FIDE vs Freestyle Chess dispute continues as ‘intensive negotiations’ lead nowhere

The global governing body of chess, FIDE, has announced that talks with the organisers of Freestyle Chess Grand Slam Tour have not yielded much as the impasse continues in chess.
“Despite intensive negotiations, the FIDE Council states that there is currently no agreement regarding the Freestyle Tour. This is due to the other party’s refusal to acknowledge FIDE’s status as the sole regulator of World Chess Championships and its authority to award a World Championship title,” FIDE posted on their X handle on Monday afternoon.
It went on to add that it would be releasing a “full statement” on the matter later on Monday.
Story continues below this ad

FIDE and organizers of the upcoming Freestyle Chess Grand Slam Tour have been at loggerheads for over two months now. This feud has seen both sides write open letters and level serious allegations against each other.
The biggest issue between the two parties had been over the use of the phrase ‘world championship’. As the global governing body of chess, FIDE has stated unequivocally that only they have the right to decide which event can be called a world championship. The organisers of the freestyle tour, on the other hand, disputed this.
There was also a financial disagreement over the tour. The organisers of the freestyle tour had offered to pay the governing body $100,000 (for what it termed “purely as a gesture of goodwill and to avoid harassment”). But it had allegedly rebuffed the offer and had demanded $500,000.
Despite the acrimony between the two parties, it was only last week that a ceasefire was appearing likely with German entrepreneur Jan Henric Buettner, the brains and financial muscle behind the ambitious freestyle tour, and FIDE president Arkady Dvorkovich having at least three one-on-one phone calls to iron out the differences. Story continues below this ad
“I already had two phone calls with Arkady yesterday and the day before, and we’re going to have another one today. I can tell you that we are pretty close to reaching an amicable agreement that will lead to a good situation where we kind of bury the hatchet and say, ‘okay, let’s move on with an agreement that works for both sides,’” Buettner had told The Indian Express on Friday.
A FIDE official, speaking to The Indian Express off the record, had also confirmed that both parties had held “intensive conversations” to try and sort out their differences.