3912A (right): White mates in five moves (by Fritz Giegold, Die Welt 1978), Just a single line of play with all all Black’s replies forced, but it defeats most solvers. Photograph: The Guardian
Freestyle Chess, which made an impressive debut last month, has firmed up its plans to expand into five continents next year, as well as enlisting the top 25 elite grandmasters into a new club for its competing players. The variant, also known as Fischer Random and Chess 960, has the back rank pieces on both sides on random squares, with Black’s pieces placed equal-and-opposite to their White counterparts.
German promoter Jan Buettner, who heads Freestyle along with the world No 1, Magnus Carlsen, and who made his fortune from AOL Europe, has launched the Freestyle Chess Grand Slam Tour, where the prize fund for each of the five events is projected to rise gradually to $1m.
