WELT shows chess live and exclusively in a whole new tempo and look. In the Armageddon Championship Series, 32 world-class players will compete in five tournaments for prize money of 460,000 euros, with the grand final taking place in September. Among the opponents is the German top player Vincent Keymer.
The season will be played in a fast-paced and extremely intense blitz format. No game lasts longer than ten to twelve minutes. There are at least eight per day, they are played in a specially built TV studio on Unter den Linden, in the heart of Berlin. The players are wired, you as a spectator can follow the moves, heartbeat or calorie consumption of the players.
“Armageddon is the Formula 1 of chess and an innovation on the road to global mass sport,” said Ilya Merenzon, CEO of London-based organizer World Chess. The first of the five tournament weeks with a total of 35 match days began on Monday, March 6th.
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In Germany you can follow the games live and exclusively on WELT. All you need is a WELTplus subscription. You can then find the stream on our website or in this article during the first week of the tournament. The game always starts at 7 p.m., but of course we also offer you a relive format for every match day.
It starts with the “Championship Series America”. At the start are, among others, the world ranking eighth Wesley So from the USA and his compatriot Sam Shankland, who met right at the start.
We were able to win three of the best-known and most profound German chess experts as commentators. Georgios Souleidis (“The Big Greek”) and Sonja Bluhm will comment on the first tournament, later Niclas Huschenbeth will join the team.
The pairings on Tuesday
José Martinez Alcantara (Peru, Blitz-Rating 2712) — Ray Robson (USA, Blitz-Rating 2668)
Leinier Dominguez (USA, Blitz-Rating 2647) – Andrew Tang (USA, Blitz-Rating 2602)