Announcing Kick's Tournament Of The Accused With GMHikaru

Have you ever been on a streak? If you win more than 10 games in a row do you sense the statistics police peering into your game history? Has an opponent called your brilliant move a little too brilliant?

GM Hikaru Nakamura is proud to announce a tournament that may be very “interesting” for you: Kick’s Tournament for the Accused—prizes generously donated by Kick.com! On Monday, December 9 starting at 12 p.m. ET/18:00 CET, IMs and GMs alike will have a chance to join GMs Daniel Naroditsky and Jose Martinez to compete for a share of the $8,500 prize fund across three unique varieties of blitz.

• Format
• Prizes
• Schedule

Note: Team Hikaru reserves the right to modify tournament formats, prize structures, and other conditions as needed to ensure the best possible event.

Have you been accused of being "Interesting?" Has anyone ever done "The Procedure" on you? Do you have obs/chat reflected poorly in glass behind you? I have and I'd like to play you. If you're a titled player respond to this tweet or DM me to discuss joining a BIG PRIZE money… pic.twitter.com/XrLRfO2iAn

— Hikaru Nakamura (@GMHikaru) November 25, 2024

Format

Players will compete in a nine-round Swiss to attempt to qualify for three consecutive round-robins, all to be played on December 9. All IMs and GMs are eligible to play, whether or not they have been accused, and can request access to join this club so that they can play in the qualifier.

• Nine-round 3+0 Swiss Qualifier to determine five players who’ll join Nakamura, Naroditsky and Martinez as contestants in the following round-robin tournaments.

After qualification, the eight players will participate in the following contests:

• 3+2 blitz round-robin
• 3+1 blitz round-robin
• 3+0 blitz round-robin with Live Eval bars that the players can see!

Final placement will be based on the total of the player's rankings (e.g. 1st, 2nd, 3rd, etc.) in the three round robins. The lowest total ranking wins. The first tiebreaker will be the total points scored. Further tiebreakers will involve Accuracy scores and the amount of time spent looking away from the screen.

Prizes

Total prize fund: $8,500.

If a player streams on Kick they will be eligible for 100 percent of whatever prize they earn. If they do not stream on Kick and win a prize, they will receive 75 percent of said prize. Should they stream elsewhere, they would not receive a prize.

Qualifying Swiss: 12 p.m. ET/18:00 CEST
Three Single Round Robins: 1:15 p.m. ET/19:15 CET

Schedule

All games take place on December 9.

• Qualifying Swiss: 12 p.m. ET/18:00 CET
• Three Single Round-Robins: starting at 1:15 p.m. ET/19:10 CEST

All play and final results will be subject to review by Chess.com's Fair Play team. Players found to have violated Chess.com's Fair Play rules will not be eligible for prizes.

Estimated time for the full tournament is between five and six hours.

Got questions? Or just want to follow the action? Check out Hikaru's Discord or his Kick channel.