Hamburg, Germany, February 2026. Freestyle Chess has announced a new strategic partnership with Make (make.com), the AI workflow automation platform headquartered in Prague. The collaboration will officially launch at the inaugural FIDE Freestyle Chess World Championship, taking place from February 13-15, 2026, in Weissenhaus, Germany.

The partnership brings together two organizations that share a strong overlap in mindset: both appeal to innovators who challenge what’s possible. As Freestyle Chess redefines competitive chess through a modern and dynamic format, Make empowers teams to build powerful automations and AI agents. This creates a natural strategic fit, as well as a compelling brand halo for Make to tell its story externally and position itself as the automation platform of choice for the AI era.

At the heart of the collaboration is the partnership around the 2026 FIDE Freestyle Chess World Championship, serving as the anchor moment to launch and activate the relationship. Make will be integrated across all key event touchpoints, including broadcast, on-site presence, content and storytelling, all ensuring strong visibility and meaningful association with the event. Beyond the World Championship, both partners see clear potential to extend the collaboration across additional Freestyle Chess properties, such as Freestyle Friday broadcasts, the Freestyle Chess Open, and future Grand Slam events, building a longer-term partnership based on shared learnings and impact.

“Make has helped countless companies become more innovative, faster, and more successful through automation, often transforming entire industries in the process. This perfectly matches our own ambition to modernize the sport of chess and develop it into a sustainable and successful business model,” underlined Freestyle Chess founder and CEO Jan Henric Buettner.

Make CEO Fabian Veit commented on the partnership: “Freestyle Chess took a traditional format and completely reimagined it to be faster, more dynamic and more accessible – exactly what we’re doing with work and automation in the AI era. Both of us are building for people who think differently and move boldly to challenge the status quo, so we couldn’t be more excited about this partnership.”

About Freestyle Chess

Founded in 2024 by Hamburg-based entrepreneur and investor Jan Henric Buettner and Norwegian grandmaster Magnus Carlsen, widely regarded as the greatest chess player of all times, Freestyle Chess was created to reimagine the game through an innovative competitive format. The organization aims to attract a new global audience while preserving the strategic depth of chess. In 2025, Freestyle Chess hosted its inaugural Grand Slam series, with events in Germany, Paris, Las Vegas, and South Africa. The inaugural FIDE Freestyle Chess World Championship in February 2026 marks a major milestone in the organization’s rapid development.

About Make.com

Make is the leading visual-first, no-code integration and automation platform that empowers over 350,000 organizations to build custom workflows and integrate AI without limits. With more than 30,000 available actions and 3,000+ integrated apps, Make brings no-code automation and AI agents into one visual-first platform so businesses can build with speed and scale with control. Learn more at Make.com.