Magnus Carlsen will take on Anish Giri in Round 1 of the FTX Crypto Cup, while Praggnanandhaa, fresh from winning team and individual bronze at the Chess Olympiad, will play Alireza Firouzja. It’s also Niemann-Duda and Aronian-Le on Monday, August 15 at 12:00 ET (18:00 CEST) as the $210,000 FTX Crypto Cup starts in Miami, Florida.
Levon Aronian and FTX Vice President Avinash Dabir beat Magnus Carlsen and KidSuper founder Colm Dillane during the Opening Ceremony Hand & Brain
The FTX Crypto Cup pairings are out, with each match played over four rapid games, with blitz tiebreaks in case of a 2:2 draw (see full details).
The pairings were announced at the Opening Ceremony on Sunday in the same venue as the tournament, the Eden Roc Miami Beach Hotel in Miami, Florida. The Opening featured an 8-team Hand and Brain knockout tournament, where celebrities played the role of the “Brain” — naming the piece to move, while the chess stars made the moves.
It was a friendly event, but not always… controversy erupted when Anish Giri, teamed up with Jamaican sprinter Asafa Powell, made a winning move before being told what piece to move against Hans Niemann, who was joined by another Jamaican sprinter, Tyquendo Tracey.
In the end Team Hans advanced to the semi-finals, but only after the other players got involved!
Praggnanandhaa (teamed with golf coach Ryan Rustand), Liem Le (teamed with Jamaican hurdler Damion Thomas) and Magnus Carlsen (teamed with KidSuper founder Colm Dillane) were also eliminated in the quarterfinals.
Team Hans was knocked out in the semi-finals along with Levon Aronian (teamed with FTX Vice President Avinash Dabir), so that final was played between Alireza Firouzja and Jan-Krzysztof Duda, who were paired up with twin brothers who won over 20 tennis doubles Grand Slam titles each, Bob Bryan (with Firouzja) and Mike Bryan (Duda). Team Alireza clinched victory in 45 moves.
The real action starts with Round 1 of the FTX Crypto Cup on Monday August 15th at 12:00 ET (18:00 CEST). Once again we’ll have all the action here on chess24 with a choice of commentary from our Oslo team of David Howell, Jovanka Houska and Kaja Snare, or from Peter Leko and Tania Sachdev.
The Round 1 matchups couldn’t be better.
There are few more intense rivalries in chess than between Dutch no. 1 Anish Giri and World no. 1 Magnus Carlsen, with Anish also having perfected the art of celebrating against the World Champion.
Will he get another chance?
Praggnanandhaa, who just turned 17, comes into the event as a double Olympiad medalist after winning bronze on his board while helping the young India 2 team to bronze medals (and coming within a whisker of gold!) in Chennai.
Alireza Firouzja skipped the Olympiad and has had time to reflect on his Candidates Tournament disappointment — he remains by far the world’s strongest junior and is making his debut on the 2022 Tour as a wildcard.
Jan-Krzysztof Duda won the first Major of the 2022 Meltwater Champions Chess Tour, the Oslo Esports Cup, and will be hoping to bounce back after a tough Olympiad in Chennai. The top US junior Hans Niemann will also be looking to bounce back in Miami after his performance in the FTX Road to Miami saw him question his chess career.
Levon Aronian is another player trying to put the Chess Olympiad behind him after the all-star US team failed to win medals in Chennai, but he faces a tough first test against Vietnamese no. 1 Liem Le, who has been one of the top performers on the 2022 Tour.
Don’t miss all the FTX Crypto Cup action here on chess24 from 12:00 ET (18:00 CEST)!
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