Norway’s world No 1, 35, lost 0.5-1.5 to the US veteran Levon Aronian, 43, in Cape Town but was already sure of overall victory and a prize of around $500k
Norway’s world No 1, Magnus Carlsen, was shocked by a 0.5-1.5 loss to the US veteran Levon Aronian in Thursday’s final of the Freestyle Grand Slam Tour in Cape Town, but still finished the overall winner of the five-event Tour.
Freestyle chess is also known as Fischer Random and Chess 960. Pieces start randomly placed on the two back rows, thus drastically limiting opening preparation. Its 2025 season, with a Tour financed mainly by a $12m investment from the venture firm Left Lane Capital, has featured tournaments in Weissenhaus, Karlsruhe, Paris and Las Vegas before the final in South Africa.
Carlsen had already won two events and needed only to finish fourth in Cape Town to be sure of Tour victory. He was briefly in danger early on when, sick, he lost his first game to his old rival Fabiano Caruana, saying: “I’m quite aware that I’m just not able to think as clearly as I need on a day like this.” The 5/2 blitz tiebreaks brought a further challenge: “I had to tell myself several times, make a move, c’mon, what are you doing.” He survived that: “When it comes down to a bullet scramble, I’m a bit better than they are,” and also won his semi-final against the World Cup champion, Javokhir Sindarov, who turned 20 during the tournament.
