How To Watch So vs Wei Yi Speed Chess Championship Sunday
The Speed Chess Championship rolls into Sunday to conclude a star-studded opening week. The American number-two (and world number-six) Wesley So takes on the Chinese chess prodigy, the 19-year-old Wei Yi.
Both of these young superstars could be future world chess champions, but first they will have to battle each other to move on in the biggest online tournament of the year.
Watch the match live Sunday, July 29 at 5 p.m. Pacific (8 p.m. Eastern, 12 a.m. Monday UTC, 2 a.m. Monday CEST)
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 third of 15 action-packed events in the main Speed Chess Championship bracket.
- 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.
- Winner: $1,000 and advances to round two of the SCC.
- An additional $1,000 split by win percentage.
- Additional prize funds donated by the Twitch community during the live show will be split evenly between the two players.
Who's the favorite to win?
The Chess.com SmarterChess predictions give So a two-thirds chance to win the match. The statistical model bases its predictions on prior performance by the players in selected Chess.com events.
Wei Yi is actually favored in the five-minute segment, however, and could jump out to an early-match lead that the American GM would have to overcome as the clocks tick faster and faster.
Be sure to read FM Mike Klein's article on which of Sunday's players had the best career game—then vote in the survey, too.
Next up for the Speed Chess Championship is Maxime Vachier-Lagrave vs Leinier Dominguez Perez on Thursday, August 2, 12 p.m. PDT.
Let us know your match predictions in the comments or on Facebook.
