Over the board 960 • page 1/4 • General Chess Discussion • lichess.org

Hi!
I'm curious, where do others find places to play 960? I find it hard to convince park players, but often I get games at the local chess meet ups. Do people play rated 960 games? And if so, what kinds of organizations host them? (Not including top level events obviously)
Thanks

Hi! I'm curious, where do others find places to play 960? I find it hard to convince park players, but often I get games at the local chess meet ups. Do people play rated 960 games? And if so, what kinds of organizations host them? (Not including top level events obviously) Thanks

GM RealDavidNavara

#2

If you live in Germany or not too far, this could be interesting for you:
https://schach960.org/
They organize just one event per year, but a very nice one. Both professionals and amateurs play in the same event. That said, I often miss it because of some league matches played at the same dates.

If you live in Germany or not too far, this could be interesting for you: https://schach960.org/ They organize just one event per year, but a very nice one. Both professionals and amateurs play in the same event. That said, I often miss it because of some league matches played at the same dates.

GM Former_Player

#3

Hi. Which country or continent are you from?

perplextase

#4

I’m in the USA, but I’m also interested how people find games in other places, who knows I’m so eager for otb 960 I might travel one day for it

Patralgan

#5

I dream of an irl chess club near me that would be focused on Chess960/Freestyle. I would join in a heartbeat

CM Sarg0n

#6

In RL, chess960 is practically non-existent. A random occurrence.

GM Former_Player

edited

#7

Speaking about the USA or Canada, I don't know about traditional chess960 events over there - except the STL 9LX challenge, of course. I'll be glad to be corrected if anyone knows more than I do!
In Europe, there are several traditional OTB 960 events but too few (yet) really attractive ones, and all of those tournaments are rapid or blitz. The Schach960 Festival mentioned by David Navara is a really good one - it offers not-so-rapid time control and pace (25+30, 9 rounds in three days), a lucrative prize money (special prizes included) and a chance for a club player to play o.t.b. 960 / talk with a strong GM like Navara, Harikrishna, Meier, Kollars, Azarov etc.
Speaking abour Germany, the traditional German Chess960 Open Championship (20+5) boasted as many as 158 participants this year: https://www.chess-international.com/?p=92738. This country has some chess960 traditions since the Mainz Chess Classic, and several enthusiastic chess960 organizers including Hans-Walter Schmitt himself.
The Dutch Open Rapid Chess960 Championship in Amsterdam is also held annually, usually at the cusp of May and June: http://www.fischerz.nl/ It has just three or four prizes; the time control is 15 min plus some sec increment (presumably 15+5).
Several chess960 events are part of the famous Biel festival in Switzerland - one of them is open (see https://www.bielchessfestival.ch/Tournaments/Open-Tournaments/Swiss-Rapid-Fischer-Random-Championship-2024.html). Lately the Russian city of Kazan has started organizing chess960 rapid events on a regular basis, such as the Kazan Mayor's Cup (invitational round-robin for the best local players, http://www.tat-chess.ru/news/kubok_mehra_goroda_kazani/2024-12-05-3071) and the open Swiss as part of Nezhmetdinov Memorial - this year's one can be viewed at http://www.tat-chess.ru/news/turnir_po_shakhmatam_fishera_na_prizy_fsh_rt/2024-05-29-2949.
As for Asia, there are some irregular 960 activities in countries such as Malaysia, the Philippines and Indonesia, sometimes there's something in India, but again those are rapid or blitz events with little prize money, destined mainly for the locals.

I hope that the Grand Slam by Magnus and Buettner will bring dramatic changes to the chess960 scene so in the next couple of years we'll finally see slow 960 (or rather freestyle chess - perhaps this name is even better) worth travelling to from afar pop up like mushrooms after the rain.

Speaking about the USA or Canada, I don't know about traditional chess960 events over there - except the STL 9LX challenge, of course. I'll be glad to be corrected if anyone knows more than I do! In Europe, there are several traditional OTB 960 events but too few (yet) really attractive ones, and all of those tournaments are rapid or blitz. The Schach960 Festival mentioned by David Navara is a really good one - it offers not-so-rapid time control and pace (25+30, 9 rounds in three days), a lucrative prize money (special prizes included) and a chance for a club player to play o.t.b. 960 / talk with a strong GM like Navara, Harikrishna, Meier, Kollars, Azarov etc. Speaking abour Germany, the traditional German Chess960 Open Championship (20+5) boasted as many as 158 participants this year: https://www.chess-international.com/?p=92738. This country has some chess960 traditions since the Mainz Chess Classic, and several enthusiastic chess960 organizers including Hans-Walter Schmitt himself. The Dutch Open Rapid Chess960 Championship in Amsterdam is also held annually, usually at the cusp of May and June: http://www.fischerz.nl/ It has just three or four prizes; the time control is 15 min plus some sec increment (presumably 15+5). Several chess960 events are part of the famous Biel festival in Switzerland - one of them is open (see https://www.bielchessfestival.ch/Tournaments/Open-Tournaments/Swiss-Rapid-Fischer-Random-Championship-2024.html). Lately the Russian city of Kazan has started organizing chess960 rapid events on a regular basis, such as the Kazan Mayor's Cup (invitational round-robin for the best local players, http://www.tat-chess.ru/news/kubok_mehra_goroda_kazani/2024-12-05-3071) and the open Swiss as part of Nezhmetdinov Memorial - this year's one can be viewed at http://www.tat-chess.ru/news/turnir_po_shakhmatam_fishera_na_prizy_fsh_rt/2024-05-29-2949. As for Asia, there are some irregular 960 activities in countries such as Malaysia, the Philippines and Indonesia, sometimes there's something in India, but again those are rapid or blitz events with little prize money, destined mainly for the locals. I hope that the Grand Slam by Magnus and Buettner will bring dramatic changes to the chess960 scene so in the next couple of years we'll finally see slow 960 (or rather freestyle chess - perhaps this name is even better) worth travelling to from afar pop up like mushrooms after the rain.

CM Sarg0n

#8

I wouldn‘t expect too much from a single-digit participation quota. In other words: >90% of all chess players will vote with their feet against randomism.

GM Former_Player

#9

I almost forgot - this year saw the European Fischer Random (Rapid) Championship included in the program of the habitual yearly European Rapid / Blitz Championship for the first time in history. It was broadcasted here on Lichess: https://lichess.org/broadcast/european-fischer-random-chess-championship-2024/round-11/zMEFS3oK

GM Former_Player

edited

#10

@Sarg0n said in #8:

I wouldn‘t expect too much from a single-digit participation quota. In other words: >90% of all chess players will vote with their feet against randomism.

No one can force you to play chess960. Others are able to decide without your friendly advice.

@Sarg0n said in #8: > I wouldn‘t expect too much from a single-digit participation quota. In other words: >90% of all chess players will vote with their feet against randomism. No one can force you to play chess960. Others are able to decide without your friendly advice.