Abdusattorov Wins Freestyle Chess G.O.A.T. Preliminaries Ahead of Carlsen, Caruana, Ding

Fischer-Random. Chess960. Chess 9LX. There are 960 different possible starting positions and almost as many names for the increasingly popular variant. But at the Weissenhaus private nature resort in northern Germany, it’s called “Freestyle,” and, from February 9 through 16, eight players are facing off in something called the Freestyle G.O.A.T. (Greatest Of All Time) Challenge.

The appeal of Freestyle is abundantly clear: in an age of heavy opening preparation, who would win a chess game played more spontaneously or improvisationally, with a “random” piece arrangement? Would GM Magnus Carlsen still be the G.O.A.T., as the organizers suggest, or would one of his hand-picked rivals rise to the occasion?

courtesy of the organizers

The format began with a seven-round Round Robin rapid tournament, with different positions selected for each round, to determine seeding for the following rounds. Intriguingly, these rounds are to be played at a classical time control, and it is rare to see classical Freestyle rather than a purely rapid and blitz format. Head-to-head matches continue from there, culminating in the finals, but all players will continue to compete in classical matches even after losing a match.

After two days of the preliminary Round Robin, Uzbek GM Nodirbek Abdusattorov stood alone with an impressive 5½/7 score, ahead of German GM Vincent Keymer (5/7), GM Fabiano Caruana (4½/7), and Alireza Firouzja (4/7). This means the G.O.A.T. finished fifth with an even score, ahead of Gukesh D (3/7), Levon Aronian (2/7), and the current world champion GM Ding Liren (½/7).

courtesy of the organizers

To get a taste of the format, Abdusattorov’s last-round win over Carlsen is indicative of both the similarities and differences with classical chess:

First, Carlsen makes a strategic error, according to the engine, as early as move six, and makes several more “anti-positional” decisions from there. Of course, it’s unclear how much came from a genuine misevaluation versus the former champion’s propensity for curiosity in unfamiliar positions. But, the game continued deep into the endgame, by which point it was just a (very hard to play) rook endgame that could have easily come from classical!

Below are three more miniatures showing the difficulty of defending unfamiliar positions, including several instances of players overestimating the value of castling:

The quarterfinals ended this morning, and the remaining matches go through Friday. The semifinals begin Tuesday at 6:00 a.m. CST, with Abdusattorov set to play Carlsen and Caruana facing off against Aronian. Stay tuned for more reporting.

The prize fund, according to co-sponsor Chess.com, is $200,000 total, with $60,000 for first, $40,000 for second, and $30,000 for third. Follow the organizers on Twitter for amble interviews, videos, and teasers.