Chess.com Supports First ChessPunks Champs Tournament For Adult Improvers
Go ahead ChessPunk, make my day! Now that the superb PogChamps 5 tournament is over, Chess.com is delighted to announce another exciting amateur event kicking off next month.
ChessPunks Champs is the new PogChamps-style event for all of us normal people who aren't streaming stars and are just focused on improving our game. Yes, this could be the tournament for you if you consider yourself a "ChessPunk."
For the uninitiated, the ChessPunks are an online community of adult improvers that sprang up on Twitter, now X, around five years ago using the hashtags #chesspunks and #chessimprovement.
The community has grown and grown from just a few posts online to a movement of chess fans sharing tips and helping each other grow their game. Along the way, it has gained some high-profile supporters who lend them a hand, such as GM Susan Polgar, who regularly sets the ChessPunks puzzles:
Precision chess tactic! This is a good one from an actual game that was just played.
— Susan Polgar (@SusanPolgar) August 22, 2023
Black to move. How should black proceed? #chesspunks #chessimprovement pic.twitter.com/pji5bNTZAJ
The ChessPunks also run an annual awards event—more on that below—and they even have their own merch store here.
ChessPunks is organic and independent of Chess.com, but we are pleased to support the community. Now, ChessPunks has its own championships.
Today was a great day! #chesspunks pic.twitter.com/yKFYIrnGLG
— Neal Bruce (@NealBruceBC) August 21, 2023
The event will be hosted on Chess.com by the inspirational co-founder and ChessPunk-in-Chief Neal Bruce. By day, Neil is a mild-mannered family man from Boston who holds down a high-powered role as a software executive. But at night, he becomes a voracious chess improver.
Sharing the mic will be the Head of Chessable, Geert van der Velde, aka @blackatlantic on X, who has supported the movement since its inception and is a dedicated ChessPunk himself.
The tournament will be played in a rapid time control and be split into four sections, so you can be a ChessPunk Champ even with a low rating. There will also be prizes and benefits, such as coaching sessions, Chess.com Diamond memberships, cash stipends, and $10,000 worth of Chessable courses. The stakes are high!
Qualifiers for the rapid tournament will be held on September 16 and 17 at 12 p.m. ET / 16:00 CEST / 19:30 IST. The Finals will be held on October 22 also at 12 p.m. ET / 16:00 CEST / 19:30 IST.
The tournament was first announced during the ChessPunks Annual Awards ceremony hosted by Neil and Geert on Monday. You can catch up on who the winners were and get a sense of what the community is all about here:
If you want to take part you need to join the official ChessPunks Club on Chess.com and follow Neil's more detailed instructions here.
