The ongoing FIDE vs Freestyle Chess controversy has created much furore lately. The first week of February saw FIDE release an official statement where it denied official recognition to a Freestyle World Championship. In response, Freestyle Chess released an official public letter where it accused FIDE of putting pressure on players and also demanded for the resignation of president Arkady Dvorkovich. The open letter also released some alleged messages of Dvorkovich and accused him of misleading Freestyle Chess co-owner Jan Henric Buettner. The letter also accused FIDE of pressuring players to sign a waiver which stated that they won’t participate in a non-official world c’ship.
Meanwhile, FIDE CEO Emil Sutovsky also reacted to the controversy by defending the international chess body. In an interview with Hindustan Times earlier, Sutovsky also revealed that the younger players (Magnus Carlsen claims they support Freestyle Chess) support FIDE and world champion D Gukesh also signed the waiver which stated that he won’t participate in a non-official world championship.
FIDE CEO Emil Sutovsky’s latest remark on Freestyle Chess controversy
On Sunday, Sutovsky took to X, formerly known as Twitter, and once again attacked Freestyle Chess, and in particular Buettner. In an interview with Take Take Take application, co-owned by Carlsen, Buettner claimed that he wants to protect the young players from FIDE, and accused the federation of putting pressure on players. The German entrepreneur also went on to compare it to rape in bizarre manner. Sutovsky wrote, “Out of all the recent claims “protecting” young top players from FIDE is one of the most ridiculous.”
“Gukesh, Pragg, Arjun, Nodirbek, Vincent, Javokhir – they all are great talents, who managed to grow so fast largely to FIDE efforts – and specifically to our policy of not allocating all our resourses to serve just a few players. All of them were participants of several Grand Swiss events and World Cups, as well as World Rapid and Blitz – where they got a place thanks to the policy we implement. For example, Nodirbek became World Rapid Champion in 2021, when very few ever heard of him – and that gave him a huge boost in his career. But of course FIDE knew about the best young talents – because they shined in World Youth, World U16 Olympiad and other events we organize, and we always provide wild cards to the most promising young players in our top events.
“It is all one eco-system. Now, think about it. Nodirbek would just not be a participant of that 2021 Championship he won – as well as Murzin would not even play in New York, had we not invested in making the event bigger, with all the costs it ensues. Take Grand Swiss. I remember these little Indian boys with shining eyes coming to compete and learn from the best in 2019 and 2021, before the breakthrough of 2022. And the breakthrough – where it happened? At FIDE Olympiad.
“But let’s not just recall the past. FIDE is the present – and the future. The budget of our 2024 major events exceeded 40M USD – and for the cycle of 2025-2026 we keep increasing the prize funds and improving the playing conditions. It is not too difficult to make an exceptional event for 10 people – go make it for 300 people. And we deliver time after time. Year after year. Whatever the format. New York, Singapore, Budapest, Astana, Toronto, Samarkand – East or West. Take Grand Swiss 2025 – the first qualifier tournament for the 2026 Match. Total prizes are almost at 1M – but also all the expenses covered for 164 players – once again providing record prizes, but also a unique opportunity. That’s how we grow the game. And we will keep doing so. Because we care”, he further added.
In a recent interview with ChessBase India, D Gukesh took a diplomatic stance initially when questioned about the ongoing controversy. But when pressed with the question again, he made it clear that he doesn’t think Chess960 can overtake the classical format. He is currently in action in the first leg of the Grand Slam Tour in Germany, and qualified for the quarter-finals after finishing eighth in the round-robin stage.
