The FTX Crypto Cup is a top-tier Chess tournament boasting some of the worlds biggest names in the sport. The 2022 iteration has just come to a conclusion, with longstanding phenom Magnus Carlsen narrowly beating out Rameshbabu Praggnanandhaa to capture the crown – and a hearty amount of Bitcoin as well.
Tournament Play
The tournament, which was sponsored by exchange giant FTX, was an extremely close competition. While Carlsen, who became a Chess Grandmaster at age 13, prevailed in the end, it was through a tiebreaker.
The tournament had a prize fund of $210,000 + $100,000 tethered to the price of Bitcoin.
Notably, this is not the only Chess tournament with a strong crypto presence. Coinbase has taken a similar role as FTX in presenting its own tournament known as the Rapid Chess Championship, boasting an impressive $650,000 prize fund. This tournament has also just come to a conclusion, with Ian Nepomniachtchi taking home the win.
A Push into Chess
Chess is a global game that has been around for ages, being developed in India over 1400 years ago. It is perhaps due to its global stage and lasting presence that blockchain oriented companies have been linked with it for years now.
Before exchanges like FTX and Coinbase were presenting world-class tournaments, there attempts by E-sports platform World Chess to cash in on the NFT craze, utilize blockchain to eliminate cheating during online play, and even a potential security token offering – each endeavours supported by names like Algorand, Securitize, and more. While not all of these plans have come to fruition, there is clearly intrigue on both sides between the world of Chess and blockchain.
A Sporting Foray
On various occasions we have highlighted crypto’s foray in to the world of sports. From athletes receiving salaries in Bitcoin, to arena naming rights being purchased by companies like Crypto.com, competitive activities are the perfect outlet for bringing increased awareness of digital assets. Chess is a perfect example of this, as the game is played on not only a global scale, but is increasingly popular in the world of E-sports, much like cryptocurrencies themselves.
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