Duda Scores 9/9, Caruana Misses Out As 8 Qualify For Chess960 Finals
GM Jan-Krzysztof Duda tops the eight-player lineup for the Finals of the 2024 Chess.com Chess960 Championship after finishing the first qualifier on a perfect 9/9 score. He'll be joined for the knockout event by GMs Vladimir Fedoseev, Raunak Sadhwani, Christopher Yoo, Denis Lazavik, Andrew Hong, Sam Sevian, and Benjamin Bok. GM Fabiano Caruana played all eight qualifiers, but the stars never aligned in his favor as he finished second an incredible four times.
The Chess.com Chess960 Championship Finals start Friday, June 21, at 12 p.m. ET / 18:00 CEST / 9:30 p.m. IST.
The Chess960 Championship is the second event in the Chess.com Community Championships, a series of tournaments open to all Chess.com players. The first, the Hyperbullet Chess Championship, was won by GM Andrew Tang.
The variant this time is Chess960, named after the randomly-selected 960 possible ways to set up the pieces on the first and eighth ranks of the chessboard. It means "opening theory" goes out the window, though the normal principles of chess still apply.
There's $7,500 at stake in the Finals with $2,000 for the winner.
Prize Distribution
| Place | Prize |
|---|---|
| 1st | $2,000 |
| 2nd | $1,400 |
| 3rd (x2) | $800 |
| 5th (x4) | $500 |
| Top streamer | $250 |
| Streamer prize 2nd | $150 |
| Streamer prize 3rd | $100 |
To reach the Finals, however, a player first had to qualify, with a series of eight tournaments in which only first place mattered.
Anyone could end up facing the top players...
Reasons to love Community Tournaments: GM Levon Aronian playing against a guy who has Danny Devito in a swimsuit as his profile pic pic.twitter.com/EecCfUh5Xk
— Chess.com Community (@GreenPawns) June 17, 2024
...but in the end the stars were the ones who were fighting for the qualifying spots.
Chess.com Chess960 Championship Finalists
| Qualifier | Winner | Score | 2nd Place | Score | 3rd Place | Score |
| 1 | GM Jan-Krzysztof Duda | 9 | GM Vasif Durarbayli | 8 | GM Mustafa Yilmaz | 8 |
| 2 | GM Vladimir Fedoseev | 8.5 | GM Fabiano Caruana | 8 | GM Christopher Yoo | 8 |
| 3 | GM Raunak Sadhwani | 8 | GM Andrew Tang | 8 | GM Kayden Troff | 8 |
| 4 | GM Christopher Yoo | 8 | GM Andrew Hong | 8 | GM Kayden Troff | 8 |
| 5 | GM Denis Lazavik | 8.5 | GM Fabiano Caruana | 8 | GM David Navara | 8 |
| 6 | GM Andrew Hong | 8.5 | GM Fabiano Caruana | 8 | GM Sam Sevian | 7.5 |
| 7 | GM Sam Sevian | 8.5 | IM Khumoyun Begmuratov | 8 | GM Rasmus Svane | 8 |
| 8 | GM Benjamin Bok | 8 | GM Fabiano Caruana | 8 | GM Grigoriy Oparin | 7.5 |
As you can see, nothing less than eight out of nine points was enough to win a qualifier, while 8.5+ was needed to take clear first. Only Polish number-one Duda managed a perfect score, in the very first event.
That included delivering checkmate in a chaotic game against Caruana.
DUDA with a NASTY checkmate 😤🔥 https://t.co/KHPFDPwrrc pic.twitter.com/e1Gzjdp7mS
— Chess.com Community (@GreenPawns) June 17, 2024
Caruana would remarkably play in all eight qualifiers, but despite four second places he never managed to clinch first place and a spot in the Finals. He came closest in the final tournament, where he got revenge for getting checkmated in the previous qualifier by GM Matthias Bluebaum.
In the final round, it became clear a win over GM Jose Martinez would give him first place. A chaotic game ensued, from which at the end Caruana had emerged with a rook for a knight. He had the winning chances, but needed a helping hand and never got it, as Martinez held a 142-move draw.
That draw left Caruana level on points with Bok, who clinched first place by the finest of tiebreak margins!
The grind has been real. Thrilled to make it to the main event after 6 failed attempts. Thanks to everyone who supported me! See you all tomorrow 🫡 https://t.co/SxVsGotfQR
— Benjamin Bok (@GMBenjaminBok) June 21, 2024
GMs Levon Aronian and David Navara were among the other star players who couldn't find a way to win a qualifier.
It turned out that the qualifying format favored the young, with four teenagers making the cut: 17-year-olds Yoo and Lazavik, 18-year-old Raunak, and 19-year-old Hong. There were many adventures, some Chess960-related. It's not often a grandmaster blunders on move four of a game of chess, but that's what Raunak did in his crucial last-round game against Bok, with 4.Ne3?. 4...Be5! was winning an exchange, but the young Indian shrugged off that mishap and went on to win anyway!
The way Hong won his qualifier is much more remarkable, however, since in the following completely drawn position of their final-round game, Sevian resigned!
It turned out it was a misclick and he'd wanted to offer a draw, which would in fact have been enough to win the sixth qualifier! Hong was willing to accept the draw, but it was ruled the result should stand. 23-year-old Sevian shrugged off that misfortune, however, to come straight back and win the seventh qualifier.
The Finals of the Chess960 Championship will be an eight-player knockout, with four-game matches except for the final, which will be played over six games.
We'll have live commentary, from GM Robert Hess and WIM Ayelen Martinez, on Twitch and YouTube. Don't miss it!
The Chess.com Chess960 Championship is the second event of the Chess.com Community Championships series. The eight Swiss qualifiers ran June 17-20 while the main eight-player single-elimination knockout takes place on June 21. The time control is 5+2, with best-of-four Quarterfinals and Semifinals before a best-of-six Final. The prize fund is $7,500, with $2,000 for the winner.
Previous coverage:
- Tang Overthrows Naroditsky In Grand Final Reset To Win 1st Hyperbullet Championship
- Chess.com Launches 2024 Community Championships With Hyperbullet
Colin McGourty led news at Chess24 from its launch until it merged with Chess.com a decade later. An amateur player, he got into chess writing when he set up the website Chess in Translation after previously studying Slavic languages and literature in St. Andrews, Odesa, Oxford, and Krakow.
