IMSCC Finals: Molina Defeats Rozman 12.5-7.5
IM Roberto Molina beat IM Levy Rozman in the finals of the 2021 I'M Not A GM Speed Chess Championship. Molina and Rozman were tied after the three-minute portion, but Molina pulled ahead by two points in the three-minute segment of the match.
With everything on the line, the world wondered if Rozman could pull off another comeback victory in the bullet section, as he has done in the previous two rounds. But Molina was too strong, and won the event comfortably with a final score of 12.5-7.5. Molina is the 2021 IMSCC champion. You can read the tournament report for the finals here.
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Live broadcast of the Molina-Rozman IMSCC Final.
The second edition of the I'M Not A GM Speed Chess Championship ran January 3-March 10, 2021 for a $10,000 prize fund. This event once again featured strong, non-grandmasters in an effort to bring top-level entertainment to the Chess.com audience.
The competition included chess personalities such as IMs Levy Rozman and Eric Rosen. In addition, Chess.com's Chief Chess Officer and lead commentator IM Danny Rensch made his second-ever appearance as a competitor in an official Chess.com championship.
All 2021 I'M Not a GM Speed Chess Championship matches is broadcast live with commentary and occasional roasting on Chess.com/TV and Twitch.tv/Chess.
Seeding is determined by a blend of Chess.com blitz and bullet ratings. Ratings that are provisional or inactive have been adjusted relative to the group's mean rating difference and then used in the blended calculation.
2021 I'M Not A GM Speed Chess Championship schedule:
- Sunday, January 3: Shahade-Botez, 19.5-18.5
- Sunday, January 10: Trent-Rensch, 17.5-8.5
- Wednesday, January 13: Rozman-Canty, 13-8
- Thursday, January 14: Molina-Santeramo, 21-17
- Wednesday, January 20: Hauge-Kashlinskaya, 15-9
- Sunday, January 31: Coleman-Yip, 10.5-9.5
- Monday, February 1: Kavutskiy-Sachdev, 17.5-6.5
- Tuesday, February 2: Rosen-Shah,15.5-5.5
Round 2: Quarterfinals
- Wednesday, February 3: Molina-Trent, 12-9
- Thursday, February 4: Shahade-Kavutskiy, 12.5-9.5
- Sunday, February 7: Hauge-Coleman, 15-5
- Tuesday, February 9: Rozman-Rosen, 13.5-10.5
Round 3: Semifinals
- Wednesday, March 3: Molina- Hauge, 14.5-7.5
- Monday, March 8: Rozman -Shahade, 13.5-10.5
Round 4: Final
- Wednesday, March 10: Molina-Rozman 10 a.m. Pacific / 19:00 Central Europe
Sunday, January 3: Greg Shahade defeats Alexandra Botez, 19.5-18.5
IM Greg Shahade defeated WFM Alexandra Botez 19.5-18.5 in the first match in the Round of 16 of the 2021 I'M Not A GM Speed Chess Championship. The rating mismatch was compensated with a 15-0 lead for Botez from the start which Shahade narrowly managed to beat, just in time.
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The live broadcast of the Shahade-Botez match.
Sunday, January 10: Lawrence Trent beats Danny Rensch, 17.5-8.5
IM Lawrence Trent took on fellow chess commentator IM Danny Rensch in the second match of the I'M Not A GM SCC and emerged victoriously. Trent managed to win the match by a significant margin, beating Rensch in every time control. He won the match with a final score of 17.5-8.5.
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The live broadcast of the Trent-Rensch match.
Wednesday, January 13: Levy Rozman defeated James Canty III, 13-8
IM Levy Rozman defeated NM James Canty III on Wednesday by a final score of 13-8. The match was very close, with Rozman up only one point heading into the one-minute segment of the match. However, Rozman ran away with the match in the one minute portion, scoring 5.5-1.5.
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The live broadcast of the Rozman-Canty match.
Thursday, January 14: Roberto Junio Brito Molina defeated Alessia Santeramo, 21-17
IM Roberto Junio Brito Molina secured a win against WFM Alessia Santeramo, with a score of 21-17. Molina had a 15 point handicap going into the game, meaning he started 15 points down due to the rating disparity, but was able to close this initial gap by winning in each time control. Although Santeramo was able to generate chances at times, Molina's strong, consistent play prevailed in the end.
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The live broadcast of the Molina-Santeramo match.
Wednesday, January 20: Lars Oskar Hauge defeated Alina Kashlinskaya, 15-9
IM Lars Oskar Hauge won a back-and-forth match against IM Alina Kashlinskaya in the latest round of the I'M Not A GM SCC. Kashlinskaya took a four-point lead in the beginning, but then Hauge started coming through with impressive comebacks game after game. With this, Hauge evened the scores before the 1+1 section and carried this momentum forward to win the match.
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The live broadcast of the Hauge-Kashlinskaya match.
Sunday, January 31: Coleman-Yip, 10.5-9.5
IM Teddy Coleman secured a clutch 10.5-9.5 win versus IM Carissa Yip, after holding his lead despite the immense pressure Yip put him under in the 1+1 section. Both players put on a great performance, and the games were often decided by, in the words of commentator GM Aman Hambleton, whoever made "the second-last blunder." With this win, Coleman has secured a spot in the quarterfinals of the I'M Not A GM Speed Chess Championship.
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The live broadcast of the Coleman-Yip match.
Monday, February 1: Kavutskiy-Sachdev, 17.5-6.5
IM Kostya Kavutskiy defeated IM Tania Sachdev 17.5-6.5 in their matchup. While Sachdev was competitive at the shorter time controls, Kavutskiy rode an 8-0 advantage in the 5+1 stage of the match to victory. He will face IM Greg Shahade in the quarterfinals.
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Live broadcast of the Kavutskiy-Sachdev match.
Tuesday, February 2: Rosen-Shah, 15.5-5.5
IM Eric Rosen defeated IM Sagar Shah 15.5-5.5 during the final match of the first round in the 2021 I'M Not A GM Speed Chess Championship on Tuesday. After a balanced 5+1 portion of the match, Rosen caught fire during the 3+1 segment and won six games in a row. Shah could not recover from such an overwhelming disadvantage in the last part of the match.
Live broadcast of the Rosen-Shah match.
Wednesday, February 3: Molina-Trent, 12-9
IM Roberto Junio Brito Molina became the first semifinalist of the 2021 I'M Not A GM Speed Chess Championship by defeating IM Lawrence Trent on Wednesday, 12-9. Molina recovered from an early 3-1 deficit to tie the 5+1 portion 3.5-3.5, then won the last two games at the 3+1 time control to take an 8-6 lead. Molina stayed a step ahead of Trent in the 1+1 segment to lock up the match victory.
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The live broadcast of the Molina-Trent match.
Thursday, February 4: Shahade-Kavutskiy, 12.5-9.5
IM Greg Shahade defeated IM Kostya Kavutskiy during the second match of the 2021 I'M Not A GM Speed Chess Championship quarterfinals. After Shahade opened with a four-point lead in the 5+1 segment, Kavutskiy was able to thin out the score spread by one point during in the following session. However, Shahade was able to hold his advantage and ended the match with 12.5-9.5 score to move on to the semifinals.
The live broadcast of the Shahade-Kavutskiy match.
Sunday, February 7: Hauge-Coleman, 15-5
IM Lars Oskar Hauge defeated IM Teddy Coleman in the third match of the 2021 I'M Not A GM Speed Chess Championship quarterfinals. Hauge had a comfortable four-point lead going into the one-minute portion of the match. During the bullet battle that followed, Hauge increased his lead and ended the match 15-5.
Live broadcast of the Coleman-Hauge match.
Tuesday, February 9: Rozman-Rosen, 13.5-10.5
IM Levy Rozman won a thrilling quarterfinal match against IM Eric Rosen in the 2021 I'M Not A GM Speed Chess Championship. After falling behind 9.5-6.5, Rozman won four straight games at the 1+1 time control to take a one-point lead heading into the final game. Rosen won that game to force the first tiebreak of the tournament, which was played as a best-of-four 1+1 session. Rozman won the first three to advance to the semifinal.
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Wednesday, March 3: Molina- Hauge, 14.5-7.5
IM Roberto Junio Brito Molina defeated IM Lars Oskar Hauge in the 2021 I'M Not A GM Speed Chess Championship semifinals by a score of 14.5-7.5.
The score does not reflect how close the match was, as Molina was only up one game before entering the bullet portion of the match. It was in the one-minute segment that Molina went on a 6.5-0.5 spree to take the match. Molina moves on to the IMSCC finals.
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The live broadcast of the Molina-Hauge match.
The tournament report for the Molina-Hauge semifinal match can be found here.
Monday, March 8: Rozman -Shahade, 13.5-10.5
IM Levy Rozman beat IM Greg Shahade in their semifinals match for the 2021 I'M Not A GM Speed Chess Championship by a score of 13.5-10.5. Shahade lead throughout the match, and seemed to be in firm control—after winning the first bullet game, Shahade was up by a score of 9.5-5.5. Then Rozman kicked into a new gear and won eight games in a row to take the match.
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Watch the live broadcast above.
The tournament report for the Rozman-Shahade semifinal match can be found here.
Prizes by round:
- Round 1 - $4,000
- Round 2 - $2,400
- Round 3 - $1,800
- Round 4 - $1,800
Prize breakdown:
Round 1: 16 players, 8 matches, $4,000 prize pool
- Winner: $250 and advance to round 2
- $250 split by win percentage
- Total prizes per match: $500
Round 2: 8 players, 4 matches, $2,400 prize pool
- Winner: $300 and advance to round 3
- $300 split by win percentage
- Total prizes per match: $600
Round 3: 4 players, 2 matches, $1,800 prize pool
- Winner: $450 and advance to round 4
- $450 split by win percentage
- Total prizes per match: $900
Round 4: 2 players, 1 match, $1,800 prize pool
- Winner: $900
- $900 split by win percentage
- Total prizes per match: $1,800
In addition, all fan donations made throughout the course of each match will be contributed towards the prize fund with the winner of the match taking the full amount of those donations.
- Each match will feature 75 minutes of 5+1 blitz, 45 minutes of 3+1 blitz, and 25 minutes of 1+1 bullet chess.
- The players in the bracket will be seeded by a blend of their Chess.com Blitz and Bullet ratings.
- The main bracket will be a single-elimination knockout.
- The winner of each match advances to the next round in the bracket.
- If a match is tied after the last 1+1 bullet game, a tiebreak of four additional 1+1 games are played as a mini-match.
- If a match is still tied after the mini-match tiebreaker, a single Armageddon game will be played: White 5+0, Black 3+0, Black gets draw odds. The player with the highest Chess.com blitz rating at the start of the Armageddon chooses their color.
The following chess players have confirmed their participation in the 2021 I'M Not A GM Speed Chess Championship main bracket:
- Seed 1: IM Greg Shahade
- Seed 2: IM Roberto Junio Brito Molina
- Seed 3: IM Lars Oskar Hauge
- Seed 4: IM Levy Rozman
- Seed 5: IM Eric Rosen
- Seed 6: IM Teddy Coleman
- Seed 7: IM Danny Rensch
- Seed 8: IM Kostya Kavutskiy
- Seed 9: IM Tania Sachdev
- Seed 10: IM Lawrence Trent
- Seed 11: IM Carissa Yip
- Seed 12: IM Sagar Shah
- Seed 13: NM James Canty
- Seed 14: IM Alina Kashlinskaya
- Seed 15: WFM Alessia Santeramo
- Seed 16: WFM Alexandra Botez
All other official rules of our regular Speed Chess Championship will be followed, which can be found in this article.
