2 min readJun 30, 2026 01:28 PM IST
Promising young chess talent Pranav V became the first Indian to qualify for the 2027 FIDE Freestyle Chess World Championship. The 19-year-old from Chennai confirmed his qualification through the first part of the 2026 Freestyle Friday Championship.
The former World Junior Champion Pranav joins Magnus Carlsen, Fabiano Caruana, Nodirbek Abdusattorov, and Vincent Keymer in the Open category, as five names are confirmed for the eight-player championship.
After 19 weeks of online play, Pranav finished first in the Open standings of the Freestyle Friday Championship with 60 points to secure his place in the 2027 World Championship, which will be played at the Weissenhaus Private Nature Luxury Resort in northern Germany.
Before Pranav, Harika Dronavalli had already qualified for the women’s championship, making it two Indian representatives in the event.
Ukraine’s Anna Muzychuk has also confirmed her place in the women’s championship through the same Freestyle Friday route. She topped the field in the women’s standings with 88 points from 19 weeks.
In the Women’s category, Muzychuk joins Bibisara Assaubayeva, Harika Dronavalli, Alua Nurman, and Dinara Wagner.
The Women’s World Championship will take place from February 5 to 7, 2027, while the Open World Championship will follow from February 12 to 14, 2027.
Story continues below this ad
The Freestyle Friday Championship will continue after the summer break, as its second part will decide another qualification spot in both the Open and Women’s categories.
Earlier in January 2026, after more than a year of confrontation and stand-off, Freestyle Chess and FIDE finally decided to bury the hatchet and join forces, where they had announced the inaugural FIDE Freestyle Chess World Championship in Weissenhaus.
The differences between the two parties were public, and despite multiple attempts, ending the dispute and finding a middle ground proved difficult for both. In February 2025, The Indian Express reported that FIDE and Freestyle Chess had been very close to an amicable agreement before talks broke down.
The new season of the Freestyle Grand Slam Tour commenced in April at the Grenke Open in Karlsruhe, Germany.
