By Shivani P Menon
The International Chess Federation (FIDE) and Freestyle Chess Operations have finally come to terms after a long dispute to host the first official FIDE Freestyle Chess World Championship from February 13- 16, 2026, at Weissenhaus, Germany.
FIDE and Freestyle Chess signed an agreement on January 7 to host the first joint World Championship. This is the fifth World Championship in this sport.
This will be a continuation of FIDE’s previous events in the Fischer Random Format and will feature eight players, of whom six have already been confirmed based on the results of their 2025 Freestyle Chess Grand Slam Tour.
The confirmed players are Magnus Carlsen, Levon Aronian, Arjun Erigaisi, Fabiano Caruana, Vincent Keymer, and Javokhir Sindarov. The other two players will be selected by FIDE and Freestyle Chess separately.
Freestyle Chess has already nominated Hans Neimann for his amazing performance in the Freestyle Grand Slam in Las Vegas. FIDE is planning to hold an online tournament on their website from January 14 and 15 to confirm the last player.
Parallely, in Weissenhaus itself, there will be a Women’s Exhibition Match between two of the best women who are currently leading in Chess. And also, by late 2026, both parties are planning to host a FIDE Women’s Freestyle Chess Championship. A $50,000 prize fund will be awarded by Freestyle Chess under the current agreement with FIDE.
President of FIDE, Arkady Dvorkovich, said how FIDE and Freestyle Chess have come together and signed an agreement of cooperation, and said how this format is governed under international standards administered by FIDE as the sole governing body of world chess.
Jan Henric Buettner, CEO of Freestyle Chess, said that their sole aim was to develop a serious competitive structure. And after their first Grand Slam, a logical step for them was to cooperate with FIDE for a World Championship with a defined title, a proper venue and a clear competitive peak.
The board will decide all final places starting from first to eighth. The winner of the FIDE Freestyle Chess World Championship will be awarded $100,000, and the total prize fund is $300,000.
All players will arrive by February 11, and the following day is reserved for media and content activities. The event ends on February 15, followed by departures on February 16.