4 Players Advance To Puzzle Battle World Championship On Jan. 2

Nearly 100 players from across the world squared off in the Puzzle Battle World Championship Qualifier, and just four players have advanced to the main event. With their performances on Dec. 20, Dimitirios Ladopoulos (@jimis98), IM Hans Niemann (@HansCoolNiemann), IM Christopher Yoo (@ChristopherYoo), and GM Steven Zierk (@ZKid) have all clinched their spots to play in the Puzzle Battle World Championship on Jan. 2.

In the first qualifier of the day, Puzzle Battle specialist Ladopoulos (jimis98) outlasted a tough field including multiple grandmasters and strong international masters. He scored a combined 145 across three battles to book his place in the main tournament as the first non-titled player in Chess.com history to play in a top-tier marquee event.

In the second qualifier, IM Hans Niemann nearly matched Ladopoulos' performance by topping well-known stars such as GMs Daniel Naroditsky, Andrew Tang, Nihal Sarin, Praggnanandhaa and Eric Hansen. Both IM Christopher Yoo and Steven Zierk earned their respective spots in the Puzzle Battle World Championship by having the highest scores outside of Ladopoulos and Niemann in the day's event. All scores from the qualifying participants can be found here with qualifier-one players highlighted in green and qualifier-two players highlighted in red.

Both Yoo (13) and Niemann (16) will be among the youngest players in the main event. Yoo, who is the second youngest American international master, is the youngest player in Chess.com history to qualify for a top-tier marquee event.

Here's all the information you need to follow the Puzzle Battle World Championship:

• How To Qualify (Qualification Has Closed)
• Format
• Confirmed Players
• Schedule
• Pairings
• Prizes
• Puzzle Battle

How To Qualify

This year's Puzzle Battle World Championship offers a unique opportunity to qualify for every member of Chess.com. Between Nov. 22 and Dec. 15, you can secure your position in one of two qualification tournaments by completing the following:

1. Stream/Record A Successful Three-Minute Puzzle Rush With A Score Of 35 Or More: The streamed (or recorded) clip must include a full-screen capture and a webcam where you are fully visible for the duration of the clip. The cursor must also be visible on screen for the duration.
2. Tweet the clip* at Chess.com using the hashtag #PuzzleBattle: Chess.com will certify your submission by messaging you privately on Twitter. The best submissions will be liked and retweeted by the official Chess.com account. Please give the social media team at least 24 hours to certify your tweet. Posts on Facebook are also acceptable, but you must tag Chess.com for the post to be eligible.
3. Clean Fair Play Record: You must have a clean fair play record to confirm a position in the qualification tournament. By submitting a clip, you agree to a full fair play scan on recent games. A Chess.com representative will send an email to you that confirms entry to the qualification tournament.

*Note that the maximum video clip length on Twitter is about two minutes. To submit on Twitter, please attach a YouTube or Twitch link to your tweet!

Please note that if you do qualify for the Puzzle Battle Qualification tournament, you will have to provide basic information to Chess.com and be available live on camera for a viewing audience for the duration of the event.

To learn more about how to set-up a stream/recording with a webcam and capture your browser window, watch this video tutorial from Chess.com eSports Producer Aran Graham:

Want to boost your number of Puzzle Rush attempts? Click here to learn more!

Format

In the qualifier, every player will have three Puzzle Battle attempts against a random opponent from their hemisphere to try and boost their cumulative score—the sum of all puzzles correctly solved in the three attempts. While the event will be divided into two halves to accommodate players from both hemispheres, four players will advance to the Puzzle Battle World Championship on Jan. 2, 2020 by meeting one of the following criteria:

1. Winner of Qualifier 1
2. Winner of Qualifier 2
3. Highest scoring player across both qualifiers (that did not win their qualifier)
4. Second-highest scoring player across both qualifiers (that did not win their qualifier)

Tiebreakers for the Puzzle Battle World Championship Qualifiers are as follows:

1. Player's single-best Puzzle Battle score
2. Player's second-best Puzzle Battle score
3. Player's Chess.com bullet rating
4. Player's Chess.com blitz rating

Note that the head-to-head results in a player's Puzzle Battle pairing are not considered as tiebreakers because the pairings take each player's hemisphere into account more than relative strength.

Confirmed Players

Players who have earned their positions in the Puzzle Battle World Championship and passed Chess.com's rigorous fair play check are listed below. Please note that this is not a live list, and some players may not be confirmed until after Dec. 15:

Puzzle Battle World Championship Qualifier | Qualifier 1

Puzzle Battle World Championship Qualifier | Qualifier 2

The confirmed players list was last updated on Dec. 17, 2019 at 1:08 p.m. Pacific.

The exact time of each player's pairing will be publicly released shortly after Dec. 15 after all qualifier submissions are reviewed.

Schedule

The Puzzle Battle World Championship Qualifiers will be broadcast live on Chess.com/tv on Dec. 20. The broadcast archives will be published on YouTube and Chess.com/videos. Viewers can also watch the battles on Chess.com/puzzles/battle.

Each player will be assigned a specific 15-minute slot in one of the two qualification tournaments to complete their three Puzzle Battle attempts. Players who fail to show up at their specified times will be disqualified from the tournament.

Pairings

Below are the pairings for both Qualifier 1 and 2. Every player is required at least 15 minutes prior to their start time, and failure to do so is grounds for immediate disqualification.

As mentioned before head-to-head results in a player's Puzzle Battle pairing are not considered as tiebreakers because the pairings take each player's hemisphere into account more than relative strength.

Puzzle Battle World Championship Qualifier Pairings | Qualifier 1, 8 a.m. PT

Puzzle Battle World Championship Qualifier Pairings | Qualifier 2, 4 p.m. PT

Prizes

The Puzzle Battle World Championship offers $11,000 in prizes across all phases of the tournament. The top two qualifier winners will each earn $150 in addition to a berth to the main event on Jan. 2, 2020. The third and fourth players two qualify for the Puzzle Battle World Championship will earn $50 each.

Puzzle Battle

Puzzle Battle, one of the newest features on Chess.com, allows players to compete directly in Puzzle Rush live. In this new version of Puzzle Rush, you play against a single opponent and face the same sequence of puzzles in a three-minute Rush to see whose tactics are sharper! As you participate, you get a Puzzle Battle rating that is used to pair you with future opponents.

Currently Puzzle Rush and Puzzle Battle are unlimited for Chess.com's Diamond and Platinum members. Gold members are limited to five Puzzle Rushes and five Puzzle Battles a day. Basic members can attempt each game mode once a day. Want to boost your chance to qualify? Check out our membership options here.

To learn more about Seasons and Puzzle Battle ratings, click here. To get a head start on the competition, start training today!