2018 Speed Chess Championship

2018 Speed Chess Championship

Tournament information
Sport	Chess
Dates	June 26–October 18
Tournament format(s)	Single-elimination tournament
Host(s)	Chess.com
Participants	16

The 2018 Speed Chess Championship (SCC) is a 16 player single-elimination tournament hosted by chess.com to determine the Speed Chess Champion for 2018. The 3rd edition of the tournament (and 2nd with the new name) began on June 26 with the Invitational Qualifier and will end on October 18 with the Speed Chess Championship.

Qualification

Following the conclusion of the Open Qualifier, chess.com seeded the participates 1-16 based on their chess.com blitz rating.

Seed	Player	Rating	Appearance	Last Qualified
1	Hikaru Nakamura	3018	3rd	2017
2	Wesley So	3000	2nd	2017
3	Sergey Karjakin	2969	2nd	2017
4	Anish Giri	2961	2nd	2017
5	Fabiano Caruana	2951	3rd	2017
6	Ian Nepomniachtchi	2945	2nd	2017
7	Zaven Andriasyan	2874	1st	Never
8	Maxime Vachier-Lagrave	2869	3rd	2017
9	Leinier Domínguez	2863	1st	Never
10	Vidit Gujrath	2862	1st	Never
11	Alexander Grischuk	2857	3rd	2017
12	Levon Aronian	2840	3rd	2017
13	Shakhriyar Mamedyarov	2797	2nd	2017
14	Jan-Krzysztof Duda	2780	1st	Never
15	Wei Yi	2518	1st	Never
16	Hou Yifan	2453	2nd	2017

Invitational Qualifier

The following four players were selected by chess.com to partake in the Invitational Qualifier.

Seed	Player	Rating
1	Eric Hansen	2886
2	Georg Meier	2886
3	Leinier Domínguez	2858
4	Jon Ludvig Hammer	2644

The Invitational Qualifier started on June 26 with the selected players being seeded 1-4 based on their chess.com blitz rating. The following format will be used:

• 5 games of 5|1
• 5 games of 3|1
• 10 games of 1|1
  • The first player to have 10.5 or 11 points will win the match and move on while the loser is eliminated
  • If the match is tied after the 1|1 portion, the match will continue as sudden death until someone wins

	Semifinals					Finals
	1	Eric Hansen	10
	4	Jon Ludvig Hammer	11*
						4	Jon Ludvig Hammer	9
						3	Leinier Domínguez	11
	2	Georg Meier	9
	3	Leinier Domínguez	11

* Sudden death victory

With Domínguez's victory over Hammer, he has guaranteed himself a spot in the SCC.

Open Qualifier

The Open Qualifier began on July 10 and will consist of a 10-round swiss-system tournament using 3|1 blitz format. Only titled players 2500 and above may participate and even players who already qualified for the SCC can partake. The winner of the Open Qualifier will get the final spot to qualify for the SCC.

Open Qualifier
Place	Player	Score
1	Anish Giri	8.5
2	Zaven Andriasyan	7.5
3	Tigran Petrosian	7.5
4	Haik Martirosyan	7.5
5	Alexander Moskalenko	7.5

Because Anish Giri already has a spot in the SCC, the 2nd place finisher, Zaven Andriasyan qualified.

Main Bracket

Schedule
Date				Score
July 24	Round 1	Aronian	Caruana	-
July 29		So	Yi	-
Aug. 2		Perez	MVL	-
Aug. 7		Grischuk	Nepomniachtchi	-
Aug. 30		Andriasya	Gujrath	-
Sep. 6		Duda	Karjakin	-
Sep. 7		Giri	Mamedyarov	-
TBA		Nakamura	Yifan	-
Sep. 20	Quarterfinals	TBA	TBA	-
Sep. 21		TBA	TBA	-
Oct. 9		TBA	TBA	-
Oct. 11		TBA	TBA	-
Nov. 30	Semifinals	TBA	TBA	-
Dec. 1		TBA	TBA	-
Dec. 2	SCC Championship	TBA	TBA	-

Match Format

• 90 minutes of 5|1
• 60 minutes of 3|1
• 30 minutes of 1|1
• The player with the most points after the last game of 1|1 advances to the next round
• If tied after last game of 1|1, 4 more 1|1 games will be played as mini-match
• If tied after mini-match, one armageddon game will be played:
  • White = 5|0, must win
  • Black = 3|0, can draw to win

	First Round July 17-Sep. 18					Quarterfinals Sep. 20-Oct. 11					Semifinals Nov. 30-Dec. 1					Speed Chess Championship Dec. 2
	1	Hikaru Nakamura
	16	Hou Yifan
	8	Maxime Vachier-Lagrave
	9	Leinier Domínguez
	4	Anish Giri
	13	Shakhriyar Mamedyarov
	5	Fabiano Caruana
	12	Levon Aronian
	2	Wesley So
	15	Wei Yi
	7	Zaven Andriasyan
	10	Vidit Gujrath
	3	Sergey Karjakin
	14	Jan-Krzysztof Duda
	6	Ian Nepomniachtchi
	11	Alexander Grischuk