The much-anticipated PogChamps 5, a chess tournament that combines the thrill of competition with the charm of popular content creators, is all set to roll out. The event, which was hinted at earlier in July, has now confirmed its schedule and the list of participants who will be battling it out on the chessboard from July 26 to August 18.
PogChamps 5 is touted as “the most exciting amateur event in chess”.
Credit: Chess.com
One of the highlights of this edition is the participation of Ludwig as a co-host and co-producer. The first two PogChamps events, held in 2020, were won by Voyboy and Hafu, while Sardoche and Fundy claimed victory in the 2021 editions. After a hiatus, the competition is back with a World Cup-style format. The tournament will be divided into four groups of four, each with a round-robin bracket. The top two players from each group will qualify for the knockout stage.
The fifth edition of the event will see the participation of several content creators, including: Daily Dose of Internet, Distortion2, Franks-is-heres, Fuslie, Ghastly, I did a thing, Jarvis, Jinnytty, Papaplatte, QTCinderella, Squeex, Sykkuno, Tyler1, Wirtual, and xQc. The stakes are high with a $100,000 prize pool on the line.
xQc, a returning participant, has been actively preparing for the competition. Despite his current rapid Elo of 928 being a far cry from his peak at 1,282 at the end of January 2021, he is expected to put up a strong performance. The former Overwatch competitor is known for his significant contribution to the first, pre-Queen’s Gambit chess boom, collaborating with Hikaru Nakamura to learn the royal game.
The commentary team for the event includes many familiar faces from Chess.com’s high-level in-house events. GMs Robert Hess, Daniel Naroditsky, and chessbrah’s Aman Hambleton will be behind the mic, along with the Botez sisters, IMs Danny Rensch and Levy Rozman, and FM James Canty III, a previous winner of chess.com’s IM not a GM competition.
For the first time in the competition’s history, PogChamps 5 will conclude with a live final in Los Angeles on August 18, produced by Offbrand and Mogul Moves. More details about the live final will be announced later. While it’s tough to predict the favorite to win the event, the level of play of Chess.com’s curated competitors ensures that a highlight-slash-blooper reel is right around the corner.
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