Who Wears the Trousers in the Chess World?

Jan 03, 2025

Podium for The Blitz World Championship?

Magnus Carlsen’s recent actions at the World Rapid and Blitz Chess Championships were not just controversial but a significant rebellion against FIDE.

From his refusal to comply with the dress code in what is now called “Jeansgate” to his decision to share the World Championship title in blitz with Ian Nepomniachtchi, Carlsen has delivered a challenge to the institution that governs chess.

Hans Niemann, in his recent comments, hinted strongly that Magnus’ moves were far from coincidental. Watching the drama unfold between Carlsen and FIDE in New York, I was reminded of Michel Foucault’s theories on power and they might offer a way to understand what happened in New York more clearly.

FIDE's fragile authority

FIDE controls chess in several different ways:

Ratings to measure and rank players
World titles to establish prestige
Tournament rules to regulate competition
Discipline systems to enforce behavior
Traditions that define chess's professional image

These tools/systems maintain FIDE's authority and control over the game, but this power only works when players accept and follow the rules. When top players like Carlsen challenge them and gets their way, FIDE's control weakens.

This aligns with Foucault's view that power isn't inherent to institutions but exists through relationships and accepted practices:

“Power is not an institution, and not a structure; neither is it a certain strength we are endowed with; it is the name that one attributes to a complex strategical situation in a particular society.”
— Michel Foucault (2012). “The History of Sexuality: An Introduction”, p. 93

Carlsen demonstrated this at the World Championships. Rather than demanding reform, he undermined FIDE's authority through his actions. When FIDE tried to enforce their dress code and discipline him due to his jeans at the tournament, he leveraged his status to force their concession, exposing how their rules depend on player compliance.

After winning the dress code battle, Carlsen pushed further when he asked to share the Blitz title, which directly challenged FIDE's tradition of having a single champion and the tournament rules. This second challenge put FIDE President Dvorkovich in a bind: enforce the no-tiebreaker rule that FIDE had made and risk Carlsen withdrawing or just drawing more games, or conceding again and further weakening FIDE's authority.

What makes these acts powerful is that they work within FIDE's system, each concession exposed FIDE's power. However, Carlsen's ability to force such changes depends on his position as a top player within FIDE. Once he steps outside their framework, his leverage to create change will diminish.

The Freestyle Chess Players Club

To fully understand Carlsen’s actions, it’s essential to look at the bigger picture.
The rise of the Freestyle Chess Players Club (FCPC), a new initiative that Magnus is deeply involved in.

The FCPC is launching a five-leg Freestyle Chess Tour this year featuring some of the world’s top players, including Carlsen. According to a December 21 press release, discussions are ongoing between FIDE and the FCPC about whether the tour winner will be crowned the Freestyle Chess World Champion. This raises questions about FIDE’s monopoly on championship titles.

Carlsen is not just a participant in this tour—he’s a driving force. Together with Jan Henric Buettner, Carlsen has secured $12 million in funding for the venture from Left Lane Capital. Chess.com is also partnering with the tour, providing qualifying spots and extensive broadcast coverage.

“Chess needs to evolve into a more dynamic and captivating spectacle, one that allows players to showcase their skills from the first move,” Carlsen has said. The tour will release the players from the constraints of the opening, but maybe also from the constraints of FIDE.

It’s no surprise that FIDE is feeling uneasy about this. Fabiano Caruana, another top player scheduled to participate in the Freestyle Tour, revealed on his podcast that FIDE had “warned him” against participating if the tour’s winner were to claim a World Championship title due to prior contracts with FIDE. While the December 21 press release describes the ongoing discussions between FIDE and the FCPC as “amicable,” the underlying tension is noticeable. It is also worth noting that when you use a word like amicable, then it might not describe the true situation.

On the official website of the new tour, it is also still stated in the rules that:

“The 2025 Freestyle Chess World Champion, as well as the second and third place of the World Championship will receive trophies and extra prize money after the last Grand Slam of the calendar year: $150.000 for the winner, $100.000 for second place, and $50.000 for third place.”1

The use of Credit: https://www.freestyle-chess.com/fc-players-club-rules/

With this in mind, Carlsen’s actions at the World Blitz and Rapid Championships might seem less coincidental. Despite FIDE President Dvorkovich's public assurance that players won't face consequences for participating in the Freestyle Tour, tensions seems to remain high. Carlsen's challenges to FIDE's authority, whether planned or opportunistic serve as a clear message that changes are on its way.

A new era for chess?

FIDE may still control the rules and the titles, but players like Carlsen (and Chess.com?) are trying to prove that the sport’s future lies in their hands.

I do not personally believe the future of chess is anywhere related to freestyle chess. In my experience, chess fans don’t like freestyle and do not like to play it themselves in general terms. So far this year 3,144,436 blitz games have been played on Lichess and only 27,805 freestyle games (chess960). The freestyle match video from day 1 between Carlsen and Caruana has 3.820 views on YouTube, which is less than some of my own YouTube videos.2

So, most likely FIDE should have been more confident in chess and themselves, given the freestyle chess title to the new tour, and let Magnus continue into the deep dark forest called freestyle chess, where 2+2=5 and where chess fans most likely will not follow him. The big problem for FIDE is their inability to generate sponsorship money for the game, which will only become harder when/if Magnus and others leave FIDE.

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