World Chess960 Championship

The goal of the game, as stated by Fischer, was to eliminate reliance on preparation and the memorization of various openings, and emphasize creativity and talent.

[4] Although the planned match between Eugene Torre and Pablo Ricardi, intended to showcase the new format, was canceled after a dispute between Fischer and the organizers, the variant quickly grew in popularity.

Leko, who was born in the nearby town of Subotica, scored 9½/11 to win the tournament by a half-point over Yugoslavian grandmaster Stanimir Nikolic.

[8] Over the nine-year span of the event, four different grandmasters captured the world title – Leko, Peter Svidler, Levon Aronian, and Hikaru Nakamura.

The match was announced by Jøran Aulin-Jansson, president of the Norwegian Chess Federation, in October 2017 as a supporting program for an ongoing art exhibition Dag Alveng – Still Time at the Henie Onstad museum.

Grandmasters who confirmed their participation in the event included Magnus Carlsen, Hikaru Nakamura, Fabiano Caruana, Wesley So, Alexander Grischuk, Ian Nepomniachtchi and Peter Svidler.

But we believe that Fischer Random is a positive innovation: It injects new energies and enthusiasm into our game, but at the same time it doesn't mean a rupture with our classical chess and its tradition.

"[2] After a number of online qualifying events, four players competed in the over-the-board semifinals and final of the championship, held in Bærum, Norway from October 27 to November 2, 2019: So, Carlsen, Caruana, and Nepomniachtchi.

[12] Hikaru Nakamura won the championship in 2022, defeating Ian Nepomniachtchi in an armageddon match after drawing the final game 2-2.

Grandmasters who participated included So, the defending champion, Carlsen, the runner-up, wild cards Hjörvar Steinn Grétarsson and Nepomniachtchi, and internet qualifiers Vladimir Fedoseev, Matthias Blübaum, Nodirbek Abdusattorov and Nakamura.

During the championships, Wesley So blundered believing he could castle out of check in the chess variant to avoid losing material, which resulted in his loss against Nepomniachtchi.

On December 21, 2024, the Freestyle Chess Players Club issued a press release on Twitter stating an agreement on a "friendly co-existence" with FIDE, and ongoing discussions "regarding the mutual recognition of future World Championship titles".