Magnus Carlsen wins inaugural Freestyle Friday chess tournament
What's the story
Five-time World Chess champion, Magnus Carlsen has won the first-ever Freestyle Friday tournament on Chess.com.
The Norwegian grandmaster was challenged by some of the best players in the world including his long-time rival Hans Niemann, world number two Hikaru Nakamura, and Ian Nepomniachtchi.
However, Carlsen managed to win nine straight games in his first games of the tournament despite the tough competition.
Here's more.
Tournament journey
Carlsen's performance and final round loss
Carlsen's winning streak was broken in the last round by Ukrainian grandmaster Oleksandr Bortnyk.
However, he still clinched the overall victory through tiebreaks.
Before meeting Bortnyk, Carlsen had defeated Nakamura in a 65-move game in the seventh round.
Meanwhile, the victory paved the way for an eagerly awaited clash with Niemann, which Carlsen won with black pieces in just 56 moves.
Event details
Carlsen's final score and tournament format
Carlsen ended the tournament with a score of 9.5 points, narrowly defeating Bortnyk on tiebreaks after the latter's stunning victory in their final round face-off.
Notably, the Freestyle Friday event drew a total of 476 participants for its inaugural edition.
Additionally, the online event uses a Swiss format where each player plays 11 rounds, with each game having a time control of three minutes plus one second increment (3+1).
Game variant
Freestyle chess: A unique variant popularized by Bobby Fischer
Freestyle chess, or Fischer Random Chess, Chess 9LX, or Chess960, is a unique variant that was popularized by legendary chess player Bobby Fischer in 1996.
Unlike traditional chess where piece positions are fixed on the back ranks, freestyle chess shuffles these positions.
Meanwhile, this change largely eliminates reliance on opening theory and instead challenges players to depend on their understanding of the position and their skills.