The subsequent occasion of the Freestyle Chess Grand Slam Tour can have some radical modifications in place, due to Magnus Carlsen and his father Henric Carlsen. Jan Henric Buettner, the person behind the Freestyle Chess tour, revealed on the official broadcast of Freestyle Chess Tour on Friday that the following occasion will see 45-minute video games with a 10-second increment per transfer relatively than a 90-minute sport with 30-second increment that we noticed at Paris within the ongoing occasion. This transfer was introduced in at former world champion Carlsen’s behest, Buettner mentioned.
Buettner mentioned that because the tour tried to draw extra sponsors, they felt the necessity to shorten the video games as a result of for a four-hour sport, it is rather troublesome to get an viewers if you’re not in India”. The concept was additionally inexperienced lighted by the world no 1.
“Magnus mentioned principally that they as gamers have gained a lot by way of high quality that they don’t want the 90 minutes anymore. He mentioned they will go along with 45-minute video games. So that’s form of the choice of Magnus, and I talked to another gamers earlier than to see that we’ve got not solely Magnus however everyone on board,” Buettner mentioned earlier than revealing that the format itself can have many many modifications being applied after a dialog he had with Carlsen’s father Henric.
The concept behind shortening the video games can also be to shorten the occasion itself from the present eight-day format to a extra concise five-day occasion, the place each legs of a spherical might be performed on the identical day. This implies gamers will play two 45-minute video games with colors reversed on the identical day on the subsequent Freestyle occasion relatively than having the 2 video games unfold over two days with a 90+10 time management.
The shorter time management will affect gamers like Gukesh, who has struggled within the sooner time management video games apart from hitting a wall in Freestyle Chess.
Buettner additionally revealed that the following occasion of the tour might be held at Las Vegas as an alternative of New York. Whereas he didn’t reveal too many particulars in regards to the swap of location, he added that there might be dwell viewers members in attendance for the video games.
Given the troubles the organisers have skilled at Paris due to gamers like Hans Niemann and Alireza Firozja withdrawing on the final minute, the tour may also title two standby gamers for every occasion.
