2021 Speed Chess Championship Main Event: All The Information

GM Hikaru Nakamura won the Main Event of the 2021 Speed Chess Championship on December 19—winning his fourth consecutive title. Nakamura defeated GM Wesley So in the final by a dominating score of 23-8.

The event ran from November 8-December 19, 2021, and had a $100,000 prize fund.

All the information you need to know about this fast-paced event can be found below.

• Players
• Bracket
• Schedule
• Format
• Prize Fund
• Broadcast
• Community Contest
• Past Winners

Players

• GM Hikaru Nakamura (2018, 2019, 2020, and 2021 SCC champion)

• GM Fabiano Caruana

• GM Ding Liren

• GM Anish Giri

• GM Alexander Grischuk

• GM Wesley So

• GM Maxime Vachier-Lagrave

• GM Levon Aronian

• GM Shakhriyar Mamedyarov

• GM Peter Svidler

• GM Jan-Krzysztof Duda

• GM Daniil Dubov

• GM Richard Rapport *

• GM Jeffery Xiong (1st place in the 2021 Speed Chess Championship Grand Prix)

• GM Alexey Sarana (1st place in the 2021 Speed Chess Championship Super Swiss)

• GM Nihal Sarin (1st place in the 2021 Junior Speed Chess Championship)

* Rapport replaced the original number-two seed GM Alireza Firouzja.

Bracket

Schedule

The 2021 Speed Chess Championship Main Event began on November 8. With the beginning of the 2021 FIDE World Chess Championship, the Speed Chess Championship schedule was built around off-days in the World Championship.

The final of the 2021 Speed Chess Championship Main Event was on December 19.

Format

The Main Event was a single-elimination knockout tournament bracket.

The time controls were:

• 90 minutes of 5+1 blitz
• 60 minutes of 3+1 blitz
• 30 minutes of 1+1 bullet

If a match was tied after the 30-minute bullet round, four additional games at the same 1+1 time control were played. If the score remained tied, there was a single armageddon tiebreaker game, where White got five minutes and Black got four minutes with draw odds (i.e., Black advanced if the game was drawn). There was no increment in the armageddon game, and the player with the higher Chess.com blitz rating choose what color to play in it.

Prize Fund

Each match winner at each given stage earned:

• Round of 16: $2,000
• Quarterfinals: $3,000
• Semifinals: $6,000
• Grand Finals: $10,000

Additionally, the following amounts were allocated based on players' winning percentage at the conclusion of the round.

• Round of 16: $2,000
• Quarterfinals: $3,000
• Semifinals: $6,000
• Grand Finals: $10,000

For example, if a player won in the semifinals by a score of 15-10 (60%), they received $6,000 for winning the semifinal match and an additional $3,600 (60% of $6,000) based on win percentage. The loser received the remaining $2,400.

Total Prize Fund By Round

• Round of 16: $32,000
• Quarterfinals: $24,000
• Semifinals: $24,000
• Grand Finals: $20,000
• GRAND TOTAL: $100,000

Broadcast

Chess.com broadcasted the Main Event of the 2021 Speed Chess Championship on all its platforms, including Twitch, YouTube, ChessTV, and Chess.com/Events. Chess.com's lead commentator GM Daniel Naroditsky provided commentary, alongside GM Robert Hess and GM Aman Hableton.

Past Winners

2017: GM Magnus Carlsen

2018: GM Hikaru Nakamura

2019: GM Hikaru Nakamura

2020: GM Hikaru Nakamura