Fabiano Caruana commented on the final games of the FIDE Freestyle Chess World Championship 2026. Fabiano expressed dissatisfaction with his performance in the Finals and noted his missed opportunities.

Fabiano Caruana

Fabiano Caruana

World No. 3

“I don’t know what to say about the third game… Of course, in many ways the position was easily winning. Also, there were probably very practical ways to win. Maybe fewer practical ones, but still winning. And I simply didn’t choose any of them.

I’ll probably forget about it tomorrow. But, obviously, right now it’s very bitter.

This is a very short tournament, so most likely, all I’ll remember is the last match.”

The FIDE Freestyle Chess World Championship 2026 is the first joint World Championship in the 960 format, which took place in Weissenhaus, Germany from February 13 to 15. Fabiano Caruana (2795) lost to Magnus Carlsen (2840) with a score of 1.5-2.5 in the Final and finished second securing a prize of $60,000.

Credit: Lennart Ootes/Freestyle Chess