PokerStars Daniel Negreanu, Liv Boeree To Play Hand And Brain Chess Sunday

PokerStars ambassadors will try their hand at chess this Sunday as six-time bracelet winner Daniel Negreanu and Raising for Effective Giving founder Liv Boeree will play with IM Danny Rensch and WGM Jennifer Shahade.

The two poker pros will team up with the two chess masters to play a "hand and brain" match on . Watch the match live on Twitch.tv/chess or Twitch.tv/pokerstars.

Negreanu and Shahade will play against Boeree and Rensch in the five-game match, where the chess masters will tell the poker pros which piece to move every turn. The games will be played at the blitz time control of 10 minutes plus five seconds increment.

Liv Boeree playing chess at Isle of Man. | Photo: Danny Maxwell.

The joint event between PokerStars and Chess.com will also showcase the #MyChessPokerGame Platinum Pass contest, where members of the chess and poker communities have submitted ideas for games combining chess and chance. The winning game design will be announced during the event.

"PokerStars Play Chess will be a thrilling meeting of the minds," said Shahade. "During the stream, we'll be announcing the winner of the #MyChessPokerGame challenge in dramatic fashion, with one of the six finalists eliminated after every game, until we reveal the winner of the $30K PSPC Platinum Pass. This partner chess game is ideal for pairing celebrity aficionados with chess masters: Danny or I will be the 'brains,' and announce which piece to move, while Liv and Daniel will pick the specific piece and the square. This results in a lot of laughs and unintended consequences," said Shahade.

Jennifer Shahade playing chess and poker. | Photo: Danny Maxwell.

The designer of the best game will be awarded a PassPokerStars Platinum Pass to the PokerStars Players No Limit Hold’em Championship (PSPC), which includes entry to the $25,000 poker tournament and travel accommodations for a total value of $30,000, according to PokerStars. Hosts Rensch and Shahade will announce the six contest finalists and the Platinum Pass winner during the hand and brain event.

Further information about each of the finalists' submissions and creativity behind the game designs can be found on the PokerStars blog. (Scroll down to the #MyChessPokerGame section.)

Two of the biggest names in poker will play chess on Sunday.

The hand and brain match will be played under the following rules:

• Teams: Daniel Negreanu (hand) and WGM Jennifer Shahade (brain) vs Liv Boeree (hand) and IM Danny Rensch (brain)
• The brain may say only the name of the piece (one word) to be moved every turn
• The hand chooses and plays the move on the chessboard
• With under 30 seconds on the clock, the hand takes over autonomously for the team in time trouble and the brain must remain silent
• All five games will be played out at a time control of 10 minutes plus five seconds increment, even if one team clinches the match earlier

Throughout the match, hosts Shahade and Rensch will show the game ideas by the six finalist designers in the #MyChessPokerGame contest, demonstrating rules, strategy, and videos of the games combining chess and chance.  

"As by far the worst poker player in the event, I'm glad we're playing chess!" said Rensch. "It's been a true honor to help judge the finalists of the #MyChessPokerGame Platinum Pass Adventure and we hope this is just the beginning of more exciting collaborations between the global chess and poker communities."

The chess match and games demonstrations are expected to run about two hours, beginning live . Watch live on Twitch.tv/chess  or Twitch.tv/pokerstars.

Which poker pro and chess master team do you think will win? Let us know in the comments.