2025 Chess.com Atomic Chess Championship: Official Discussion Thread - Chess Forums

Mar 17, 2025

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It’s Time To Play With Fire! The Chess.com Atomic Chess Championship is the third installment of this year's Chess.com Community Championships and takes place March 27-28, featuring a 2,500 prize fund.

Atomic Chess is not for the faint of heart. In this variant, every capture triggers an explosion that destroys anything in all adjacent squares—except for pawns, which, like cockroaches, are surprisingly sturdy against atomic radiation.

Can't imagine what that looks like? Here's a video of IM Levy Rozman playing this explosive variant!

The event kicks off with the first qualifier starting on March 27 at 9 a.m. ET / 14:00 CET / 6:30 p.m. IST, with seven others following. Each qualifier is a 75-minute arena, and all games are in the 3+0 time control. The qualifiers are open to all members and spread out throughout the day, so everyone has a chance to participate! The winner of each qualifier will be eligible to play in the Knockout Final the following day.

Check out the full qualifiers' schedule to participate in the event. We'll publish the links to join each arena there soon.

During the qualifiers, we may require participants to join a video call for fair-play checks to ensure everyone's safety (especially since we're dealing with Atomic Chess). Players who join the fair-play call must set up two cameras from different angles in their room. Non-compliance will result in a player's removal from the event. Quarantining after the event is not required.

The eight players who make it to the Final will compete in a double-elimination knockout for the title of Chess.com Atomic Chess Champion. The Final will be broadcast live on our Community Twitch channel, be sure to tune in for some high level explosive maneuvers!

In the last edition of the Chess.com Community Championships, FM Matfey Rogov became the 3-Check champion and the second player to win a Community title this year. He had to defeat the toughest variants specialists on his way to the top, so get ready to ignore your parents' advice and start playing with fire if you want to become the next champion!

Watch the Finals broadcast on our community Twitch channel.
Find all relevant info on our Events Page. Below a quick summary.

Variant: Atomic Chess
Prize Fund: $2,500
Qualifiers Format: 75 min arenas, 3+0 blitz, rated. Winner advances to Knockout Final.
Qualifiers Date: March 27, eight total arenas. Full Schedule
Finals Format: 8 Players double-elimination knockout, 3+0 blitz, rated.
Matches are Best of 4, if tied players contest 3+0 games until there's a winner.
Finals Date & Time: March 28 at 1 p.m. ET / 19:00 CET with live broadcast.