The most innovative chess event is back: The Armageddon Series Grand Finale begins today!
The Armageddon Championship Series 2023, a chess tournament designed for live TV broadcast, returns for its thrilling final stage. From September 14 to September 20, top-tier chess players, including Wesley So, Sam Shankland, Gukesh D, Nodirbek Abdusattorov, Bibisara Assaubayeva, Humpy Koneru, Richard Rapport, and Jan-Krzysztof Duda, will converge for a seven-day, double-elimination showdown under intense time pressure, all vying for the coveted Armageddon Championship Title and a substantial prize fund of €200,000.
Starting with America’s Week in March and followed by Asia and Oceania, Women’s Week, and then the Europe and Africa Series, every match has been filled with nail-biting intensity, measured by live heartbeats and calorie burn levels, culminating in the apocalyptic Grand Finale in September.
As qualifiers, the Grand Finale will be hosted in the Armageddon Studio in Berlin, designed to captivate fans beyond the traditional chess audience. With its high-stakes, super-fast game structure, pioneering design, nail-biting drama, sky-high heart rates, and rule-breaking moves, Armageddon is set to redefine the world of chess once again. These technical innovations make it easy for fans with almost no chess background to follow the games and support their favorite players.
Spectators will witness daily matchups consisting of two blitz games (3+2). In case of a tie, the gripping tension will be resolved through an Armageddon game, granting white five minutes and black four minutes to make their moves. This format guarantees heart-pounding drama.
The Armageddon Championship Series: Grand Finale boasts an unprecedented prize fund that underscores the significance of this chess event, with remarkable rewards for participants: 1st place – €80,000, 2nd place – €40,000, 3rd-4th places – €20,000 each, and 5th-8th places – €10,000 each.
To catch all the live action with lightning-fast moves and cutting-edge analysis provided by GM Simon Williams and WGM Jovanka Houska, tune in to the World Chess YouTube channel or any of the 17 global television channels.
For the first few days, the players were divided into pairs as follows:
Day 1:
Gukesh D vs. Wesley So
Jan-Krzysztof Duda vs. Sam Shankland
Link to the broadcast of Day 1
Day 2:
Nodirbek Abdusattorov vs. Richard Rapport
Humpy Koneru vs. Bibisara Assaubayeva
The pairings on the upcoming days will be established using the double-elimination system and will be determined by the results of the previous days.
Leading partners supporting the Armageddon Championship Series:
It.com as the Official Partner
FIDE Online Arena as the Official Gaming Platform
Kaspersky as the Official Cybersecurity Partner