After the success of last week’s Freestyle Chess event where the world No 1, Magnus Carlsen, defeated the world No 2, Fabiano Caruana, in the final, its billionaire organiser, Jan Buettner, who made his fortune from AOL Europe, has stepped up his interest further. Buettner adopted a hands-on personal approach to the all-star event and his enthusiasm and involvement shone in an interview he gave to Chessbase India immediately after the tournament.
Buettner’s plan is a Freestyle elite eight-GM invitation in India late in 2024, followed by a five-continent global Tour in 2025, and including a new four-player women’s tournament. Weissenhaus had a $200,000 (£158,000) prize fund, but even that may be just the start, as Buettner has stated that his ambition is for $1m for each of the continental knockouts.
