5 Strategies To Win More Games At Freestyle Chess
“There is no concrete preparation, the way it is in normal chess when you can memorize 20 moves and it's hard to even get a game—in this format, you always get a game!" - Magnus Carlsen, February 9, 2024.
Have you tried Freestyle Chess yet? Also called Chess960 and Fischer Random chess, Freestyle is starting to take center stage in the chess world. You play by randomizing the placement of the back rank pieces while ensuring that the king is between the rooks and that the bishops occupy opposite-colored squares. GM Magnus Carlsen explains the game succinctly.
Learning to play Freestyle chess is easy. Playing it well is the hard part. With 960 possible starting positions, there's no point in trying to prepare specific knowledge for the opening. Instead, here are five essential strategies to keep in mind for all of your Freestyle games.
- Watch Out For Weaknesses
- Activate Your Queen, But Be Careful
- Focus On Structures
- Be Creative With Your Rooks
- Consider Mirroring With Black
Watch Out For Weaknesses
Carlsen, the world's most accomplished Freestyle player, claims that when he first sees a new position, he focuses on the tactical opportunities. Freestyle is full of chances to attack and win quickly because unique patterns can arise early in the game, sometimes from the very first move. For example, in some Freestyle positions, there are undefended pawns in the initial setup. This can lead to someone losing a game after a blunder on the very first move.
Most weaknesses are more subtle than immediately losing material, but they can still be decisive early on. You'll need to check for pawns that are defended only by the king, which can be weak, similar to how f2 and f7 are in standard chess. Additionally, it helps to notice which pieces may struggle to develop, which could lead to them being trapped or just not active enough to help in the struggle.
Activate Your Queen, But Be Careful
In standard chess, we are taught early on to keep our queens safe, but in Freestyle, it's just as important to make sure our queens don't get stuck in the corner. That's rarely an issue in standard chess, when the queen starts in the center, but in Freestyle, if you're not focused on activating the queen, she might be a spectator until it's too late. It's even happened to GM Vincent Keymer, one of the strongest Freestyle players in the world.
Just like in regular chess, you need to balance your queen's activity with keeping it safe. If she goes on too many adventures, she might get lost, as IM Levy Rozman found out against the World Champion.
Focus On Structures
Coordinating your pieces will often be difficult in Freestyle chess. Fortunately, your knowledge of pawn structures from standard chess will translate pretty well to Freestyle. Before each round of the Freestyle Grand Slam, players with the same color analyze together and often manage to agree on a plan.
In one post-match interview, GM Hikaru Nakamura mentioned that GM Fabiano Caruana had "been advocating that this Slav structure with d4, d5, c4, c6, c5 is good for White in almost every position. Before the game, (...) I think we all thought it was very promising." If you can find a favorable pawn structure, it may well translate to many setups regardless of the initial placement of pieces on the back rank.
Nakamura only managed to draw his game in the Slav structure, but GM Ian Nepomniachtchi used it to gain a significant space advantage and win a brilliant game.
Be Creative With Your Rooks
In standard chess, beginners often love to develop their rooks by advancing the pawns in front of them two spaces and then lifting the rook to the third rank. If you've ever had a chess coach, they probably explained that it's much better to castle and develop your rooks to the center. However, in Freestyle, your king is often in a secure square near the corner already, so you might want to launch those edge pawns forward and develop your rooks like a child!
“Vincent isn’t playing Magnus Carlsen — he’s playing the machine,” says Leko after Carlsen plays 3...h4 — the best move according to the engine. pic.twitter.com/7UgdcUyyiA
— Take Take Take (@TakeTakeTakeApp) April 21, 2025
In the last round of this spring's Grenke Chess Festival, played in Freestyle format, Carlsen won to secure an amazing 9/9 result. In this critical game, both Carlsen and Keymer advanced edge pawns on the fourth move! Carlsen sacrificed his h-pawn, allowing him to activate the rook on h1 without having to move it.
Amazingly, the rook was a powerful piece, controlling key squares throughout the game, despite still remaining on its starting square up until Keymer resigned on move 41! The annotations are based on Carlsen's own comments in his post-game interview.
Consider Mirroring With Black
Beginners playing Black often choose a strategy that doesn't make much sense in standard chess, which is copying White's first few moves in the opening. However, that strategy can at times be helpful in Freestyle chess.
GM Niclas Huschenbeth argues that "Mirroring is one of the most important concepts in Freestyle, especially for Black. In the first few moves, simply copying White's moves can often be a solid strategy. This prevents you from getting into a worse position early on or unintentionally creating weaknesses. But it can’t continue forever."
Mirroring is often a great way for Black to avoid giving up a space advantage or getting quickly checkmated in an imbalanced game. Additionally, the intense opening theory in the Ruy Lopez or Queen's Gambit that might discourage someone from playing symmetrically on the first move in standard chess has no place in Freestyle.
In another one of his Grenke games, Carlsen moved his h-pawn on the first two moves and eventually won with a powerful attack. Game Review calls Black's very first move a mistake and recommends a mirroring strategy, which could have given Black a safe position.
What strategies work for you in Freestyle chess? Let us know in the comments!
