang at Grenke Freestyle Open

In an unexpected result at the 2026 Grenke Freestyle Open, India’s Harika Dronavalli registered against a higher rated world No 24 Awonder Liang of the United States. Playing with the white pieces, Harika took down Awonder, who is rated 2718 in classical chess, in just 25 moves. For context, Harika is rated only 2470 in classical chess. It was an evenly fought battle until the 18th move, Awonder misplaced his dark squared bishop. The move led him to lose his knight in the 22nd move before he resigned. The 23-year-old is considered to be one of the brightest young talents to emerge from the United States in recent times. The win over Awonder marked a third straight win for Harika in as many rounds at the 2026 Grenke Freestyle Open. She had beaten lower rated Frank Baur and Sreyas Payyappat in the first two rounds earlier in the competition. Disclaimer: We do not own any of the content, ideas, images, or text presented here. All rights belong to their respective owners. For more information and …

Weissenhaus to host second edition of FIDE Freestyle Chess World Championship in 2027; Women’s title added

Weissenhaus to host second edition of FIDE Freestyle Chess World Championship in 2027; Women’s title added

2 min readFeb 19, 2026 10:32 PM IST In an agreement between the international chess body, FIDE, and the organisers of Freestyle Chess, the host for the second edition of the FIDE Freestyle World Championship has been decided as Weissenhaus in Germany, once again in 2027. The inaugural edition of the FIDE Freestyle World Championship took place at the same venue at a private resort in Weissenhaus, where Magnus Carlsen defeated Fabiano Caruana in the title clash to win his 21st major title. The 2027 edition will also see a Women’s FIDE Freestyle World Championship taking place in the first weekend of 2027, ahead of the men’s World Championship. The confirmation came through a joint statement released by both parties, which reads: “FIDE and Freestyle Chess have agreed that the FIDE Freestyle Chess World Championships will again be staged in Weissenhaus, Germany in 2027. The agreement confirms the continuation of the championship at the Baltic Sea venue, following the inaugural edition in 2026. The FIDE Women’s Freestyle Chess World Championship will take place over three …

In Freestyle Chess World Championship, Magnus Carlsen has found a stage that excites him | Chess News

In Freestyle Chess World Championship, Magnus Carlsen has found a stage that excites him | Chess News

6 min readFeb 17, 2026 01:11 PM IST Magnus Carlsen did not look happy. As he sat on an elevated stage for a press conference right before the start of the FIDE Freestyle Chess World Championship on Friday, flanked on one side by German grandmaster Vincent Keymer and FIDE technical delegate Pavel Tregubov on another side, the world no 1 snuck a conspicuous glance at his watch, a universal signal that his time was being frittered away by this press conference. There are many things in the sport that test the patience of the Norwegian, but, in theory, this should not have been one of them. After all, it was an opportunity for Carlsen to speak about the FIDE Freestyle Chess World Championship, an event he had a massive role in shaping from its early days. He’s spoken—repeatedly—about the freestyle chess variant being the future of the sport. More than once, his inputs have even led to the format of the event changing. But on Friday, Carlsen did not want to be the face, the …

‘A horror nightmare’: How Arjun Erigaisi’s ‘pawn war’ crushed Magnus Carlsen in a wild Freestyle World Championship upset | Chess News

‘A horror nightmare’: How Arjun Erigaisi’s ‘pawn war’ crushed Magnus Carlsen in a wild Freestyle World Championship upset | Chess News

4 min readFeb 14, 2026 06:00 AM IST Less than two months after Magnus Carlsen had gone viral again for smashing his fist on the table at the FIDE World Rapid and Blitz Championship for losing to Arjun Erigaisi, the world no 1 lost to the Indian again: this time in a classification game at the FIDE Freestyle Chess World Championship in Weissenhaus on Friday. While Arjun Erigaisi did not make it to the semi-finals of the Freestyle World Championships 2026, he had one of the wildest days in the qualification rounds where he remained the only player to not have a single draw in the seven rounds that were played on Friday to determine the four semi-finalists. Arjun took down the top two finishers in the league stage — Carlsen and Vincent Keymer — besides also defeating Javokhir Sindarov. He lost the remaining four games to end in sixth place. Carlsen, Keymer, Fabiano Caruana and Nodirbek Abdusattorov qualified for the semi-finals. The win over Carlsen, who has proven to be an unstoppable force in …

Magnus Carlsen at a World Championship: Everything you need to know about first official Freestyle Chess World Championship | Chess News

Magnus Carlsen at a World Championship: Everything you need to know about first official Freestyle Chess World Championship | Chess News

4 min readFeb 13, 2026 12:13 AM IST Over the next three days, at a luxury resort in Germany’s Weissenhaus, eight of the world’s top grandmasters will fight it out to win the FIDE Freestyle Chess World Championship, thus becoming the Freestyle World Champion. Before the event starts, here’s everything you need to know about the event: The title: The FIDE Freestyle Chess World Championship. It’s a new world championship, born out of a partnership between the global governing body of chess, FIDE, and the Freestyle Chess organisers, who conducted the Freestyle Chess Grand Slam Tour last season. While officially it will be the first official FIDE Freestyle Chess World Championship, FIDE had organised a world championship in the Chess960 format (as the freestyle format is also known) twice before. Back then, it was known as the Fischer Random World Championship, with Wesley So winning the title in 2019 and Hikaru Nakamura claiming the crown in 2022 The contenders this time: Magnus Carlsen, Levon Aronian, Fabiano Caruana, Vincent Keymer, Javokhir Sindarov, Hans Niemann and Nodirbek …

Can Arjun Erigaisi beat Magnus Carlsen to become Freestyle World Champion? | Chess News

Can Arjun Erigaisi beat Magnus Carlsen to become Freestyle World Champion? | Chess News

4 min readFeb 12, 2026 10:12 PM IST Arjun Erigaisi did not make the cut for the Candidates tournament that will be held in a couple of months to handpick a challenger to world champion Gukesh Dommaraju. It was a significant setback for one of the most exciting stars of Indian chess, who will have to wait two more years for his next shot at becoming the classical world champion. But Arjun could end up becoming a world champion by the end of this week. The Freestyle World Champion, that is. Arjun is the only Indian grandmaster to qualify for the FIDE Freestyle Chess World Championship that will be held in Germany’s Weissenhaus from Friday to Sunday. Standing in Arjun’s path will be players like Magnus Carlsen, Levon Aronian, Fabiano Caruana, Vincent Keymer, Javokhir Sindarov, Hans Niemann and Nodirbek Abdusattorov. After ending 2024 with twin bronze medals at the FIDE World Rapid and Blitz Championship in Doha, Arjun has had a difficult start to 2025. He came close to winning both the Rapid and Blitz …