Chess legends Viswanathan Anand and Garry Kasparov will compete in the Clutch Chess: The Legends tournament at St. Louis Chess Club, USA, starting Wednesday. The 12-game Chess 960 match features a USD 144,000 prize pool and marks their first face-off in three decades, with games spread across three days in rapid and blitz formats.
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The tournament will use Chess 960, also known as Fischer Random, where back-rank pieces are shuffled to promote creative play and reduce the impact of prepared moves.
Each day will feature four games – two rapid and two blitz matches. The point system increases progressively, with wins worth four points on day one, eight points on day two, and twelve points on the final day.
The winner will receive USD 70,000, while the runner-up gets USD 50,000. If the match ends in a tie, both players will split USD 60,000 equally. An additional USD 24,000 in bonus money is available throughout the series.
Their historic rivalry dates back to 1995 when they met in the Classical World Championship match at the World Trade Center in New York. Kasparov won that 20-game series with a score of 10.5-7.5.
Kasparov retired from competitive chess in 2004 but occasionally participates in exhibition and blitz events.
Anand, now semi-retired, selectively competes in high-level tournaments while mentoring Indian chess talents through the Westbridge Anand Chess Academy (WACA). His academy has already produced a world champion in D Gukesh.
The St. Louis Chess Club, which recently underwent upgrades, will host this highly anticipated match between two of chess’s greatest players.
The Chess 960 format adds an extra layer of challenge, as it tests the players’ pure strategic abilities rather than their preparation.
The increasing point values for wins in later games ensure that the final day could prove decisive in determining the overall winner.
Both players, known for their strategic prowess and quick calculation abilities, will compete in this unique format that combines rapid and blitz chess with the unpredictability of Chess 960.
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