Magnus Carlsen has been crowned as the Freestyle Chess World Champion as the top-ranked star defeated Fabiano Caruana in the final of the tournament on Sunday to add another world title to his kitty.

Carlsen defeated Fabiano Caruana 2.5–1.5 in the final to win the newly introduced FIDE Freestyle Chess World Championship.

Magnus Carlsen receives his FIDE #FreestyleChess World Championship trophy! pic.twitter.com/ucpakkKusL

— chess24 (@chess24com) February 15, 2026

After two draws to start the match, Carlsen edged out Caruana with black pieces in the third match to take lead and then held on to another draw in the fourth match to win the title. Carlsen was in a difficult position in the third match but managed to turn it around to eke out a victory which proved to be decisive.

“Not certainly one of my more convincing wins today but it feels great to win on a bit of an off day, and most of all I’m just happy to be done!” the Norwegian star said after winning the final.

Carlsen now has 21 world titles with the freestyle chess championship that had earlier eluded him also under his belt.

Arjun finishes sixth

India’s top-ranked chess star, Arjun Erigaisi had another forgettable tournament as he finished sixth in the eight-player rankings. He had a chance to get the fifth place as he met American Grandmaster Hans Niemann in the play-off match. However, Niemann defeated the Indian star in the first two games to win the match 2-0 and condemn Arjun to the sixth place.

“Obviously, I won two great matches against very strong opponents. Usually there would be a bit more joy, but the format’s pretty unforgiving – still, I played pretty well,” Niemann told Chessbase India after defeating Arjun.

Meanwhile, Uzbekistan’s Nodirbek Abdussatorov defeated Germany’s Vincent Keymer to take the third place in the standings. Abdussatorov’s compatriot Javokhir Sindarov finished at the bottom after losing to American Levon Aronian who clinched the seventh spot.

Norway needs to bestow the highest civilian honour that is available in their country to @MagnusCarlsen man.

The greatest Chess player ever. 🫡

— Amey Deshpande (@SportsZealot07) February 15, 2026

There has never been more dominating individual in a sport as Magnus Carlsen.

Literal Final Boss.

— Shikhar (@ShikharGupta__) February 15, 2026

If you won a world championship every year for 20 years, you still wouldn’t have as many titles as Magnus Carlsen. He is now a 21-time world champion.

🏆 🏆 🏆 🏆 🏆 🏆 🏆 🏆 🏆 🏆 🏆 🏆 🏆🏆 🏆🏆🏆🏆🏆🏆🏆

— Tarjei J. Svensen (@TarjeiJS) February 15, 2026

Will the chess world ever see a player as dominant as Carlsen again? https://t.co/EASfLAamTB

— Tarjei J. Svensen (@TarjeiJS) February 15, 2026