FTX Crypto Cup: The world’s FIRST bitcoin chess tournament
Magnus Carlsen faces his World Championship challenger Ian Nepomniachtchi and ex-challenger Fabiano Caruana in the FTX Crypto Cup, the 6th event on the Meltwater Champions Chess Tour and the 3rd and final Major.
The 3-day preliminary stage sees the 16 players play each other once before the bottom 8 are eliminated while the top 8 advance to a knockout. The prize fund is $320,000, including a $100,000 Bitcoin bonus. The winner also qualifies to September’s Tour Final. The time control is 15 minutes for all moves, with a 10-second increment per move from move 1. The knockout match-ups are held over two days, with a 4-game match each day. If the match score is 1:1, the tie is decided in a blitz playoff. Two 5+3 blitz games are played followed, if needed, by an Armageddon game, where White has 5 minutes to Black’s 4 but a draw counts as a win for Black.
Official website: championschesstour.com