Paypal Co-founder Peter Thiel's $1 Million Chess Challenge

Much has been written about the many high-profile individuals in the financial and technological world who also have a gift for chess, but this news story combines the two in a much more direct way!

The Chief Executive of Soletron, AJ Steigman has challenged PayPal co-founder and venture capitalist Peter Thiel to a $1 million chess match. 

Both men are talented former chess players, with Steigman's rating currently 2274 Elo, and Thiel's 2199 Elo, so if the match goes ahead it could be a close fought contest with a lot at stake!

The press release is below, but first a sample game from each of them:

Press Release
New York, NY (July 17th, 2012)

Today, Soletron founder & CEO A.J. Steigman has challenged billionaire & Paypal co-founder Peter Thiel to a $1 million Series A chess match. Both Steigman & Thiel are chess masters that were childhood prodigies. They are currently in the top 1% of all U.S. players.

Steigman has always been a fan of Mr. Thiel’s chess and business careers, and has the absolute most respect for him. He wishes to partner with Thiel for the match with the event focusing on entrepreneurship and the positive influences of chess.

In today’s tough economic climate, it can be challenging for aspiring entrepreneurs to raise capital and to go after their dreams. The fabric of American business was built by the strong entrepreneurial spirit that existed in previous generations. Steigman would like to illustrate that through unconventional tactics, entrepreneurs can raise the necessary capital to execute their visions.

Steigman stated that he would like to donate all sponsorship capital from the match to charities revolving around the aforementioned themes.
If Thiel, accepts the challenge and were to win, Steigman would lose a pre-negotiated amount of Soletron equity. If Steigman were to emerge victorious, Soletron would receive a $1 million investment.

Specific terms & details of the match would be discussed if Thiel accepts the challenge.

The match would be positive, fun, entertaining, and would help highlight several causes affecting small businesses today. The Soletron team hopes that Mr. Thiel accepts the challenge.

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Soletron is a social networking and ecommerce platform for lifestyle retail verticals. It was established in 2010, with a prominent board of advisors including: professional football player and Superbowl MVP, Santonio Holmes, Tom Austin, the co-founder of AND1 basketball, Bruce Chizen, former CEO of Adobe, John Friedman, founder of Easton Capital, and Bob Rice, founder of Tangent Capital and Bloomberg Contributor.

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Picture: Business Insider
Header Picture: Founders Fund Managament