The Armageddon Championship Series
Worth seeing, even if it's not the end of the world if you miss it.
The Armageddon Championship Series is a remarkably strong multi-stage event that seems to be flying under the radar. There are a series of continental championships from March through June which will culminate in a Grand Finale in September.
The Americas bracket was in March, and Wesley So qualified for the Grand Finale. Right now it’s Asia (which includes Russia) and Oceania that are fighting it out for their two spots, and you can watch today’s action here. The players still kicking in that competition include Vladimir Kramnik, Nodirbek Abdusattorov, Dommaraju Gukesh, Daniil Dubov and Yu Yangyi. Maybe it’s not as strong as a World Cup, but it’s still impressive.
In May there will be a women’s competition, and in June Europe and Africa will have their qualifier.
The format is an eight-player, double-elimination series of two-game mini-matches played at 3’+2” time control, with a 5’ vs. 4” Armageddon game if necessary. (For an example of that in action, and as a reminder of how ridiculous it can get when players are using physical pieces, have a look at yesterday’s Kramnik-Dubov match, here.)
There’s no shortage of interesting chess these days, and we’ll get to the BIG event, soon.