5 Reasons To Watch The 2022 Chess.com Rapid Chess Championship

Some of the strongest grandmasters in the world are about to play in the inaugural Chess.com Rapid Chess Championship presented by Coinbase. This is Chess.com's biggest and most important event for professional chess players yet. With a $600,000 prize fund and the most vigorous competition, the RCC has the potential to change the landscape of online chess. The first RCC will begin on Saturday, February 12 at 9 a.m. PST/18:00 CET.

With many exciting features for both fans and players, here are five reasons to watch the Rapid Chess Championship:

• The Largest Prize Fund Ever
• Thrilling Generation Clashes
• More Exciting Matchups
• Great Format For Streamers And Fans
• The Strongest Finals Of All

More Chances For Professional Players To Earn Money

The Rapid Chess Championship features Chess.com's largest prize pool ever—a total of $600,000 will go to players' pockets. That is more than double the $232,000 from the entire 2021 Speed Chess Championship series and $240,000 over the recently-tripled Titled Tuesday yearly prize pool!

With weekly prizes that amount to an impressive $20,000, Chess.com hopes to help reward professional chess players for their passion and dedication to the game.

The massive prize fund should also help attract new audiences—and new sponsors along with them. This is part of Chess.com's efforts to propel chess even further to help grow the game, and you can be a part of it by tuning in and enjoying the show.

Thrilling Generation Clashes

Who will be the next world champion? History shows that usually, it takes the talent and hunger of the new generation to dethrone a dominant world champion. As the 2021 World Rapid Championship showed us, there is a lot of potential among the young prodigies of today.

With the top 10 juniors eligible to play in the Rapid Chess Championship, we're certainly going to see exciting battles between the old and new generation of players. For the first time, juniors will have a chance to face the world's elite every single week—without even leaving their homes. Fans will also have the opportunity to keep up with their favorite juniors like World rapid champion Nodirbek Abdusattorov.

More Exciting Matchups Between Strong Players

While we all love to watch super-GM events, things can get repetitive at times. With the same few players competing among themselves, it's no wonder we have to celebrate the occasional Bong Cloud draw as a light-hearted escape from the traditional Berlin draw.

With the top 100 players, top 10 juniors, top 10 female players, and 10 wildcard invites eligible to play, we'll see a refreshing new set of pairings happening each week. To the fans, this means different openings, different tactics, and a plethora of new ideas appearing over the board for their enjoyment. For the players, this will be a chance to play more exciting games against players they rarely face.

Great Format For Streamers And Fans

The Chess.com Rapid Chess Championship will give fans the perfect opportunity to see what goes on inside their favorite players' minds. Chess.com allows (and encourages) players to stream their participation. With the slower pace of rapid games, streamers will have the chance to go over the reasoning behind their moves.

If GM Hikaru Nakamura can go over his calculation this fast, can you imagine what he will do while playing a rapid game?

The RCC will give streamers the chance to provide quality content for their viewers while still playing in a top competition. Fans will have the opportunity to peek behind the curtain and understand how their chess heroes think during a competition.

The Strongest Finals Ever

After 25 weeks of Swiss and knockout action, only the most dominant and consistent players will qualify for the grand final at the end of the season. Because of this, the finals will feature the most formidable online rapid battles of the year!

Some of the world's leading players of today are participating in the Rapid Chess Championship. Will players like GMs Fabiano Caruana, Wesley So, Anish Giri, and Levon Aronian make it to the final? Don't forget to tune in every week to find out!

Who do you think will win the first Chess.com Rapid Chess Championship ever? Leave a comment with your best guess below!

The Rapid Chess Championship is brought to you by Coinbase. Whether you’re looking to make your first crypto purchase or you’re an experienced trader, Coinbase has you covered. Earn crypto by learning about crypto with Coinbase Earn, explore DeFi and web3 with Coinbase Wallet, get exclusive rewards when you spend with Coinbase Card, and much more. Learn more at coinbase.com/chess and get $10 in bitcoin when you sign up and verify your account.