How To Watch Caruana vs Aronian Speed Chess Championship Today

What better way to begin the Speed Chess Championship main bracket this year than with one of the biggest names in chess today?

Fabiano Caruana, the top chess player in the United States, will challenge Magnus Carlsen this fall for the world chess championship. First, though, he has to deal with a tough first-round opponent in the Speed Chess Championship: Levon Aronian.

Watch the match live today, Tuesday, July 24 at 10 a.m Pacific time (1 p.m. Eastern, 5 p.m. UTC).

The following viewing options will be available:

• Twitch.tv/chess: the official broadcast with IM Daniel Rensch and GM Robert Hess—watch here to see the Twitch chat.
• Chess.com/TV: watch here to see the Chess.com chat.

The match is the first of 15 action-packed events in the main Speed Chess Championship bracket.

The match format:

• 90 minutes of 5/1 blitz.
• 60 minutes of 3/1 blitz.
• 30 minutes of 1/1 bullet.
• 3-minute breaks between segments.
• Higher seed starts with White, and colors alternate thereafter.
• Highest cumulative point total wins. If points are tied after the bullet segment, a four-game 1/1 tiebreaker match will be played.
• If the match is still tied after the additional four 1/1 games, 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 his color.
• Full match rules are available here. 

The match prizes:

• Winner: $1,000 and advances to round two of the SCC.
• An additional $1,000 split by win percentage.

Who's the favorite to win today? 

While Caruana is slotted higher in the bracket as a 5-seed facing the 12th-seeded Aronian, the Armenian grandmaster might be the favorite on the chessboard.

The Chess.com SmarterChess predictions give Aronian a 67 percent chance to defeat Caruana. The statistical model bases its predictions on prior performance by the players in selected Chess.com events.

Be sure to read FM Mike Klein's in-depth news preview of the Caruana-Aronian match, complete with interviews of the players.

Next up for the Speed Chess Championship is the 1-vs-16 matchup between Hikaru Nakamura and Hou Yifan this Thursday, July 26, the second match of a jam-packed opening week for the SCC.

You can find all the information on the 2018 Speed Chess Championship here, including rules, format, players, and complete schedule. 

Let us know your match predictions in the comments or on Facebook.