Who Says Spite Checks Never Work? Get Ready For Chess.com's 3-Check Chess Championship!

We're excited to announce the Chess.com 3-Check Chess Championship, the second event of the 2025 Chess.com Community Championships! The event starts February 27 at 9 a.m. ET / 15:00 CET / 7:30 p.m. IST with the qualifiers and features a $2,500 prize fund.

3-Check is one of the oldest variants available on Chess.com. In it, players can win a game by checkmating their opponent or, as the name suggests, checking their king three times. So, for those of you who love to give spite checks when you're about to lose, this is your opportunity to shine!

Below is a video of GM Fabiano Caruana playing the variant on the Chessbrah channel:

The event starts with eight qualifiers taking place throughout February 27. With the first qualifier starting at 9 a.m. ET / 15:00 CET / 7:30 p.m. IST and the last at 7:30 p.m. ET / 1:30 (+1) CET / 6 a.m. (+1) IST, members will have plenty of chances to play. Check out the qualifier's schedule and make sure you're a member of Chess.com's Community Club to participate in the event. Registrations open one hour before each arena starts.

Qualifiers will be 75-minute arenas with a 3+0 time control. And while you're checking your opponents to climb through the ranks, our Fair Play team will also be checking on you. 

As always, we may require participants to join a video call for fair-play checks during the qualifiers to ensure everyone's safety. Players who join the fair-play call must set up two cameras from different angles in the room. Non-compliance will result in a player's removal from the event.

The winner of each qualifier will earn the right to play in the knockout Final, which occurs on February 28 starting at 1 p.m. ET / 19:00 CET / 11:30 p.m. IST. The Final will be an eight-player double-elimination bracket, with each match consisting of four 3+0 games. 

In the first Chess.com Community Championship event of 2025, GM Andy Woodward made history by becoming the first player ever to beat GM Ray Robson in a Chess.com puzzles competition. Now, we'll be crowning our first 3-Check Champion ever.

Who would you like to see playing in the Chess.com 3-Check Chess Championship? Let us know in the comments below!