2021 I'M Not a GM Speed Chess Championship: Molina Beats Santeramo
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.
All Games
The live broadcast of the Molina-Santeramo match.
The next match between IM Lars Oskar Hauge and IM Alina Kashlinskaya will begin at 10 a.m. Pacific time / 15:00 Central European Time on Wednesday, January 20; tune in live at Chess.com/TV and Twitch.tv/Chess.
The second edition of the I'M Not A GM Speed Chess Championship runs January 3-March 1, 2021 for a $10,000 prize fund. This event once again features strong, non-grandmasters in an effort to bring top-level entertainment to the Chess.com audience.
The competition features chess personalities such as IMs Levy Rozman and Eric Rosen. In addition, Chess.com's Chief Chess Officer and lead commentator IM Danny Rensch is making 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.
Schedule:
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 at 10:00 a.m. Pacific / 19:00 Central Europe
- Thursday, January 28: Match 6
- Sunday, January 31: Match 7
- Monday, February 1: Kavutskiy-Sachdev
Round 2: Quarterfinals
- Wednesday, February 3: Round 2, Match 1
- Thursday, February 4: Round 2, Match 2
- Saturday, February 6: Round 2, Match 3
- Sunday, February 7: Round 2, Match 4
Round 3: Semifinals
- Wednesday, February 10: Round 3, Match 1
- Saturday, February 13: Round 3, Match 2
Round 4: Final
- Monday, March 1
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.
All Games
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.
All Games
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.
All Games
The live broadcast of the Rozman-Canty match.
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.
