Matthias Bluebaum scored 9 victories to win the October 2nd Freestyle Friday tournament with 9/11 points. Runner-up Oleksandr Bortnyk won 8 times, drew 1 time, and lost twice, which led him to finish second with 8.5 points.

The Freestyle Friday (October 2, 2026) Top 5 are:

Place Player Score TB Prize
1. 🇩🇪 GM Matthias Bluebaum 9 67.0 $400
2. 🇺🇦 GM Oleksandr Bortnyk 8.5 70.5 $250
3. 🇮🇳 GM V Pranav 8.5 63.0 $150
4. 🇮🇳 GM Narayanan Sunilduth Lyna 8.5 59.0 $100
5. 🇵🇪 IM Renato Terry 8 76.0 -

Freestyle Friday is a weekly Chess.com event for verified titled players, featuring the Chess960 variant. The event is an 11-round Swiss tournament with a 3+1 time control featuring a $1,000 weekly prize fund. This event is a part of the 2026 Freestyle Friday Championship, the winner of which will qualify for the 2027 FIDE Freestyle Chess World Championship.

Credit: Michal Walusza / FIDE