Partnership reflects like-minded efforts to bring chess and blockchain to the masses

Boston, MA — July 18, 2019 — Algorand, an open-source software and blockchain technology company, announced today a partnership with World Chess that will make Algorand the first official blockchain partner of the FIDE Grand Prix Series. Together, the leading organizations are driving mainstream adoption and popularity in two rapidly growing, synergistic fields: blockchain and chess.

“Chess has been a sandbox for technology, from the first computer game to the latest artificial intelligence solutions. With Algorand joining the World Chess Championship cycle as a blockchain partner, chess has a chance to become a permanent part of this new and exciting technology,” said Ilya Merenzon, Chief Executive of World Chess, the organizer of the FIDE Grand Prix Series . “We see a lot of overlap among chess fans and blockchain enthusiasts, and also unlimited opportunities to develop blockchain solutions and projects that chess can test and adopt.”

Chess is fast becoming one of the world’s most popular spectator sports; more than 12 million viewers watched Magnus Carlsen beat Fabiano Caruana in the 2018 World Chess Championship. Both young stars reflect the sport’s rising popularity and global relevance: Carlsen, 27, was one of TIME Magazine’s 100 Most Influential People in the World, while Caruana, 26, was the youngest grandmaster in Italian and American history.

Algorand is driving the mainstream adoption of blockchain through the launch of its permissionless, pure proof-of-stake blockchain platform. Businesses like Asset Block, Otoy, and SyncSort rely on the Algorand platform to deliver the scale, security and performance needed to achieve real-world blockchain-based use cases in industries like real estate, entertainment and enterprise tech.

“A partnership between Algorand and World Chess is exciting given the overlap among early blockchain adopters, computer science and chess enthusiasts,” said W. Sean Ford, COO at Algorand. “Chess is an incredibly nuanced, complex and global sport that rewards strategic thinking, and is moving rapidly to the mainstream through events like the FIDE Grand Prix. As we see blockchain adoption and DApp development also move to the mainstream, we are excited to work with key FIDE events to bring these two worlds together.”

Algorand is furthering blockchain’s growth through new industry partnerships, resources and developer enablement tools. Other recent announcements include integration with the Tether stablecoin to support decentralized financial assets, membership at ISDA, the standards body dedicated to making global derivatives markets safer and more efficient, and a partnership with Flipside Crypto to provide a free user engagement analytics suite for Algorand developers.

About Algorand

Based in Boston and founded by cryptography pioneer and Turing award winner Silvio Micali, Algorand is an open-source software company building technical innovation for the borderless economy with a platform that delivers decentralization, scalability and security. Algorand’s first-of-its-kind, permissionless, pure proof-of-stake protocol supports the scale, open participation, and transaction finality needed by users to build opportunity and fulfill the promise of blockchain technology.

For more information, visit our website.

About FIDE Grand Prix:

The main qualifier for the World Chess Championship, the FIDE Grand Prix is a Series of four tournaments staged in global cities. 21 of the world’s strongest chess players contest the qualification to challenge the incumbent World Chess Champion. The Series takes place over the course of 2019 in Russia, Latvia, Germany, and Israel. The Series is organized by World Chess and the Fédération Internationale des Echecs, (FIDE), the chess governing body.

For more information, visit http://worldchess.com/