Praggnanandhaa set to battle against Carlsen, Aronian, Duda and Co. at FTX Crypto Cup

by Shahid Ahmed - 15/08/2022

The second Major event of Meltwater Champions Chess Tour 2022 season is FTX Crypto Cup. It will be completely an in-person esports event. All eight players will be playing from Miami, Florida in USA. Praggnanandhaa will be battling against Magnus Carlsen, Levon Aronian, Jan-Krzysztof Duda and Wildcard entrants Alireza Firoujza, Anish Giri, Liem Quang Le and Hans Niemann. Each match of the round-robin tournament will comprise four games. FTX Crypto Cup Round 1 starts tonight at 9:30 p.m. IST. Will Carlsen be able to defend FTX Crypto Cup title or someone elses will win the 2022 edition? Photo: chess24

Firouzja makes his 2022 Tour debut

The FTX Crypto Cup will be the first Meltwater Champions Chess Tour event in the USA after the plan to host the 2021 final in San Francisco had to be abandoned due to the pandemic. Another first for the event will be, some spectators will be able to follow the action live at the venue.

FTX Crypto Cup 2022 starts today from 9:30 p.m. IST | Photo: chess24

Pairings and Schedule

All eight players will play a round-robin tournament. Each match will be played each day, consisting of four games. The winner will be the player who accrues the most points and cash overall.

FTX Crypto Cup 2022 schedule | Photo: chess24

All games will start from 9:30 p.m. IST between 15th and 21st August 2022.

FTX Crypto Cup Participants

Magnus Carlsen is currently leading the Tour standings table with $106,500 earnings so far. He is followed Jan-Krzysztof Duda at $73000. Praggnanandhaa is at the third place $61250. Levon Aronian is the winner of FTX Road to Miami. The four Wildcard entrants are - Alireza Firouzja, Anish Giri, Liem Quang Le and Hans Niemann.

FTX Crypto Cup line-up | Photo: chess24

The eight players of FTX Crypto Cup and their qualification path | Photo: chess24

Prizes

The total prize fund of the Tour is $1,600,000. The prize fund for FTX Crypto Cup is $210,000. Each match of four games has $7500 up for grabs. In case of tie-breaks, the winner will get $5000 and the loser gets $2500.

Total Prize fund for FTX Crypto Cup s is US$ 210000 | Photo: chess24

Tour Standings

The Tour Standings are determined by the sum of the prizes earned by each player throughout the season. If two or more players have the same sum of prizes at any stage, the tie shall be resolved according to the following criteria:

1.Number of tournament wins (more is better)

2.Number of events played (less is better)

3.Number of appearances in a final (more is better)

4.Number of appearances in a semi-final (more is better)

5.Number of appearances in a quarter-final (more is better)

If the tie affects qualification for a Tour event, a play-off shall be held between all tied players. The format will be determined in due time, depending on the number of players and the Tour schedule. The Organizer retains the right to forego such play-offs. In that case, ties will be resolved by the criteria above. The Season Bonus Prize Fund will not count towards the Tour Standings.