2019 Champions Showdown: The Kings
The 2019 Champions Showdown shall be an exhibition event featuring five individual matches: Hikaru Nakamura vs. Jan-Krzysztof Duda, Fabiano Caruana vs. Pentala Harikrishna, Wesley So vs. David Navara, Leinier Dominguez vs. Veselin Topalov and Sam Shankland vs. Richard Rapport. Over five days, the players shall contest games at rapid and blitz time controls. Each matchup will have a prize fund of $60,000 with first place taking $36,000 and second place taking $24,000. These matches are sure to thrill fans and will be a very exciting few days at the Saint Louis Chess Club.
| Dates | February 20-24, 2019 |
|---|---|
| Location | Saint Louis Chess Club |
| Format | Rapid: G/15 with a 10-second increment | Blitz: G/3 with a 2-second increment |
| Time Control | Rapid and Blitz |
| Prize Fund | $300,000 |
| Commentators | GM Yasser Seirawan, GM Maurice Ashley, and WGM Jennifer Shahade |
| Day | Date | Time | Champions Showdown |
|---|---|---|---|
| Wednesday | 20-Feb | 1:00 PM | Rapid Rounds 1 – 4 |
| Thursday | 21-Feb | 1:00 PM | Rapid Rounds 5 – 8 |
| Friday | 22-Feb | 1:00 PM | Rapid Rounds 9 – 12 |
| Saturday | 23-Feb | 1:00 PM | Blitz Rounds 1 – 12 |
| Sunday | 24-Feb | 1:00 PM | Blitz Rounds 13 – 24 |
