Keymer, Fabi, Abdusattorov join Carlsen in semis @ Weissenhaus
Top seed GM Magnus Carlsen (4.5/7) led the tense qualifier moving into semi-finals along with GMs Fabiano Caruana, Vincent Keymer andNodirbek Abdusattorov in the $ 300,000 FIDE Freestyle Chess World Championship at Weissenhaus, Germany. Missing out on qualification were GMsHans Moke Niemann (USA), Erigaisi Arjun (India),Javokhir Sindarov (Uzbekistan)& Levon Aronian (USA) who will all now play for the lower placings.
Rating favorite Magnus Carlsen suffered a single loss in the hands of Indian GM Erigaisi Arjun, but went on to top the round-robin thanks to three wins and three draws. The semi final spots got decided only after the completion of the 7th and final round. The field got split evenly once all the games concluded.
Despite losing the first and last round GM Vincent Keymer landed the semi-final spot thanks to three wins over GMs Levon Aronian, Hans Moke Niemann and Fabiano Caruana in the middle rounds. With Carlsen picking up Abdusattorov as his semi-final opponent, 2025 Weissenhaus Freestyle champion Keymer will now face Caruana.
In the press conference prior to the opening ceremony, Freestyle Chess co-founder Jan Henric Buettner said, We are proud of what we have achieved together, describing the launch as the culmination of the format’s development hand in hand with FIDE. He noted that the Freestyle World Championship brings together the best possible players and represents a condensed structure in which each day is extremely important.
Buettner also addressed the inclusion of the womens exhibition match, referencing long-standing advocacy from former world class player and Freestyle Chess commentator Judit Polgar for stronger competitive integration. He confirmed that the winner of the exhibition match featuring former Womens World Champion GM Alexandra Kosteniuk and reigning Womens World Blitz Champion GM Bibisara Assaubayeva will qualify for the future FIDE Womens Freestyle Chess World Championship, as part of the developing pathway for the womens cycle.
Representing the International Chess Federation, FIDE Technical Delegate GM Pavel Tregubov described Freestyle as a challenging new format and said the championship would serve as a test at the highest level. This is the beginning of a tradition. Lets see how it develops, he said. Tregubov further emphasized that FIDE considers the title on par with other official championships. We value this title like all other championship titles. We take it very seriously, he stated, calling it a high-level event. He added that FIDE is determined to develop the format further, noting that earlier editions under a different name had already shown that the players like it.
Day two, featuring the Semifinals & lower bracket matches, will start by Saturday, 14th February at 9 AM ET / 3 PM CET / 7:30 PM IST.
Rankings (Round-Robin): 1. Magnus Carlsen (Norway) 4.5, 2-4 Vincent Keymer (Germany), Fabiano Caruana (USA), Nodirbek Abdusattorov (Uzbekistan) 4.0, 5. Hans Moke Niemann (USA) 3.5, 6-7 Erigaisi Arjun (India), Javokhir Sindarov (Uzbekistan) 3.0, 7. Levon Aronian (USA) 2.0 pts
Erigaisi Arjun (2732) – Magnus Carlsen (2887) 1. f4 f5 2. c4 Nb6 3. d3 c6 4. g3 g6 5. b4 e5 6. a4 d5 7. a5 Nd7 8. cxd5 cxd5 9. fxe5 Bxe5 10. Bxa7 Ra8 11. Be3 Qe7 12. Nac2 Nc7 13. Nf3 Bc3 14. Nfd4 Re8 15. Bf3 b6 16. Bd2 Bxd4 17. Nxd4 bxa5 18. Qc2 axb4 19. O-O Qc5 20. Qb2 Qb6 21. Rfc1 Ne5 22. Bf4 Kd7 23. Kh1 Rac8 24. Bxe5 Rxe5 25. Nc6 Re6 26. Qg7+ Kd6 27. Nd4 Rce8
28. Rxb4 1-0
Complete Results
Photo Courtesy: Lennart Ootes/ Stev Bonhage / Freestyle Chess
Official Site: https://www.freestyle-chess.com/2026-germany-weissenhaus/
