'Freestyle' chess scrambles the board episode artwork

EPISODE · Jul 21, 2025 · 13 MIN

'Freestyle' chess scrambles the board

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Today's story: A new global chess tour is trying to make the ancient game more exciting—for both players and viewers. Spearheaded by Magnus Carlsen, the Freestyle Chess Grand Slam Tour shakes up traditional chess by randomizing the starting position of key pieces. The format reduces the advantage of computer-assisted preparation and rewards raw skill and intuition. The games are also broadcast with modern, viewer-friendly features like live commentary and player confessionals.Transcript & Exercises: https://plainenglish.com/792Full lesson: https://plainenglish.com/792 --Plain English helps you improve your English:Learn about the world and improve your EnglishClear, natural English at a speed you can understandNew stories every weekLearn even more at PlainEnglish.com-- Mentioned in this episode:Ready to improve your listening?Ready to listen fast? Improve your listening with the fast version of this and every episode. The full-speed version is a fresh recording and it sounds just like someone speaking to a native speaker (with no AI or computer manipulation!) You can even listen on a podcast app Sign up for a free 14-day trial at PlainEnglish.com

Episode metadata supplied by the publisher feed · Published Jul 21, 2025

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'Freestyle' chess scrambles the board

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