5 Reasons Why 2025 Could Be a Memorable Year in Chess
Chess has a way of surprising us every year. Just when we think we've seen it all, the game finds new ways to inspire and amaze. As we enter 2025, there's a sense that something special is in the air. From rising stars to long-awaited comebacks, from groundbreaking innovations to unforgettable tournaments, this could be a year we'll be talking about for a long time to come.
So what makes 2025 feel so different? Whether you're a passionate player, a fan of epic rivalries, or someone who loves the drama of the chessboard, there's plenty to get excited about. In this blog, we'll explore five reasons why this year could leave a lasting mark on the world of chess. Ready to find out what's in store? Let's get started.
Table Of Contents
- Freestyle Chess
- Magnus Carlsen and His Evolving Role In Chess
- The Race for Candidate Spots
- Chess at the 2025 Esports World Cup
- The 2025 Chess.com Improvement Challenge
- Conclusion
Freestyle Chess, often referred to as Chess960, Fischer Random or Chess9LX, is a brand new initiative by arguably the best chess player of all time, Magnus Carlsen. While this variant has been invented for decades, by the legendary Bobby Fischer, as we reach 2025 we can see that it has reached its peak.
The main difference in this variant of chess is the starting position of the pieces. While the positions of the pawns remain the same, with White's pawns all on the second rank and Black's on the seventh, the minor and major pieces are placed semi-randomly on the first and last ranks. There are exactly 960 starting positions, hence the name Chess960.
I want to keep the old chess game. But just making a change so the starting positions are mixed, so it's not degenerated down to memorization and prearrangement like it is today.
Bobby Fischer
The whole thing started in February 2024, when Magnus Carlsen, together with Jan Henric Buettner, organised the 2024 Freestyle Chess G.O.A.T. Challenge, in which 8 super grandmasters from the world's elite participated. The event was a resounding success, ultimately won by Magnus Carlsen.
As a follow-up, just before the World Chess Championship, Magnus Carlsen and Fabiano Caruana played a freestyle chess match in Singapore. This was another successful event. Not long after, the Freestyle Chess Players Club, an exclusive club for the best chess players in the world, announced that Freestyle Chess would be coming back and that they would be organising a five-leg Grand Tour. They have also supported the idea of holding an open qualifier for those who are not members of the Freestyle Chess Players Club.
Personally I love freestyle chess very much and I practice it every day. I think this initiative makes a lot of sense and I am looking forward to see if it will be as successful as the previous events, but if it is, I am really excited about it.
Magnus Carlsen and His Evolving Role in Chess
Most of you already know that 2024 ended with a lot of drama and uncertainty. Magnus Carlsen was fined $200 for wearing jeans at the FIDE World Rapid Chess Championships and disqualified from the event. There was a lot of controversy about this decision, but FIDE eventually reached an agreement with Carlsen and Carlsen was allowed to wear jeans at the World Blitz Championships.
Despite the fact that Magnus did not have the best tournament of his life, he managed to score 9.5 points along with 9 other players in the Swiss stage and qualified for the knockout rounds via tiebreaks. He reached the final and was paired up with Ian Nepomniachtchi, where the players agreed to share the title after 7 games. Although the FIDE tournament rules called for another tie-break in this situation, FIDE President Arkady Dvorkovich used his authority to agree to the proposal and both players were declared winners of the Open Section, leading to criticism from the chess community.
Daniel Naroditsky was one of the ten players who scored 9.5 points, but finished in 9th place due to tie-breaks, and then tweeted this:
If only I had known that the rules were flexible, I'd have lobbied for all 10 players who tied for first to be included in the knockout. Or, if we can have two co-champions, why not 10?! Alas...
— Daniel Naroditsky (@GmNaroditsky) January 1, 2025
Then Hans Niemann, who was knocked out in the quarter-finals by Carlsen himself, also shared his opinion.
The chess world is officially a joke. THIS HAS NEVER BEEN DONE IN HISTORY. I can’t believe that the official body of chess is being controlled by a singular player FOR THE 2ND TIME THIS WEEK. THERE CAN ONLY BE ONE WORLD CHAMPION!
— Hans Niemann
I am very curious to see what 2025 will bring us after this controversy, as we start the year with a lot of disappointed grandmasters and a very angry Hans Niemann. While I am not in favour of shared titles at a World Championship, I think the solution has to be somewhere in the middle.
I have to agree that some of FIDE's rules are useless, but I also cannot ignore the fact that if we, the chess players, are fighting for a new initiative, Magnus Carlsen is the most influential figure in this. I hope that 2025 will bring us solutions to these problems and not cause more drama in the chess world.
2024 ended with two notable things that are important for the next World Championship cycle. Firstly, Gukesh became the 18th undisputed World Champion at the age of 18. This means that the winner of the 2026 Candidates Tournament will face him in the 2026 World Championship. Secondly, as the World Rapid and Blitz Championships have come to an end and Arjun Erigaisi has failed to win either, Fabiano Caruana has earned a place in the Candidates Tournament.
For the first time in history, the loser of the last World Championship does not get an automatic qualifying spot for the next Candidates Tournament, which means that Ding Liren will have to win one of the spots in this year's events if he still wants to compete. To compensate, the 2024 championship will be considered an eligible tournament for the FIDE Circuit, with the runner-up obtaining special bonus points for the 2025 FIDE Circuit based on the score.
The remaining 7 places in the candidates will be allocated as follows. Three places will be awarded at the 2025 FIDE World Cup, 2 places at the 2025 FIDE Grand Swiss, one place will go to the winner of the 2025 FIDE Circuit and the last place will go to the highest rated player who has not yet qualified.
I think there'll be some really tough competition for these spots. At the moment, it's hard to say who'll win, but I've got some ideas. I reckon Arjun will qualify, either from the events or from the FIDE Circuit. I think we might see Hikaru qualify as the highest-rated player, probably playing his last Candidates Tournament. I'm not sure about the other five spots, though. There are lots of talented youngsters and lots of experienced players in the world elite, so it could be anyone's guess. I can see Nepo giving it another try, and from all the youngsters I would predict Abdusattorov to qualify.
Chess at the 2025 Esports World Cup
On 18 December, Chess.com and Magnus Carlsen announced a big partnership with the Esports World Cup Foundation (EWCF). This means that competitive chess will be part of the 2025 Esports World Cup (EWC), the world's largest gaming and esports festival.
The event will take place in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia. The players will compete for a huge amount of money: $1.5 million. The 2025 Champions Chess Tour (CCT) will be the main way for the world's best players to qualify for the EWC Championship. Two online Tour events will take place in 2025 (Feb and May), with a combined prize pool of $300,000.The top 12 players from the CCT and four from the "Last Chance Qualifier" will compete.
The new format will make the event more interesting. Matches will be played with a time control of 10 minutes for the whole game, with no extra time. If the score is tied at the end of the game, the winner will be decided by a single Armageddon game. This will make games in time trouble extremely exciting to watch. I'm sure this is what chess fans want.
As I mentioned before, if any chess player should try to innovate the game, it should definitely be Magnus Carlsen. I like this idea very much, as it is an incredible opportunity to grow the game by introducing chess to new people and inspiring the next generation of players. I'm looking forward to seeing how this event goes.
The 2025 Chess.com Improvement Challenge
Finally I will have a word about the thing I am most involved in, the 2025 Chess Improvement Challenge. I have been waiting for this for a long time, as I am a chess player who is very keen on improvement. Being involved in this challenge gives you the chance to work with master coaches and eventually win some prizes.
At the end of this challenge, people will be selected to be invited to the CoachChamps 2025 event, which sounds very interesting. Once you've signed up, you'll also have the chance to win monthly prizes of private lessons, Chessable vouchers and premium memberships for great improvement stories, posts, blogs and videos!
I really encourage you to sign up for the Improvement Challenge here. So far things are looking good, which makes me really happy. So what are you waiting for? Come and join us!
2025 definitely seems to be an interesting year when it comes to chess. What are your predictions, what will we see this year? What are your goals and resolutions? Feel free to share them in the comments section. This will be my entry for the BlogChamps finals, so please cross your fingers for me. Until then, get out of here! 
