Freestyle Friday Championship Begins With Another Win For Bortnyk

With brand-new stakes introduced by the announcement of the Freestyle Friday Championship, the victory that GM Oleksandr Bortnyk earned in the February 20 edition of Freestyle Friday gave him a jumpstart toward potentially playing in the 2027 FIDE Freestyle Chess World Championship. Bortnyk won the event with a round to spare, earning his seventh Freestyle Friday title, leaving him just one shy of GM Hikaru Nakamura‘s record eight.

After five rounds, Bortnyk was one of three players still on a perfect score, the others being GM Alexey Sarana and IM Khuong Duy Dau. No one else even had 4.5 points at that stage. Of the three, only Bortnyk moved to 6/6, which came at Khuong’s expense. Khuong missed the one chance the computer gave him on move 30 at getting the better position by pinning Bortnyk’s rook. Instead, Bortnyk went on to retain his 100% score. 

Meanwhile, Sarana lost his game to GM Sina Movahed. Both of them became part of a group of eight players on 5/6 behind Bortnyk, whose run only continued in the seventh round after his encounter with 2025 Weissenhaus Freestyle Grand Slam victor GM Vincent Keymer. Bortnyk took down Sarana next, reaching 8/8, and by then only Movahed, whom Bortnyk had already defeated in the fourth round, was within even one point.

Like GM Haik Martirosyan in last week’s tournament, Bortnyk’s 8/8 score before the second tournament break turned into 8.5/9 out of it. Movahed could also only make a draw, however, keeping him a full point away from first. That opened the door for Bortnyk to clinch victory in the 10th round, which he did after the tide suddenly turned in his favor during battle with GM Jan-Krzysztof Duda.

Soon after, his only possible rival for first place was eliminated when Movahed lost to GM Nguyen Ngoc Truong Son, who had won a pawn by move 24 and allowed no counterplay besides a couple of harmless checks for the rest of the game.

Bortnyk didn’t need any result in the 11th round, but for some time it appeared he would win yet again. GM Pranav Venkatesh had other plans, though, and took over the game to finish in a tie for third place, settling for fourth after tiebreaks. Down a solid piece by move 30, Pranav hung on long enough for Bortnyk to hang it back, and went on to go up five pawns to four, with an outside passer and no pieces left on the board.

Second place went to Sarana, who won all three of his games after the eighth-round loss to Bortnyk. The last of these came against Keymer. In a surprisingly complicated endgame, it was Sarana who wrested control of the proceedings.

Nguyen finished third and GM Alexandra Kosteniuk, for the second straight week, earned the women’s prize after finishing in 16th place.

February 20 Freestyle Friday | Final Standings (Top 25)