In Brief:
- Anichess (official site) players have until 23:59 UTC on September 13, 2026, to pull their M8 out of staking pools.
- With the studio wrapping up its shift to Base, staking and liquidity now sit on one network.
- Earned through gameplay or staking rather than bought, M8 acts as a points layer.
Deadline for M8 claims
A notice from Anichess is telling players to pull their M8 out of staking pools before 23:59 UTC on September 13, 2026. The cutoff arrives as Anichess completes its migration to Base, a move that requires every player to shift the M8 tied to their account.
Anyone whose M8 sits across more than one position will need to file a claim from each staking pool individually. The point of the migration is consolidation — cutting out the headaches that come with juggling assets on separate networks.
The chain migration
Base was Anichess’s original home when it launched in April 2025, but things splintered once the CHECK token arrived in November 2025. From that point, staking and claims for M8 accrual moved over to the Abstract network, even as liquidity stayed put on Base via Aerodrome Finance. That split proved awkward for anyone not already comfortable moving assets across chains.
Bringing staking, claims, liquidity, and trading back onto Base is meant to tidy that up. Removing the bridging step lowers the barrier to taking part.
Ahead of the deadline, an opt-in window closed on September 7. Confirming participation took little more than a tap on an in-game banner or a visit to the game’s homepage.
M8’s role in Anichess
You cannot buy M8. It exists as the on-chain points layer for Anichess, and the only ways in are playing or staking CHECK. Fifteen Standard matches in a single week will earn a player M8, with the payout scaling to their rating. Staking CHECK produces M8 passively on top of that.
Those points convert into entry tickets for Checkmate Arena, a weekly event where 50 players chase a floor of 500 CHECK. That makes M8 the bridge between casual sessions and competitive payouts.
Skip the claim and the points are gone — whether they came from matches played or tokens staked, no amount of buying will bring them back.
About Anichess
Anichess is a free-to-play strategy title that layers magical spells on top of traditional chess. Backed by founder Animoca Brands and a partnership with Chess.com, its reach extends well past the typical web3 game audience.
The familiar chess format stays intact while the added mechanics open up fresh strategic angles. The game runs on Android, iOS, and Windows, with NFT integration built in.
Supply of the CHECK token is capped at 1 billion, and more than half of that is earmarked for ecosystem growth and rewards. CHECK launched on Coinbase on April 2, 2026, and covers tournament entry, staking, in-game purchases, and governance.
Seasonal play anchors the competitive calendar: Season 8 carries a 700,000 CHECK prize pool, sitting alongside the weekly Checkmate Arena contests.
September 13, 2026 is the hard stop for M8 claims, and each of the two staking pools has to be handled on its own.