Magnus Carlsen did not have a great time over the last couple of weeks. His participation at the World Rapid and Blitz Championships in New York City led to an eighth world title in the blitz format. 

But the controversy did not leave him. A viral video chip exposed that the five-time world champion was seen having a private conversation with Russian Grandmaster Ian Nepomniachtchi on backstage and encouraging his opponent to play out a series of draws! 

These happened only after Carlsen was unceremoniously ejected from the tournament at the iconic Cipriani Wall Street in the ‘Big Apple’ for violating the tournament’s dress code. Things became more sensitive when the chess world’s ruling body FIDE showed compassion to Carlsen on the issue, allowing him to return to the tournament, FIDE allowed him to compete and even caved in to his request for a shared title in the blitz final, something that had never happened in the history of the tournament!

Carlsen isn’t too different from someone like Indian cricket superstar Virat Kohli or football’s Cristiano Ronaldo, in that you don’t get away with so many things and get the sport to revolve around you unless you are someone who isn’t just a generational talent or a modern-day great, but among the greatest of all time.

And while the likes of Kohli and Ronaldo still have competition, some consider Carlsen to be at par with Garry Kasparov and Bobby Fischer, if not greater. What makes Carlsen even more remarkable is the fact that he had attained this status even before turning 30!

Looking back at his glittering career, one can safely say few have dominated a sport the way Carlsen has bossed chess. Carlsen, after all, held Kasparov to a draw and defeated Anatoly Karpov before even attaining his Grandmaster's title. He would later become the youngest player in 2009 to achieve the 2800-rating (and currently the second-youngest) and go on to achieve the highest-ever peak FIDE rating of 2882.

The 34-year-old’s attention, however, appears to be fixed on Freestyle Chess – a unique format of the sport that also goes by the name Chess960 and Fischer Random Chess (named after the legendary American Grandmaster who introduced it in 1996).

It is a format in which pieces are randomly arranged at the start of the game instead of the usual pattern that is followed in the officially recognized formats, and it is this unpredictability that throws the set strategies for the best of players out of the window and makes it interesting.

In partnership with German entrepreneur Jan Henric Buettner, Carlsen helped found the Freestyle Chess Grand Slam Tour as well as the Freestyle Chess Players Club – an elite group of players for which the minimum ELO rating is set at 2725, who then get to compete in the aforementioned tour.

While private chess tours aren’t entirely new in the sport of chess, it’s the manner in which Carlsen reportedly has been gathering support and recognition for the tour that gets underway in Weissenhaus, Germany next month that makes it controversial. 

Former world champion Vladimir Kramnik has accused Carlsen of resorting to “blackmail” to ensure FIDE not only recognizes the tour but also its right to award a World Championship of its own. Last, but not least, American GM Hans Niemann – who had filed a US$ 100 million lawsuit against Carlsen among others after being accused of cheating in the 2022 Sinquefield Cup.

It remains to be seen the impact that the maiden Freestyle Chess Grand Slam Tour has on the sport, with five events set to take place in five different cities across the world all the way till December. The way things are playing out at the moment, it appears to be a repeat of the Professional Chess Association (PCA) that was started by Kasparov and Nigel Short in 1993 and the Classical World Championship that ran until 2006.

Whether Carlsen and Freestyle Chess goes on to surpass the PCA or go bust in a few years, only time will tell.

The reign of Magnus Carlsen as the king of chess now includes a queen. The Norwegian star has tied the knot with Ella Victoria Malone in a ceremony packed with guests on a sunny winter day in Oslo.

The couple exchanged their vows in Holmenkollen Chapel in the snowy hills of Oslo in front of close family and friends on Saturday before heading to a lavish reception at Oslo's iconic 5-star Grand Hotel.