Ultimate Blitz Challenge with Garry Kasparov

As the 2016 U.S. Championship winds to an end, we are happy to share some details on the upcoming blitz event with Garry Kasparov. As was mentioned, the top three finishers will join Garry Kasparov in a special exhibition blitz tournament (not a rated event). We will draw pairing numbers at the Closing Ceremony of the 2016 U.S. Championship and U.S. Women’s Championship.

Format

• The four players will face each other in three round-robins per day, for a total of 18 games.
• There will be small breaks between rounds (1-2 minutes) and longer breaks between each round-robin (10-15 minutes)
• The time control will be game in five minutes with a three-second delay (not increment).

Prize Fund

The Chess Club and Scholastic Center of Saint Louis is happy to provide a total prize fund of $50,000 for the blitz event. Garry Kasparov has generously offered to donate his prize winnings to support the U.S. Olympiad team—both very generous and helpful as America fields its strongest Olympiad team in decades. In the event of tied final scores, prizes will be divided evenly.

The prizes will be awarded as follows:

• 1st: $20,000
• 2nd: $15,000
• 3rd: $10,000
• 4th: $ 5,000

Schedule