World No 1 Magnus Carlsen lost to the US veteran Levon Aronian in last Friday’s final of the Freestyle Grand Slam in Cape Town, but still finished as the overall winner of the five-event Tour. Carlsen had already won two finals, so only needed to finish fourth in Cape Town for a winning total.
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 was financed mainly by a $12mn investment from the New York venture firm Left Lane Capital, and has included tournaments in Weissenhaus, Karlsruhe, Paris, and Las Vegas before the final in South Africa.
Aronian took a relaxed approach. At age 43, he regarded any playing success as an unexpected bonus, and it arrived in the first of the best of two games final.
Carlsen normally plays the opening fast, but he took nearly 10 minutes for his second move e7-e5, and by move six he was already under nine minutes, while Aronian had nearly all of his original half an hour. The woe continued as Carlsen failed to gain sufficient compensation for a sacrificed pawn, while Aronian calmly consolidated. At the end, Aronian was a clear two pawns ahead in a simple endgame, and Carlsen resigned.
