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World Chess Plc, a company that reinvents chess for 21st-century users, is listed on London Stock Exchange’s main market under the ticker symbol ‘CHSS’. ‘That was the closest to CHESS as we could get given that ticker symbols have only four letters,’ — said Ilya Merenzon, World Chess CEO.

‘We are very excited to join LSE and become a new chapter as a public company,’ added Merenzon: “It means a new level of responsibility to the users, investors, and partners, and also a new level of transparency. We are keen to work with the users and chess players and fans to take this journey together”.

Read the official listing announcement.

It.com, a domain registry, has become the official partner of the Armageddon Championship Series, elite chess tournaments developed for TV broadcasting and organized by World Chess.

It.com enters the world of chess with the «Intelligent game — Intelligent name,» campaign that is devoted to exploring the nature of intelligence. Within the multistage collaboration between it.com and World Chess, top chess players, business experts, and the general public will be invited to share their views on what intelligence really means for them. The campaign will further popularize chess and will invite people around the world to join the game’s community. Partners are to share more about the upcoming campaign soon.

It.com domain registry is a project of the UK-based Intis Telecom, a global telecommunications and technology company. With a mission to bring equal opportunities to the digital community, Intis Telecom is shaping the future of the domain industry where innovation and inclusivity thrive. By making domain names within the *.it.com registry accessible, it enables businesses and individuals to broaden their reach globally and strengthen their online presence.

«We are thrilled to enter the world of chess and explore every aspect of the intelligence that is a core part of this wonderful sport,» said Andrey Insarov, CEO of Intis Telecom. «We believe that intelligence is a very complex and multifaceted essence, and its boundaries go beyond what we are used to perceiving. And together with World Chess we strive to open the world of chess for a wider audience.»

«We are excited to partner with it.com for the Armageddon Championship Series 2023,» said Ilya Merenzon, CEO of World Chess. «Together, we hope to explore the nature of intelligence and demonstrate that chess is a game everyone can play or watch. Armageddon, a cutting-edge new chess format, is a fantastic project to prove this, and we look forward to scaling it through our partnership with it.com.»

The upcoming Armageddon Championship Series in 2023 will showcase renowned chess players such as Wesley So (USA), Maxime Vachier-Lagrave (France), Nodirbek Abdusattorov (Uzbekistan), Sam Shankland (USA), Jan-Krzysztof Duda (Poland), and others in a season of high-intensity ultra-fast chess tournaments. For the first time ever, calorie-burned data points and heart rate will also be displayed on the screen alongside the moves and the live feed from the studio. The series is set to commence on March 6 and is expected to be one of the most thrilling and widely-watched chess events of the year, with live broadcasts and highlights available on over 30 online and TV platforms worldwide.


For more information about it.com, please visit the website.

All eyes are on Berlin, Germany, for the Armageddon Championship Series: Americas, a first event of the cutting-edge new chess format developed by World Chess set to take place from March 6 to March 12. The new fast-paced series is the latest in impressive chess innovation and an epic line-up: GM Wesley So (the USA, blitz 2739), GM Jose Martinez Alcantara (PER, blitz 2712), GM Ray Robson (the USA, blitz 2668), GM Leinier Dominguez (the USA, blitz 2647), GM Sam Shankland (the USA, blitz 2638), GM Andrew Tang (the USA, blitz 2602), IM Renato Terry (PER, blitz 2579), and GM Eric Hansen (CAN, blitz 2569).

The Armageddon Championship Series: Americas features chess players from the Americas’ region competing under excruciating time pressure in a seven-day double-elimination tournament. Daily matches consist of two blitz games (three minutes plus a two-second move increment) and, if necessary, an Armageddon game (five minutes for White, four for Black) each day. Players will battle for €50,000, and the two finalists will secure spots in the Grand Finale, which will be held in September.

The Armageddon Championship Series: Americas promises to be a thrilling experience for viewers, with a range of exciting features to enjoy. These include real-time displays of the players’ heart rates and calories burned, as well as breakneck moves and cutting-edge analysis. All of this action will be broadcast live from the spectacular Armageddon Studio in Berlin.

To watch the show with commentary by GM Simon Williams and WGM Jovanka Houska, tune in to the World Chess YouTube channel or to one of 30 television platforms worldwide.

For the first few days, the players were divided into pairs as follows:

Day 1:
GM Wesley So (USA), blitz 2739 — GM Sam Shankland (USA), blitz 2638
IM Renato Terry (PER), blitz 2579 — GM Eric Hansen (CAN), blitz 2569

Day 2:
GM Jose Martinez Alcantara (PER), blitz 2712 — GM Ray Robson (USA), blitz 2668
GM Leinier Dominguez (USA), blitz 2647 — GM Andrew Tang (USA), blitz 2602

The pairings in the upcoming days will be established using the double-elimination system and will be determined by the results of the previous days.

Ilya Merenzon, CEO of World Chess, commented: “By embracing innovative formats like Armageddon, top-level chess can captivate a broader audience and ignite greater passion among fans. Viewers of Armageddon will witness fast-paced matches between chess players of different experiences, and playing styles, creating an atmosphere of suspense and excitement.”

Sandro Cisco, Head of Global Partnerships and Sponsorships at Kaspersky, says: “Being a long-standing cybersecurity partner of the World Chess events, we are glad to support the new Armageddon Championship Series 2023 embracing the world of chess with a new innovative format and experience, focusing on the analytical skills and rapid response of players. The ability to react quickly and cope with new challenges are unquestionable values shared by Kaspersky experts, too. Both chess and cybersecurity represent the combination of the pinnacle of human intelligence, full of unrivaled knowledge and experience. We believe this event will be a new lasting experience for every player, opening up brand-new insights into the fascinating game of chess.”

Watch Armageddon

The german media brand WELT and World Chess announce their partnership for the upcoming Armageddon Championship Series 2023, making Welt.de the exclusive German broadcast platform for the series. WELT belongs to the German media company Axel Springer. This partnership will bring the Armageddon Championship Series 2023 to German-speaking fans all over the world, giving them access to all games, as well as exclusive interviews, additional content, and events related to the event.

The Armageddon Championship Series 2023 starts on March 6 and is anticipated to be one of the most exciting and the most-viewed chess series of the year. It features the world’s top players competing under immense time pressure and will be broadcast live. With Welt.de at the helm, German-speaking fans can expect top-notch coverage, including in-depth analysis, play-by-play commentary by Georgios Soleidis and Sonja Maria Bluhm, and thrilling live heartbeat and calorie-burned-level data points.

«We are very thrilled to be part of this partnership with World Chess,» said Sven Flohr, head of Sports at WELT. “We are sure that the Armageddon Championship Series will bring a fresh level of excitement to this timeless game of chess. Our goal is to offer chess enthusiasts an engaging and interactive experience and to introduce those who are not yet familiar with chess to its thrilling aspects. We firmly believe that Welt.de is the ideal platform to do so.»



Ilya Merenzon, CEO of World Chess, said: “We are excited to collaborate with Welt.de on the Armageddon series, given chess’s long-standing popularity in Germany. With this partnership, we strive to bring even more fans to TV screens showing the game of chess in a captivating and entertaining way.”

For chess fans in Germany WELT provides online broadcasts of all the games on its website www.welt.de. Viewers will have the opportunity to see their favorite players in action, as well as access exclusive interviews and additional content. With the partnership with Welt.de, the 2023 Armageddon Championship Series is poised to be a landmark moment in the world of chess.



Dates:
Armageddon Championship Series: Americas — March 6-12
Armageddon Championship Series: Asia & Oceania — April 3-9

Armageddon Championship Series: Women’s week — May 8 — 14

Armageddon Championship Series: Europe & Africa — June 12-18

Armageddon Championship Series: Grand Finale — September 14-20



Official website: 
chessarena.com/armageddon

The event is expected to be one of the most televised chess events in the world

The Armageddon Championship Series 2023, a revolutionary chess format developed specifically for television by World Chess plc, will take place in Berlin, Germany from March to September 2023, filmed in a bespoke pavilion located on Unter Den Linden. The series begins with the Americas’ Championship Series from March 6 — 12, followed by the Asia and Oceania, Women’s Week, and Europe and Africa series, ending with the exhilarating series Grand Finale streamed on international television between September 14 — 20.

World Chess, the company famous for chess innovation, developed the Armageddon Championship Series to become the Formula 1 of chess — a season of high-intensity ultra-fast chess tournaments, groundbreaking broadcast, and international TV distribution, featuring the likes of Wesley So (USA), Maxime Vachier-Lagrave (France), Nodirbek Abdusattorov (Uzbekistan), Sam Shankland (USA), Jan-Krzysztof Duda (Poland), Vidit Gujrathi (India), Richard Rapport (Romania), Vincent Keymer (Germany), Gukesh D (India), and other world-famous chess players. These participants will battle under immense time pressure for a total prize fund of the Series of €460 000, with a heartbeat and for the first time ever, calorie-burned data points shown on screen alongside the moves and the feed live from the studio.

The Armageddon Championship Series 2023 starts on March 6 and is expected to be one of the most thrilling and widely-watched chess series of the year. It will be broadcast live and feature highlights on over 30 online and TV platforms globally, including CNBC, Channel 4, beIN, and Fox Australia, among others. Over 220 million households are anticipated to watch the show.

Ilya Merenzon, CEO of World Chess, commented: “Armageddon is the Formula 1 of intellectual sports, and with millions of people watching chess, innovation like the Armageddon tournament marks chess becoming a truly global mass spectator sport.”

“From the comfort of their own home, fans can get their hearts racing watching some of the greatest chess players of all time play a rapid-fire game, before refueling and going again. All whilst chess increasingly becomes a staple of the sports broadcasting ecosystem.”

Dates:
Armageddon Championship Series: Americas — March 6-12
Armageddon Championship Series: Asia & Oceania — April 3-9
Armageddon Championship Series: Women’s week — May 8 — 14
Armageddon Championship Series: Europe & Africa — June 12-18
Armageddon Championship Series: Grand Finale — September 14-20

Official website

FIDE, ISF (the International School Sport Federation) and World Chess are proud to announce the FIDE — ISF World School Teams Online Chess Cup 2023, taking place in March 2023. This exciting event provides a platform for schools from FIDE and ISF member countries, as well as students from around the world*, to connect with chess enthusiasts from across the globe and showcase their skills in an official international chess tournament.

With chess in schools becoming increasingly important, organizers of the FIDE — ISF World School Teams Online Chess Cup 2023 are eager to support this initiative to integrate chess into the school educational system.

“Chess is a unique game — both extremely sportive and educational. We are excited to organize the Online Schools Chess Championship together with ISF. It is a great event that we hope will create a competitive mood, but also motivate the school leaders to engage their students in further training and learning,” says FIDE President Arkady Dvorkovich.

The tournament will feature two age categories, U15 and U18, with an expected 200 teams from around the world participating. Each school team must consist of 4 to 7 full-time students from the same school.

Winners and medalists will be rewarded with exclusive team training sessions with world-famous grandmasters, chessboards signed by the GMs, subscriptions for the World Chess Masterclasses program, and FIDE Online Arena premium membership packages.

The tournament will be held online on the FIDE Online Arena, with the final stage broadcast live on World Chess and FIDE’s YouTube channels.

The program of the FIDE — ISF World School Championship Online Chess Cup 2023:
18 March 2023: Qualification tournament 2008, 2009, 2010, 2011 and 2012 — Teams 

19 March 2023: Qualification tournament 2005, 2006 and 2007 — Teams 

25 March 2023: Final tournament 2008, 2009, 2010, 2011 and 2012 — Teams 

26 March 2023: Final tournament 2005, 2006 and 2007 — Teams

The tournament registration will begin on February 09 and be open until March 11, 2023 at isf.fide.com



* Except schools from Russia and Belarus.

Most people can’t even imagine how much money elite chess players earn — only from tournament prizes let alone streaming and other business activities — per year but Nathaniel Green published an article on chesscom revealing that 3 GMs made more than 500k in 2022, and 17 GMs between $100-450k with only one woman on this list.

It’s not hard to imagine that No.1 on this list is Magnus Carlsen. The winner of the Champions Chess Tour, Norway Chess, and both the World Rapid and Blitz Championships earned nearly $560k in major tournament prizes throughout 2022. With a $100 million libel lawsuit on his back by Hans Niemann, and after withdrawing from the World Championship title with a $2M prize fund though, Magnus might find himself in an uncomfortable financial position.

Second on the list and very close to Magnus is Wesley So who brought in just over $540,000 worth of prize money in 2022 after getting the first prize at Chesscom Global Championship worth of $200,000.

Third but for sure not least is the professional streamer and superstar Hikaru Nakamura, who ended the year with a bit more than $515k. Six months ago though El Pais has published an article claiming that Nakamura is the world’s wealthiest chess player with a an estimated fortune somewhere around $50 million!

Moving lower on the list there are 17 more GMs who earned more than 100k, with GM Tan Zhongyi being the only woman, and 17-year-old Praggnanandhaa Rameshbabu being the youngest on the list. Check them out:

Ian Nepomniachtchi — $429,512
Alireza Firouzja — $358,542
Jan-Krzysztof Duda — $296,178
Fabiano Caruana — $263,810
Levon Aronian — $260,136
Maxime Vachier-Lagrave — $234,904
Anish Giri — $213,061
Shakhriyar Mamedyarov — $201,834
Ding Liren — $175,540
Richard Rapport — $166,938
Le Quang Liem — $134,500
Praggnanandhaa Rameshbabu — $129,000
Nihal Sarin — $118,802
Dmitry Andreikin — $112,861
Vladimir Fedoseev – $109,405
Leinier Dominguez — $109,391
Tan Zhongyi — $103,753

Read the original article here

After Arjun Erigaisi signed a $1.5 Million Sponsorship Deal with Quantbox, another Indian prodigy, GM Rameshbabu Praggnanandhaa signs with Baseline Ventures for Commercial Representation.

The past years, India has seen a great rise of young talents in chess including Arjun Erigaisi, Rameshbabu Praggnanandhaa, Nihal Sarin, and Dommaraju Gukesh. Indeed, a bit more than 10 days ago Arjun Erigaisi made history as he signed a $1.5 Million sponsorship deal with Singapore-based Quantbox to mark the beginning of a major boost to his professional career.

Today Baseline Ventures announced that they signed Rameshbabu Praggnanandhaa to represent him in all commercial aspects. Pragg is the fourth-youngest Grandmaster in the history of chess with remarkable performances including wins against Magnus Carlsen.

The MD & Co-founder of Baseline Ventures, Tuhin Mishra, welcomed Praggnanandhaa, saying that « Praggnanandhaa’s accomplishments as a 17-year-old are just the beginning. He is undoubtedly an exceptional talent with the potential to become a sporting sensation who can take the country by storm.»

“I am thrilled to have signed with Baseline Ventures and am looking forward to how it will benefit my career. It is imperative that every athlete today has the right representation, and having the right people around me to handle the commercial aspects would be positive for my career» said Praggnanandhaa.

Chess prodigy Arjun Erigaisi is making history as he signs a groundbreaking sponsorship deal with Singapore-based Quantbox.

This five-year contract, worth over $1.5 million, marks the first-ever sponsorship of the Grandmaster from Telangana, and could be a major boost to his professional career. For Erigaisi, 2022 has been a breakthrough year as he has consistently improved his game, earning him a strong rank of 26th in the world by classical score. This sponsorship is the biggest of its kind in the history of Indian chess.