The Finals of the IM Not A GM Speed Chess Championship takes place May 23 at 10 a.m. Pacific Time (19:00 CEST) between IM John Bartholomew and IM Alina Kashlinskaya. The match will be broadcast live on Chess.com/TV with commentary by GMs Robert Hess and Daniel Naroditsky. In addition, a supergrandmaster guest is likely to join the broadcast as one semifinal saw GM Fabiano Caruana providing analysis and banter for the 3+1 and 1+1 segments of the match.

More information on this new addition to the Speed Chess Championship series can be found below:

Chess.com is introducing the inaugural IM Not A GM Speed Chess Championship this week. Unlike previous editions of the Speed Chess Championship, this event will exclusively feature international masters in an effort to bring top-level entertainment to the Chess.com audience.

Joining talented players like IM John Bartholomew and IM Carissa Yip, chess personalities such as IM Eric Rosen, IM Tania Sachdev, and IM Levy Rozman will participate. In addition, Chess.com's Chief Chess Officer and lead commentator IM Danny Rensch will be making his first-ever appearance as a competitor in an official Chess.com championship.

Set to start on April 18, the IM Not A GM Speed Chess Championship will be the most-anticipated event in Chess.com history to exclusively feature international masters.

Broadcast:

All 2020 IM Not a GM Speed Chess Championship matches will be broadcast live with commentary and occasional roasting from GMs Robert Hess and Daniel Naroditsky on Chess.com/TV and Twitch.tv/Chess.

Bracket:





Round 1 Pairings:





Seeding:

Seeding is determined by a blend of Chess.com blitz and bullet ratings. Ratings that are provisional or inactive have been adjusted relative to the group's mean rating difference and then used in the blended calculation.

2020 IM Not A GM Speed Chess Championship schedule:

Saturday, April 18: John Bartholomew vs David Pruess at 6 p.m. PDT (April 25, 03:00 CEST)

at 6 p.m. PDT (April 25, 03:00 CEST) Sunday, April 19: Tania Sachdev vs Levy Rozman at 9:30 a.m. PDT (18:30 CEST)

at 9:30 a.m. PDT (18:30 CEST) Monday, April 20: Christof Sielecki vs Alina Kashlinskaya at 9:30 a.m. PDT (18:30 CEST)

at 9:30 a.m. PDT (18:30 CEST) Wednesday, April 22: Anna Zatonskih vs Greg Shahade at 9:30 a.m. PDT (18:30 CEST)

at 9:30 a.m. PDT (18:30 CEST) Thursday, April 23: Eric Rosen vs Elisabeth Paehtz at 9:30 a.m. PDT (18:30 CEST)

at 9:30 a.m. PDT (18:30 CEST) Friday, April 24: Lawrence Trent vs Kostya Kavutskiy at 9:30 a.m. PDT (18:30 CEST)

at 9:30 a.m. PDT (18:30 CEST) Friday, April 24: Danny Rensch vs Teddy Coleman at 6 p.m. PDT (April 25, 03:00 CEST)

at 6 p.m. PDT (April 25, 03:00 CEST) Saturday, April 25: Dean Ippolito vs Carissa Yip at 6 p.m. PDT (April 26, 03:00 CEST)

Round 2: Quarterfinals

Event 13 (Round 2, Match 1)

Event 14 (Round 2, Match 2)

Event 15 (Round 2, Match 3)

Event 16 (Round 2, Match 4)

Round 3: Semifinals

Thursday, May 14: Alina Kashlinskaya vs. Teddy Coleman at 10 a.m. PDT (19:00 CEST)

at 10 a.m. PDT (19:00 CEST) Saturday, May 16: John Bartholomew vs. Greg Shahade at 6 p.m. PDT (May 17, 03:00 CEST)

Round 4: Finals

Event 17 (Round 4, IM Not A GM Speed Chess Championship Final)

Event prizes: $6,000 total.

Prizes by round:

Round 1 - $2,400

Round 2 - $1,600

Round 3 - $1,000

Round 4 - $1,000



The inaugural IM Not A GM Speed Chess Championship will feature a $6,000 prize fund.

Prize breakdown:

Round 1: 16 players, 8 matches, $2,400 prize pool

Winner: $150 and advance to round 2

$150 split by win percentage

Total prizes per match: $300

Round 2: 8 players, 4 matches, $1,600 prize pool

Winner: $200 and advance to round 3

$200 split by win percentage

Total prizes per match: $400

Round 3: 4 players, 2 matches, $1,000 prize pool

Winner: $250 and advance to round 4

$250 split by win percentage

Total prizes per match: $500

Round 4: 2 players, 1 match, $1,000 prize pool

Winner: $500

$500 split by win percentage

Total prizes per match: $1,000

In addition, all fan donations made throughout the course of each match will be contributed towards the prize fund with the winner of the match taking the full amount of those donations.

Detailed format:

The IM Not A GM Speed Chess Championship's shorter matches will mean every game played could alter the match.

Main bracket

Each match will feature 75 minutes of 5+1 blitz, 45 minutes of 3+1 blitz, and 25 minutes of 1+1 bullet chess.

The players in the bracket will be seeded by a blend of their Chess.com Blitz and Bullet ratings.

The main bracket will be a single-elimination knockout.

The winner of each match advances to the next round in the bracket.

If a match is tied after the last 1+1 bullet game, a tiebreak of four additional 1+1 games are played as a mini-match.

If a match is still tied after the mini-match tiebreaker, a single Armageddon game will be played: White 5+0, Black 3+0, Black gets draw odds. The player with the highest Chess.com blitz rating at the start of the Armageddon chooses their color.

Tiebreaks of this event will mirror the fan-favorite format of last season's Speed Chess Championship.

List of players:

The following chess players have confirmed their participation in the 2020 IM Not A GM Speed Chess Championship main bracket:

Seed 1: John Bartholomew

John Bartholomew Seed 2: Levy Rozman

Levy Rozman Seed 3: Alina Kashlinskaya

Alina Kashlinskaya Seed 4: Carissa Yip

Carissa Yip Seed 5: Greg Shahade

Greg Shahade Seed 6: Elisabeth Paehtz

Elisabeth Paehtz Seed 7: Teddy Coleman

Teddy Coleman Seed 8: Kostya Kavutskiy

Kostya Kavutskiy Seed 9: Lawrence Trent

Lawrence Trent Seed 10: Danny Rensch

Danny Rensch Seed 11: Eric Rosen

Eric Rosen Seed 12: Anna Zatonskih

Anna Zatonskih Seed 13: Dean Ippolito

Dean Ippolito Seed 14: Christof Sielecki

Christof Sielecki Seed 15: Tania Sachdev

Tania Sachdev Seed 16: David Pruess

Rules:

All other official rules of our regular Speed Chess Championship will be followed, which can be found in this article.