Jan-Krzysztof Duda, Freestyle Chess and more
6th week of chess
This week’s newsletter brings you:
Jan Krysztof Duda on Quitting chess
Freestyle Chess Grand Slam Unveils New Title
Free Style Chess Grand Slam 2025
How to improve in Chess 960
📰 Chess News & Stories
#1. Jan-Krzysztof Duda’s Journey Through Crisis
Polish chess star Jan-Krzysztof Duda, known for his stunning win at the 2021 FIDE World Cup, has revealed the toll that success took on him. In a candid interview, Duda, now 26, called his World Cup win "a big step backward" for his career. The pressure, media attention, and health struggles that followed led him to question his future in chess.
The turning point came at the 2024 Chess Olympiad in Budapest. Despite a strong 2794 rating performance—only outshined by GMs Gukesh Dommaraju, Nodirbek Abdusattorov, and Magnus Carlsen—Duda left feeling empty.
“I had a very big crisis of faith after the Olympiad. At some point, I decided I’d become an amateur.” He recalled a devastating draw against GM Valentin Dragnev, followed by an “absurd fork” loss to GM Bogdan-Daniel Deac.
Duda’s dissatisfaction led him to reject invitations to major tournaments like Wijk aan Zee and Prague. However, a bronze at the 2024 World Blitz Championship reignited his determination—if only temporarily.
Reflecting on the event, Duda shared: “Earlier it was unthinkable for me that I wouldn’t want to play blitz, but in New York it was terrible, so exhausting.”
In 2022, despite his declining motivation, Duda still managed impressive performances, including winning the Oslo Esports Cup and the Grand Chess Tour in Warsaw. However, the 2022 Candidates Tournament, which he approached “like the Holy Grail,” proved to be another low point. He finished joint last, losing four games and winning only one. Despite his struggles, chess remains a part of Duda’s life.
“My whole life is connected to chess. You don’t need to be a genius to play chess, you need to be a genius to give it up!”—Duda
Duda may be facing a “mild crisis of faith,” but fans around the world will be watching closely to see what’s next for this resilient grandmaster.
#2. Freestyle Chess Grand Slam Unveils New Title
In a pivotal decision, the 2025 Freestyle Chess Grand Slam Tour winner will now be crowned as the "Freestyle Chess Champion." The move, unanimously agreed upon by the 12 members of the Freestyle Chess Players Club (FCPC) during the ongoing Freestyle Chess Grand Slam Weissenhaus, aims to avoid using the term "world champion" in response to FIDE's legal pressure.
Photo: Lennart Ootes/Freestyle Chess.
This decision follows FIDE’s demand that players competing in the Grand Slam refrain from participating in non-FIDE tournaments that declare a "world champion." Failure to comply would result in bans from FIDE’s World Championship cycle. With a February 3 deadline hanging over many top players, Jan Henric Buettner, co-founder of Freestyle Chess, expressed frustration with FIDE’s tactics, calling them “coercive” and designed to pressure players into compliance.
While some players like GM Gukesh Dommaraju and GM Wesley So signed FIDE’s waiver contract, others—Magnus Carlsen, Hikaru Nakamura, Fabiano Caruana, and more—declined to sign.
Buettner emphasized the importance of player autonomy in choosing tournaments and announced plans to form an independent players’ association with legal representation to protect players’ rights.
FIDE responded, claiming they remain open to collaboration and dialogue, questioning the need for controversy if the Freestyle Chess Tour never intended to use "world champion" titles. The governing body stressed that players had been clearly informed they were not obligated to sign the waiver.
The 2025 Freestyle Chess Grand Slam Tour continues, with events in France, the U.S.A., India, and South Africa still to come.
#3. Free Style Chess Grand Slam 2025
Round Robin:
GM Alireza Firouzja clinched victory in the Round Robin by beating GM Javokhir Sindarov in the final round. With his win, Firouzja earned first pick for his Quarterfinal opponent—and he chose Vincent Keymer.
GM Sindarov, avoiding a matchup against his compatriot Abdusattorov, surprised many, including Magnus Carlsen, by selecting the reigning FIDE Fischer Random world champion and world number-two, GM Hikaru Nakamura.
Meanwhile, GM Fabiano Caruana faced a choice between Abdusattorov and GM Gukesh—and he picked Gukesh.
Quarter final:
🎯 Chess Improvement and Tips
This week has clearly focused on Freestyle Chess, also known as Chess 960. More and more players are embracing this exciting variant. In the video below, NM Caleb Denby, on the Saint Louis Chess Club’s YouTube channel, explains how to navigate the opening phase of the game. This is very instructive video.
That’s all for this week. Thank you.
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