'I’m a little disappointed:' Magnus Carlsen after winning 'almost lost' maiden FIDE Freestyle World Championship
&imwidth=600&imheight=450&format=webp&quality=medium "'I’m a little disappointed:' Magnus Carlsen after winning 'almost lost' maiden FIDE Freestyle World Championship")
Carlsen wins 'almost lost' maiden FIDE Freestyle World Championship Photograph: (X/FIDE)
Both Carlsen and Caruana, by virture of being the finalist, qualified for the 2027 FIDE World Freestyle Championship as well. The first-ever Freestyle World Chess Championship had a total prize pool of $300,000 out of which $100,000 will be awarded to the 1st placed player - Magnus Carlsen.
Magnus Carlsen, the Norwegian chess grand master, has won the first ever FIDE Freestyle World Championship. Carlsen won the four-game final with a score of 2.5-1.5 against Italian-American Fabiano Caruana on Sunday (Feb 15) in Weissenhaus, Germany. This was Carlsen's 21st title in total and he now has a title in all formats of FIDE World Champioships. Carlsen has previously won five classical World Championships, six World Rapid Championships and nine World Blitz Championships well. He was not supposed to win on Sunday, but somehow kept going and won the series turning Game 3 from a lost position against Caruana.
Carlsen wins maiden FIDE Freestyle World Championship
Reacting after win which came as shock to Carlsen as well, he said: "It’s certainly not one of my most convincing wins today, but it feels great to win on a bit of an off-day. I’m a little disappointed that I couldn’t bring the level that I showed yesterday. It feels great to win but I can do even better."
Talking about Game 3 which changed everything, Carlsen acknowledged: "I thought I was doing reasonably well for a long time and then I missed one of his resources and then I reacted poorly. Usually when you get a completely lost position, it happens gradually. But in this case I captured his knight (15…Bxh4) and then I realised he has an in-between check and I can resign. I still had a little bit of hope. At one point when he found some nice moves, I thought this game was over."
Both Carlsen and Caruana, by the virture of being the finalist, qualified for the 2027 FIDE World Freestyle Championship as well. Along with them, Nodirbek Abdusattorov (Uzbekistan) also qualifed after finishing fourth with a win over Vincent Keymer (Germany). India's Arjun Erigasi finished sixth after losing to USA's Hans Niemann for the fifth place.
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How much is the winning prize?
The first-ever Freestyle World Chess Championship had a total prize pool of $300,000 out of which $100,000 will be awarded to the 1st placed player - in this case - Magnus Carlsen.
