FTX Crypto Cup is a tournament organized by the chess website Chess.com in collaboration with FTX, a cryptocurrency derivatives exchange. The tournament is a part of the Magnus Carlsen Chess Tour, which is a series of online chess events featuring some of the world’s best chess players.
The FTX Crypto Cup features a prize fund of $320,000, with $100,000 going to the winner. The tournament is played in a rapid format, with each player having 15 minutes on the clock and a 10-second increment after each move. The event features 16 of the world’s top chess players, including Magnus Carlsen, the current world chess champion, and other top grandmasters such as Wesley So, Levon Aronian, and Fabiano Caruana.
The FTX Crypto Cup is unique in that it incorporates a cryptocurrency theme, with FTX sponsoring the tournament and promoting its platform throughout the event. In addition, players can earn bonus prizes by correctly predicting the future price of various cryptocurrencies during the tournament.
The FTX Crypto Cup was held for the first time in May 2021, and it attracted a lot of attention from both the chess and cryptocurrency communities. The tournament was played online, with the players competing from various locations around the world. The event was broadcast live on Chess.com and on various other streaming platforms, with commentary from some of the world’s top chess experts.
The tournament was played over 9 rounds, with each player facing every other player once. The top 8 players then advanced to the knockout stage, where they played a series of matches to determine the winner. The final was held between Magnus Carlsen and Wesley So, with Carlsen emerging as the winner.
One of the unique aspects of the FTX Crypto Cup was the cryptocurrency prediction challenge. Before each round, the players were asked to predict the future price of various cryptocurrencies, such as Bitcoin, Ethereum, and Dogecoin. Players who made accurate predictions were awarded bonus prizes, which added an extra layer of excitement to the tournament.
Overall, the FTX Crypto Cup was a highly successful event that brought together the worlds of chess and cryptocurrency. It showcased some of the world’s top chess players in a unique and exciting format, and it helped to promote the use of cryptocurrency in the mainstream. It is expected that the tournament will continue to be a regular feature on the Magnus Carlsen Chess Tour in the years to come.
