In Brief:
- In last week’s Anichess streamer final, HeartChess defeated the Stage 1 champion. Neither of them will compete on Sunday.
- Eight streamers take part in Stage 3 on Twitch at 17:00 UTC Sunday, and the winner receives 10,000 $CHECK.
- Because both finalists are absent, Anichess said Stage 3 “crowns someone brand new.”
Sunday’s round of the Anichess streamer competition will produce a champion who has never won it before. Neither player from last week’s final is taking part.
In a post on X, Anichess said HeartChess got the better of the Stage 1 champion in that final. The post gave no score and did not identify the Stage 1 champion.
HeartChess beat the Stage 1 champion in last week's final. Neither of them plays on Sunday, so Stage 3 crowns someone brand new.
Eight streamers, 10,000 $CHECK to the winner, Sunday 17:00 UTC on Twitch.@AnichessView on X ↗
According to the post, “Neither of them plays on Sunday, so Stage 3 crowns someone brand new.”
The Stage 3 format
Eight streamers will play in Stage 3, a single-day event. Play begins on Twitch at 17:00 UTC Sunday, and 10,000 $CHECK goes to whoever wins.
The post did not list the eight participants or explain how pairings and the bracket will be set up.
Those terms match an earlier Anichess post about the Streamers League: “Eight streamers, one stage, 10,000 $CHECK to whoever wins it. Live on Twitch, 17:00 UTC.”
Staking link in the replies
In a reply to its own tournament post, Anichess linked to its staking migration page at anichess.com/staking/migrate. A shortened link in the same thread points to that page as well.
The post offered no migration timeline, named no contracts and did not say whether the migration has anything to do with the tournament prizes. When checked, the page itself displayed no details.
A crowded tournament calendar
Anichess is running the streamer series alongside several other $CHECK competitions.
On Sept. 29, the team announced a Masters League with a top prize of 100,000 $CHECK, worth roughly $1,230 at the time of the announcement. Each round of the Gambit Series carries a 10,000 $CHECK leaderboard. Entry to each match costs 100 $CHECK and awards 100 points, with a further 100 added for a three-win streak.
Streamers have featured on the calendar before. In August, Anichess hosted a two-hour Twitch arena featuring four chess streamers: Anna-Maja Kazarian, Lile Koridze, ToshQueen and Afrchess. The event was built around the Pengu Blast spell, which places up to three explosives across the third through sixth ranks; three turns later, they wipe out every piece inside the blast zone.
Anichess also held a “Road to Magnus” qualifying series ahead of Magnus Carlsen’s June event in Hong Kong, where players competed for a chance to play alongside him.
Background
Anichess, a subsidiary of Animoca Brands, is an official Chess.com partner and was built with five-time world champion Carlsen. $CHECK is used for tournament entry, staking, rewards and governance.
Previous streamer events were also broadcast on Twitch on Sundays at 17:00 UTC, and Stage 3 sticks with that slot. It will go ahead without the two players who reached the most recent title match.