Faced with this pressurethe Freestyle Chess has made changes to participants’ contracts – although the exact nature of these changes remains unknown. Eleven of the twelve players invited to the Grand Slam de Paris readily agreed to initial the new terms. Only Alireza Firouzja remained silent.
In an interview with Take Take TakeJan Henric Buettner looks back at the stormy negotiations with the French GM. Firouzja contacted him just one week before the tournamentexpressing his dissatisfaction with the new contract. After several exchanges, he sent back an annotated version, underlining the clauses that gave him cause for concern. Buettner then resumed the discussions, point by point, until an agreement in extremis. But the situation has reboundedThe following Wednesday, Firouzja resumed negotiations, this time for revise her fee. Buettner remained intractable, but agreed to rework the terms.
Five days before kick-offFirouzja had still not signed. Richard Rapport was chosen to replace him. A few days later, it was Hans Niemann’s turn to make trouble…
The audio version given by Jan Henric Buettner:
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