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Speed Chess Championship 2018 | Official Information
The 2018 Speed Chess Championship.

Speed Chess Championship 2018 | Official Information

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| 227 | Chess Players

The 2018 Chess.com Speed Chess Championship will feature 16 of the world's best chess players in an innovative eSports bracket tournament and a guaranteed prize pool of $55,000.

Congratulations to Hikaru Nakamura, the 2018 Speed Chess Champion.

hikaru nakamura

You can find important information on the event below. 

Speed Chess Championship

Broadcast and streaming:

All 2018 Speed Chess Championship matches will be broadcast live with full chess-master commentary on Chess.com/TV and Twitch.tv/Chess. 

Bracket:

Click the bracket for a larger image.

speed chess bracket

Matchups and pairings

(See results below for completed matches.)

Round 1

  • Caruana vs Aronian:

caruana vs aronian speed chess

  • Nakamura vs Hou Yifan:

Nakamura vs Hou Yifan: Thursday, July 26, 5 p.m. PDT

  • Wesley So vs Wei Yi:

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  • Maxime Vachier-Lagrave vs Leinier Dominguez Perez:

Maxime Vachier-Lagrave vs Leinier Dominguez Perez: Thursday, August 2, 12 p.m. PDT

  • Nepomniachtchi vs Grischuk:

Nepomniachtchi vs Grischuk: Tuesday, August 7, 9 a.m. PDT

  • Andriasyan vs Vidit Gujrathi:

Andriasyan vs Vidit Gujrathi: Thursday, August 30, 9 a.m. PDT

  • Karjakin vs Duda:

Karjakin vs Duda: Thursday, September 6. 10 a.m. PDT

  • Giri vs Mamedyarov:

Giri vs Mamedyarov: Friday, September 7, 10 a.m. PDT

Fantasy prediction contest:

Fill out your fantasy chess bracket and you could win valuable Chess.com membership prizes. Entries are accepted through July 23.

SmarterChess predictions:

The Chess.com SmarterChess statistical model produces the following round-by-round odds, based on past performance in Chess.com featured events. (The odds are a snapshot before round one.)

Click on the image for a larger version.

smarterchess speed championship odds

2018 Speed Chess Championship schedule:

The following dates are tentatively scheduled for Speed Chess Championship events:

Qualifiers and Seeding

  • Event 1 (invitational qualifier)
  • Event 2 (open qualifier)
  • Bracket release — Wednesday, July 11 (ratings close at the end of the July 10 qualifier) — Seeding 1-16 by Chess.com blitz rating and release of bracket

Round 1

See the matchups/pairings above.

Round 2: Quarterfinals

  • Grischuk vs Duda:
  • Aronian vs Giri:
  • So vs Vidit Gujrathi:
  • Vachier-Lagrave vs Nakamura:

Round 3: Semifinals

  • Event 15 (Round 3, Match 1)
  • Event 16 (Round 3, Match 2)

Round 4: Finals

  • Event 17 (Round 4, SCC CHAMPIONSHIP)

Event prizes: $55,000 total. 

Prizes by round:

  • Qualifiers -- $5,000
  • Round 1 -- $16,000
  • Round 2 -- $12,000
  • Round 3 -- $12,000
  • Round 4 -- $10,000

Prize breakdown:

Invitational qualifier: $1,500 prize pool.

1. Qualify for SCC + $500
2. $400
3-4. $250 each
Best game prize: $100

Open qualifier: $3,500 prize pool.

1. Qualify for SCC + $1,000
2. $1,000
3. $500
4. $400
5. $300
6. $200
7. $100

Round 1: 16 players, 8 matches, $16,000 prize pool.

  • Winner: $1,000 and advance to round 2
  • $1,000 split by win percentage
  • Total prizes per match: $2,000

Round 2: 8 players, 4 matches, $12,000 prize pool.

  • Winner: $1,500 and advance to round 3
  • $1,500 split by win percentage
  • Total prizes per match: $3,000

Round 3: 4 players, 2 matches, $12,000 prize pool

  • Winner: $3,000
  • $3,000 split by win percentage
  • Total prizes per match: $6,000

Round 4: 2 players, 1 match, $10,000 prize pool

  • Winner: $5,000
  • $5,000 split by win percentage
  • Total prizes per match: $10,000

Results:

  • Invitational knockout qualifier: 

Leinier Dominguez qualifies for the main bracket. Read the full news report here.

Leinier Dominguez Perez

  • Open qualifier:

Zaven Andriasyan qualifies for the main bracket. Read the full news report here.

Zaven Andriasyan

  • Round one:

Result: Aronian 20.5, Caruana 6.5

Result: Aronian 20.5, Caruana 6.5

Prizes: Aronian $1,759.26 + advance to next round, Caruana: $240.74

Watch: full match video replay

Read: news recap

Nakamura vs Hou Yifan: Thursday, July 26, 5 p.m. PDT

Result: Nakamura 27.5, Hou Yifan 2.5

Prizes: Nakamura: $1,981.51 + advance to next round, Hou Yifan: $148.18. The Twitch community donated $129.29 that was added to the original $2,000 prize pool.

Watch: full match video replay

Read: news recap

so vs wei yi speed chess

Result: So 18.5, Wei Yi 9.5

Prizes: So: $1690.21 + advance to next round, Wei Yi: $368.79. The Twitch community donated $59 that was added to the original $2,000 prize pool.

Watch: full match video replay

Read: news recap

Maxime Vachier-Lagrave vs Leinier Dominguez Perez on Thursday, August 2, 12 p.m. PDT.

Result: Vachier-Lagrave 19, Dominguez 12

Prizes: Vachier-Lagrave: $1,646.90 + advance to next round, Dominiguez: $421.10. The Twitch community donated $68 that was added to the original $2,000 prize pool.

Watch: full match video replay

Read: news recap

Nepomniachtchi vs Grischuk: Tuesday, August 7, 9 a.m. PDT

Result: Grischuk 17.5, Nepomniachtchi 11.5

Prizes: Grischuk $1,666.95 + advance to next round, Nepomniachtchi: $460.05. The Twitch community donated $127 that was added to the original $2,000 prize pool.

Watch: full match video replay

Read: news recap

zaven vs vidit chess

Result: Vidit 16, Andriasyan 9

Prizes: Vidit $1,747.50 + advance to next round, Andriasyan: $467.50. The Twitch community donated $215 that was added to the original $2,000 prize pool.

Watch: full match video replay

Read: news recap

Karjakin vs Duda: Thursday, September 6. 10 a.m. PDT

Result: Duda 13, Karjakin 11

Prizes: Duda $1,585.42 + advance to next round, Karjakin: $$502.08. The Twitch community donated $87.50 that was added to the original $2,000 prize pool.

Watch: full match video replay

Read: news recap

Giri vs Mamedyarov: Friday, September 7, 10 a.m. PDT

Result: Giri 17, Mamedyarov 15

Prizes: Giri $1,607.00 + advance to next round, Mamedyarov $544.50. The Twitch community donated $151.50 that was added to the original $2,000 prize pool.

Watch: full match video replay

Read: news recap

Round two:

grischuk vs duda speed chess

Result: Duda 14, Grischuk 13

Prizes: Duda $2,356.28 + advance to next round, Grischuk $800.72. The Twitch community donated $157 that was added to the original $3,000 prize pool.

Watch: full match video replay

Read: news recap

giri vs aronian speed chess

Result: Aronian 18, Giri 11

Prizes: Aronian $2,459.70 + advance to next round, Giri: $597.64. The Twitch community donated $57.34 that was added to the original $3,000 prize pool.

Watch: full match video replay

Read: news recap

so vs vidit speed chess

Result: So 16.5, Gujarathi 10.5

Prizes: So $2,429.42 + advance to next round, Gujarathi: $596.08. The Twitch community donated $25.50 that was added to the original $3,000 prize pool.

Watch: full match video replay

Read: news recap

nakamura mvl speed chess

Result: Nakamura 21.5, MVL 13.5

Prizes: Nakamura $2,485.68 + advance to next round, MVL: $642.82. The Twitch community donated $128.50 that was added to the original $3,000 prize pool.

Watch: full match video replay

Read: news recap

Semifinals

so vs duda speed chess

Result: So 20, Duda 7

Prizes: So $5,222.22 plus advances to the finals, Duda $777.78. 

Watch: full match video replay

Read: news recap

nakamura vs aronian speed chess

Result: Nakamura 17, Aronian 12

Prizes: Nakamura $4,758.62 plus advances to the finals, Aronian $1,241.38

Watch: full match video replay

Read: news recap

nakamura vs so

Result: Nakamura 15.5, So 12.5

Prizes: Nakamura $7,767.86, So $2,232.14

Watch: full match video replay

Read: news recap coming soon

Detailed format:

Qualifiers

Two spots will be determined by two qualifier events.

Invitational qualifier

  • Four-player invitational knockout tournament. Three matches to determine the SCC qualifier.
  • The four invited players are Georg Meier, Eric Hansen, Leinier Dominguez, and Jon Ludvig Hammer.
  • The players will be seeded 1-4 on June 26 by their Chess.com blitz rating. Seed 1 will play seed 4, and seed 2 will play seed 3. The winners will play each other for the Speed Chess qualification.
  • Each knockout match will be five games of 5/1, five games of 3/1 and 10 games of 1/1. The highest score moves on to the next round and the loser is eliminated.
  • If the match is tied at the end of the 1/1 segment, the match will continue as sudden death until the first winning game.

speed chess championship knockout qualifier

Open qualifier

  • Swiss tournament: 10 rounds, 3+1 blitz.
  • Standard Chess.com tournament tiebreaks used only for the qualifier spot. No tiebreaks used for cash prizes; cash prizes split equally by point total.
  • Must be titled and rated 2500 or more in Chess.com blitz to enter.
  • Open to all who meet eligibility requirements, including those players invited to main bracket. If an invited player wins a qualifying spot, he gets the cash prize, and the qualification goes down to the next eligible finisher.

Main bracket

  • Each 2018 Speed Chess Championship match will feature 90 minutes of 5/1 blitz, 60 minutes of 3/1 blitz, and 30 minutes of 1/1 bullet chess.
  • The bracket will feature the winners of the two qualifying spots and 14 invited players
  • The bracket will be seeded 1-16 by Chess.com blitz ratings at the conclusion of the open qualifier.
  • The main bracket will be a single-elimination knockout.
  • The winner of each match advances to the next line in the bracket.
  • If match is tied after the last 1+1 bullet game, a tiebreak of 4 additional 1+1 games is played as a mini-match.
  • If match is still tied after the mini-match tiebreaker, a single armageddon game will be played: White 5+0, Black 3+0, Black gets draw odds. The player with the highest Chess.com blitz rating at the start of the Armageddon chooses his color.

List of players:

The following chess players have confirmed their participation in the 2018 Speed Chess Championship main bracket:

Fabiano Caruana

Shakhriyar Mamedyarov

Hikaru Nakamura

  • Wesley So — world number 8 at time of invitation.

Wesley So

Maxime Vachier-Lagrave

Ian Nepomniachtchi

Levon Aronian

  • Wei Yi — world number 22 at time of invitation.

Wei Yi

  • Anish Giri — world number 9 at time of invitation.

Anish Giri

Alexander Grischuk

sergey karjakin

  • Hou Yifan — women's world number 1 at time of invitation.

Hou Yifan

Jan-Krzysztof Duda

Vidit Gujrathi

Leinier Dominguez Perez — world number 21 at time of qualification.

Leinier Dominguez Perez

Zaven Andriasyan

Rules:

For the official rules of the 2018 Speed Chess Championship, please visit this article.

Promotional video trailer:

2017 event:

Information and results for the 2017 Speed Chess Championship can be found here. 

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