Magnus Carlsen has been at the top of the chess rankings for more than a decade and a half now and the Norwegian still continues to be at his best in all formats of the game. A generation of players have tried but have been able to be anywhere even close to him but can the next generation take him on and become as dominant as Carlsen has been?

FIDE CEO Emil Sutovsky in a recent chat with ChessBase India’s Sagar Shah revealed the three young players he thinks can break into the top 10 of rankings before 2030. He also than evaluated if these players have in it them to be as good as Magnus in their careers.

FIDE CEO names three prodigies to take over chess world

Talking about the best up and coming players, Sutovsky named Argentina’s Faustino Oro, Turkey’s Yagiz Kaan Erdogmus and America’s Andy Woodward as the three young players who will soon be among the best in the world.

However, he also cautioned that it is too early to say whether these players will be able to emulate Carlsen who is considered one of the greatest chess players in the game’s history.

“
Magnus also was of a very high opinion of Oro few days ago and now he’s of Erdogmus. I think all these guys are exceptional talents but it’s tad too early to claim they would be next Magnus or similar to that. It would be not difficult to expect or to forecast that,” the FIDE CEO said.

“Both Erdogmus and Oro would make into top 10 that’s for sure. Top five very likely because after all, if they are already best in this age group so what will happen in three or four years? The generation who are much older than them they will start fading away and then they’re best around this age so it’s natural to expect them by the year 2030 to be in top five for sure. But to be a dominating player like Magnus is very difficult feat,” he added.

“I will also add Andy Woodward. I like how he plays. I like very much his attitude. He’s very devoted to the game. So, I would surely think that both Erdogmus and Oro but also Woodward belong to a top 10 list for 2030 or maybe earlier,” Sutovsky predicted.

There has been some form of drama involving Magnus Carlsen and the Titled Tuesday in recent weeks. Whether it was applauding American teenager Jacorey Bynum after getting checkmated by him last month or raising eyebrows with a unique opening while facing Iranian GM Amin Tabatabaei shortly after.

In the two-day ‘Titled Tuesday Grand Prix’ online blitz event that got underway on Tuesday, the world No 1 was held to a draw by Kazakhstani Candidate Master Aldiyar Zharas in a game that went down the wire and lasted 66 moves. The two players were left with less than 40 seconds on the clock in a rook endgame and ended up shaking hands virtually via repetition after losing a rook and a couple of pawns each.

Carlsen plays out scratchy draw against Zharas

The game began with a Sicilian Defense opening and was far from perfect for the Norwegian Grandmaster, who is the reigning Rapid and Blitz world champion and had recently been crowned the inaugural FIDE Freestyle Chess world champion. The 35-year-old had committed a pawn blunder in the 23rd move (23. f5), allowing Zharas to gain the upper hand in the contest.

It did not take long for the eval bar to return to level terms, however, after the young Kazakhstani talent committed a series of errors, including a couple of blunders (42. Kg7 and 44. Ke6). Carlsen, however, had another little misstep around this stage (44. Ke2), and couldn’t capitalise on an opening to close the game out on a winning note.

Watch the endgame here:

CM Aldiyar Zharas holds Magnus Carlsen to a draw in round one, though it could be said that it was Magnus who held!https://t.co/KTxyG16xQu#TitledTuesday pic.twitter.com/BVOc8li4tv

— chess24 (@chess24com) February 17, 2026

Then again, Carlsen isn’t exactly known for bringing his ‘A’ game to the ‘Titled Tuesday’ events and in all likelihood participates to have some fun and to keep himself engaged with the sport. And the experience that these youngsters get, especially the confidence derived from a victory or a draw is invaluable and could help them greatly in their development as a player.

The world’s longest known run of consecutive Classical chess games without losing is over. The proud unbeaten record that is owned by Chinese-American Grandmaster Zhou Jianchao came to an end after 158 Classical games last week.

Incredibly, Jianchao, who has been playing for the USA since 2024, did not suffer a single loss in FIDE-rated classical tournaments for almost a year. But that record-setting streak ended early February when he lost to Toalian Grandmaster Francesco Sonis in the fourth round of the Connecticut Classical. Jianchao’s last defeat was against fellow countryman Andrew Lewis Titus on 23 May 2025 at the Annual Chicago Open.

Zhou Jianchao: The new Classical chess star

With his 158-game unbeaten streak in Classical chess, Jianchao broke the record of Croatian legend Bogdan Lalic, who scripted a 155-game unbeaten run in 2010-2011.

While a casual chess fan may not have heard about Jianchao, not losing a Classical for close to a year and across 158 games is a massive feat. Even the world’s best players, including Magnus Carlsen, suffer a few losses here and there on a consistent basis.

“I didn’t know how many games I had played without losing. Mentality is very important. If I had thought about this, it would have affected my performance, and I would have lost a long time ago,” Zhou told Chess.com.

Chess statistician Stefano Ferrara, who has been tracking Jianchao’s feat closely, noted that while the China-born Grandmaster had been playing against mostly weaker players in state events across the USA, he has also faced some unpredictable players.

“Getting to 100+ classical games without losing is incredible, getting close to 160 is historical objectively,” Ferrara told Chess.com. “But he also plays a lot of young, underrated players, so to get this record is still incredibly impressive.”

Ferrara, however, added that it would be unfair to compare Jianchao’s world record streak to five-time world champion Carlsen’s 125-game unbeaten streak from 2018 to 2020, which mostly came against players with an average rating of 2745.

“Of course, it would be unfair to compare his [Zhou’s] streak to Magnus’ 125-game streak because of the difference in the level of opposition,” the chess statistician added.

Carlsen vs Zhou Jianchao

Zhou Jianchao also has no problem admitting that Carlsen’s achievement was much better. “Carlsen is still obviously better. His opponents were much stronger, and his performance was better,” Jianchao said.

As compared to Carlsen, Zhou played against players with an average rating of 2298 during his 158-game unbeaten streak. He won 106 games and drew 52.

He played 26 games against Grandmasters and defeated Mahel Boyer, Praveen Balakrishnan, Brewington Hardaway, Emilio Cordova, and Robby Kevlishvili. His only match against a higher-rated opponent was a draw against current world No 22 Awonder Liang.

Magnus Carlsen had entered the first ever FIDE Freestyle Chess World Championship as the tearaway favourite, not just because he is the greatest player of this generation by a country mile but also because of the fact that he had won the inaugural Freestyle Chess Grand Slam Tour last year.

And in the end, his triumph over Fabiano Caruana in the final was more or less along expected lines, even if the
Norwegian Grandmaster was made to sweat hard and nearly let the trophy slip out of his grasp at one stage.

Another trophy in Carlsen’s crowded cabinet

Carlsen thus adds another piece of silverware to a trophy cabinet that is already running short of space. After all, his victory in the FIDE Freestyle Chess World Championship – formerly known as the FIDE World Fischer Random Chess Championship – is the 21st ‘World Championship’ of a career that had attained legendary status long back.

While it further underlines Carlsen’s legacy as one of the greatest to have ever played the game, if not the best, one can’t help but wonder whether chess is starting to go down the cricket route by having too many World Championships in place?

Also Read |
So insists Gukesh should be recognised as only world champion, slams ‘political’ FIDE for creating too many events

The popular proverb “too many cooks spoil the broth”, after all, can be applied in the context of sports and showpiece events. Football, for instance, has multiple noteworthy events taking place across the year, but has only one showpiece event – the FIFA World Cup – that takes place every four years.

Rugby Union might have the Six Nations Championship or the Tri Nations Series taking place in the northern and southern hemisphere respectively. But the spotlight remains on the World Cup that, like football, takes place every four years.

Several other sporting disciplines have world championships that take place on an annual or a biennial basis – from badminton hosting it every year except during the Olympics to athletics hosting it every two years. Like football and rugby though, the sanctity of the term ‘World Championship’ is maintained

And then there’s chess and cricket. In the latter’s case, the ICC World Cup was, for the longest time, the crown jewel of the sport as far as global tournaments were concerned. And while it remains the pinnacle of the sport, the introduction of the T20 World Cup in 2007 and the World Test Championship has somewhat watered down the ‘World Championship’ aspect of the sport.

Too many world championships hurting chess? 

And in chess, that crown jewel status belongs to the FIDE World Championship, a tournament that has formally been in existence for nearly eight decades now, with informal matches having taken place even earlier. The Rapid and Blitz worlds are a recent phenomenon and have been jointly organised annually since 2012, but didn’t quite take the sheen off the Classical World Championship.

With the inaugural FIDE Freestyle Chess World Championship and the soon-to-be-launched
Total Chess World Championship – a joint-venture between FIDE and Norway Chess – it would be safe to state that the sport has a bit of a ‘World Championship’ overkill at the moment.

Also Read |
Carlsen backs controversial ‘Total Chess World Championship Tour’ amid backlash from top players

It is of course in the interest of every sports governing body – whether FIDE, ICC or FIFA – to host more events. More events translates to more revenue – especially through the broadcast rights and advertising – and can also be seen as beneficial for players as it provides them more opportunities to prove themselves on the field.

And Carlsen, for one, will not be complaining about competing in these events, especially since he’s semi-retired from the Classical format. The trophy and a fat pay cheque is only fair for someone who has ruled chess for over a decade now.

At the same time, it is the responsibility of FIDE and other organisations to preserve the brand value of their key events. And having too many iterations of those can ultimately be detrimental for these events.

Magnus Carlsen added another world title – his 21st to be precise – to his collection on Sunday, defeating Fabiano Caruana to win the inaugural FIDE Freestyle Chess World Championship in Weissenhaus, Germany. Carlsen held Caruana to a draw in three out of the four Rapid games and pulled off a dramatic victory in Game 3 to win the final by a 2.5-1.5 scoreline at the Weissenhaus Private Nature Luxury Resort.

The turning point of the contest was in the third 25+10 game, in which Carlsen snatched victory from the jaws of defeat. Carlsen was desperately moving his king around for safety after a series of errors, allowing his 33-year-old American opponent to seize control of the game and close in on a victory.

Caruana, however, committed a couple of blunders of his own (32. e4 and 35. Qb3), and a player of Carlsen’s calibre was not going to allow him to wriggle away from that position. The Norwegian Grandmaster ended up winning Game 3 in 37 moves to move into the lead for the first time in the final, and
held on to that lead until the end to be crowned champion.

🇳🇴 Magnus Carlsen is the 2026 FIDE Freestyle Chess World Champion! ♟️🔥

He claims his 21st world title! #FreestyleChess pic.twitter.com/YRBC2GkM5M

— International Chess Federation (@FIDE_chess) February 15, 2026

Reacting to the see-saw final against Caruana, Carlsen admitted that he thought the game was over for him at one point.

“I thought that I was doing reasonably well for a long time, and then I missed one of his resources there with knight h4 and I reacted poorly. Usually when you get a completely lost position, it happens gradually. But in this case, I captured his knight and I realised that he has an in between check and I can resign,” Carlsen said in the post-match interview with Freestyle Chess.

“I had a little bit of hope still, but then when he found these very nice moves with king d2 and then f5, I thought this is over. It is a bit strange when it happens so suddenly that you just go from thinking that your position is completely fine and then it’s just lost. You don’t really have that much time to think about what has happened,” he continued.

‘I was smelling blood’

The world No 1 then revealed how Caruana missing a couple of opportunities to seal his victory, allowing him to fight his way back into the game and tilt the balance of the contest in his favour.

“There were a couple of early knockout punches that he missed. When I got in the c3 move, I thought my position has little bit of potential now. I couldn’t see a very clear knockout at that point, and I was hoping he couldn’t either. I thought as soon as he gets very low on time, the quality of his play drops very significantly,” the 35-year-old continued.

“At that point I was hoping I might have a chance, He made a few checks back and forth, it seemed he was getting more and more frustrated. Towards the end, I could have probably forced a draw with the move queen to e6 instead of rook to f8, but at that point, I was smelling blood.

“I’d been on the ropes for this game, and the second game wasn’t easy either, and I just that I’m probably not going to get a better chance than this one. Fortunately he collapsed in a matter of moves there. I’m very happy with that part that I managed to psychologically reset and play for a win when I could,” he added.

🇳🇴 Magnus Carlsen pulls off a stunning save against 🇺🇸 Fabiano Caruana, escaping a dead-lost position and turning the momentum around.

Now he takes the lead — and moves one step closer to a remarkable 21st world title!#FreestyleChess pic.twitter.com/W0NDc4ORn4

— International Chess Federation (@FIDE_chess) February 15, 2026

Carlsen had previously won the FIDE Classical World Championship five times before deciding against defending his title in 2023. He is also the reigning Rapid and Blitz world champion, and has now added a the tag of ‘Freestyle Chess world champion’ following his victory in Weissenhaus.

“It feels great. Obviously the format and everything isn’t too different from what we’ve played on the tour but I’ve had one really, really off day each time in these championships, and I lost soundly to Wesley and then to Ian Nepomniachtchi as well on those days. I’m a little disappointed I couldn’t bring the level that I showed yesterday. It feels great to win, but I still feel like I can do even better. But it’s very nice to win,” Carlsen signed off.

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

World No 1 and reigning Freestyle Chess Grand Slam Tour champions Magnus Carlsen sailed into the final of the inaugural Freestyle Chess World Championship, where he faces world No 3 Fabiano Caruana, after beating Nodirbek Abdusattorov 3-1 in the semi-finals on Saturday. Caruana defeated German Grandmaster Vincent Keymer 2.5-1.5 in the other semi-final showdown to confirm a dream final with the Norwegian at the Weissenhaus Private Nature Luxury Resort in Wangels, Germany.

Carlsen stamps his authority over Nodirbek

Carlsen had picked Nodirbek as his semi-final opponent after topping the round-robin standings despite suffering a
stunning defeat at the hands of Arjun Erigaisi. The semi-final showdown began with consecutive draws, the two players choosing to shake hands on level terms in both games with Carlsen holding fort despite facing serious time pressure in Game 2.

Carlsen surged ahead in Game 3 while playing as white, beating Nodirbek in 48 moves. Both players were in the mood to attack in this round, with both sets of bishops and knights getting knocked off the board by the 26th move. The Uzbekistani GM, however, committed a blunder (33. Re2) while pushing for a win, allowing his celebrated opponent to seize control and grind him into submission.

Nodirbek needed to win Game 4 in order to level the scores and force the semi-final showdown to head into tie-breaks. Carlsen, however, maintained a stable position on the board despite committing a couple of errors (19. h4 and 24. Nc5) and won in just 29 moves after cornering the white king with a knight, a rook and his queen to complete a 3-1 triumph.

Nodirbek had a considerable time advantage over his fancied opponent – three-and-a-half minutes compared to less than half-a-minute for Carlsen. The 35-year-old, however, reiterated the fact that it will take more than just time pressure to beat the best in the world.

Caruana vs Keymer showdown goes into decider

As for the other semi-final, Caruana had drawn first blood while playing as black and maintained a lead over his opponent with a draw in the second game. Keymer, however, made things interesting by leveling the scores in Game 3 to setup a decider in the fourth and final rapid game.

The first three games were hard-fought encounters.  Caruana defeated Keymer in 72 moves in Game 1, while the latter returned the favour in 68 moves in Game 3. Caruana, however, sealed a 2.5-1.5 victory in dominant fashion after winning game four in just 22 moves while playing as black, with nearly seven minutes left on the clock compared to just 20 seconds for his opponent.

🇳🇴 Magnus Carlsen vs 🇺🇸 Fabiano Caruana in the final!#FreestyleChess pic.twitter.com/uuAQi8MnZS

— International Chess Federation (@FIDE_chess) February 14, 2026

The final between Carlsen and Caruana gets underway on Sunday, 15 February, with Game 4 and the Armageddon tie-break taking place on Monday, if necessary. The winner will pocket a prize money of $100,000 while the runner-up takes home $60,000.

Indian No 1 Arjun, who had finished sixth out of eight players in the round-robin stage, defeated Javokhir Sindarov 3-1 and will be facing American GM Hans Niemann for the fifth place starting Sunday.

Arjun Erigaisi failed to reach the semi-finals of the FIDE Freestyle Chess World Championship in Weissenhaus on Friday, but still had a memorable classification round with a victory over world No 1 Magnus Carlsen. The Indian chess prodigy also defeated Vincent Keymer and FIDE World Cup winner Javokhir Sindarov.

The 22-year-old from Warangal, Erigaisi, lost the remaining four games to finish in sixth place in the classification as Carlsen, Keymer, Fabiano Caruana and Nodirbek Abdusattorov progressed to the semi-finals.

Erigaisi, fast becoming Carlsen’s ‘boogeyman’

Amazingly, Carlsen’s only defeat in the classification round came against the Indian Erigaisi before he won the round robin with 4.5 points out of 7.

The match was played in the No 277 position, where the two bishops are in the extreme corner on the king’s side. Making the most of the white pieces’ advantage, Erigaisi pushed Carlsen into a corner early on

“This is a position that you don’t even want to get in your nightmares,” legendary Judit Polgar said in commentary as Erigiasi took an advantage over Carlsen. “These are the positions that you want to make a good move and then resign because you don’t want to suffer longer.”

Chess great Peter Leko added, “You won’t even wish it upon your biggest enemy. This is a horror.”

Erigaisi’s advantage in the early opening can be explained by the fact that he did not play a piece from the back rank till the 10th move,

“I find it interesting that Arjun has not moved any other piece other than his pawns. It’s like a pawn war,” Polgar underlined.

As per the Lichess engine, Carlsen also made four inaccurate moves during the game, and a major mistake on the 27th move before resigning next.

How Arjun crushed Carlsen

It must have been a difficult defeat for Carlsen to digest, having recently lost to Erigiasi at the FIDE World Blitz Championship 2025 towards the end of last year. Carlsen had infamously
slammed the table in frustration after losing to Arjun, and while at Weissenhaus, he repeated any such antics; it’s clear that Erigiasi is soon becoming Carlsen’s boogeyman.

The FIDE Freestyle Chess World Championship 2026 will be held from February 13 to 15 at the Weissenhaus Private Nature Luxury Resort in Wangels, Germany. For the first time, the event is being jointly organised by FIDE and Freestyle Chess, marking a big shift from the tension seen between the two sides just a year ago.

This is also the first time the tournament is officially called the ‘FIDE Freestyle Chess World Championship’, even though FIDE had earlier organised world title events in the same format in 2019 and 2022 under the name Fischer Random World Championship.

How the structure has changed from 2025

In 2025, Freestyle Chess was run as a year-long Grand Slam Tour with multiple legs across the world. However, there is no full Freestyle Tour this year. Instead, the world championship is now a standalone three-day event with rapid time controls and a reduced prize fund.

The qualification system has also changed this year. In 2026, six players qualified through the 2025 Freestyle Grand Slam Tour, wne wildcard was nominated, and one player came through an online play-in open to titled players. The final event features eight players in total.

Tournament format in 2026

• February 13: Single round-robin group stage (7 rounds) with a 10+5 time control.

• February 14: Semifinals (best-of-four matches, 25+10 time control).

• February 15: Final (best-of-four match, 25+10 time control).

Only the top four players from the group stage advance to the knockout stage. The total prize pool is $300,000 (Rs 2.7 crore), with $100,000 (Rs 90 lakh) going to the champion.

Who are the participants?

The eight players fighting for the title are:

• Magnus Carlsen

• Fabiano Caruana

• Levon Aronian

• Vincent Keymer

• Arjun Erigaisi

• Javokhir Sindarov

• Hans Niemann

• Nodirbek Abdusattorov

India’s
D Gukesh and
R Praggnanandhaa are notable absentees, while Nakamura has decided not to defend his title.

Nakamura, who won the 2022 Fischer Random World Championship, declined to participate this time, citing the rushed arrangement, change in format, and his focus on the Candidates Tournament.

Who are the favourites?

Magnus Carlsen enters as the top-rated player in the world and arguably the biggest favourite. His rapid skills make him very dangerous in a short event like this. Fabiano Caruana is another strong contender. Nodirbek Abdusattorov and Javokhir Sindarov are also among the favourites.

For Indian fans, Arjun Erigaisi will be the one to watch out. He has already shown good form in the World Rapid & Blitz Championships 2025 late last year, winning bronze medals in both events.

Arjun Erigaisi (Photo by Norway Chess/Michal Walusza)

NEW DELHI: Norway Chess has announced Alireza Firouzja as the latest player for its 2026 edition in Oslo, but India’s top-ranked player Arjun Erigaisi is still not part of the confirmed lineup. Firouzja, known for his aggressive and exciting style, said, “I’m looking forward to competing against the best chess players in the world at Norway Chess 2026 in Oslo.”

Firouzja is considered one of the brightest stars in modern chess. He became a grandmaster at just 14 and later made history by becoming the youngest player ever to reach a 2800 rating. He also crossed the 2700 rating mark at 16, showing how quickly he climbed to the elite level. He has played in the FIDE Candidates Tournament twice, first after winning the Grand Swiss in 2021 and later through the world rating list in 2024.He is no stranger to Norway Chess, having played there four times and finishing second in 2020 and 2021. Tournament organisers praised his return, with COO Benedicte Westre Skog saying, “Alireza Firouzja has been part of Norway Chess for several years and has consistently delivered performances at the very highest level. He brings intensity, ambition and world-class quality to the field. We’re very pleased to welcome him back to Oslo in 2026.”India will still be strongly represented at the event. World champion Gukesh Dommaraju and R Praggnanandhaa have already been confirmed, alongside Magnus Carlsen and Vincent Keymer. One more player will be revealed weekly, so there is still a chance for Arjun to make the cut.Gukesh, who became the youngest undisputed world champion after beating Ding Liren in 2024, said, “I am really happy to take part in Norway Chess again, fighting against a very strong field as always, and looking forward to all the exciting games.” He has also enjoyed success at Norway Chess before, including a memorable win over Carlsen in 2025.