Unleashing a Chess Storm: Berlin is ready for the Armageddon Series: Europe & Africa
World Chess, a leading chess organization, seeks to captivate chess enthusiasts with its upcoming Europe and Africa week of the Armageddon Championship Series. Kickstarting on June 12th, the high-stakes event will follow the same dramatic format and immense time pressure constraints as the previous Armageddon events.
This enthralling tournament will witness the participation of eight exceptional players from the Europe and Africa region, including Michael Adams (England), Maxime Vachier-Lagrave (France), Richard Rapport (Romania), Jan-Krzysztof Duda (Poland), Jorden van Foreest (Netherlands), Vincent Keymer (Germany), as well as Matthias Bluebaum and Alexander Donchenko, both of whom qualified successfully through online qualifiers on the FIDE Online Arena. This star-studded lineup will battle it out in a double-elimination format, with daily matches consisting of two blitz games with the potential for an additional Armageddon game if a victory does not emerge.
The winner and runner-up will join an exciting roster of finalists in the Grand Finale to be held at World Chess’ newly opened World Chess Club Berlin, where they will compete against Wesley So, Sam Shankland, Gukesh D, Nodirbek Abdusattorov, Bibisara Assaubayeva, and Humpy Koneru for the total prize of €200,000.
The tournament will follow a dramatic format with daily matches consisting of two blitz games (three minutes plus a two-second move increment) and, if necessary, an Armageddon game (five minutes for White, four for Black). Novelties such as live displays of the players’ heart rates and calories burned data points make the Series a riveting spectacle for viewers.
The Armageddon series is being broadcast on 17 television channels worldwide, as well as World Chess’ official YouTube channel, with expert commentary and analysis provided by Grandmaster Simon Williams and International Master Jovanka Houska every day at 19:00 CEST.
For the first few days, the players were divided into pairs as follows:
Day 1, June 12
Michael Adams (England) — Jan-Krzysztof Duda (Poland)
Vincent Keymer (Germany) — Alexander Donchenko
Day 2, June 13
Richard Rapport (Romania) — Jorden van Foreest (Netherlands)
Matthias Bluebaum (Germany) — Maxime Vachier-Lagrave (France)
Ilya Merenzon, Chief Executive Officer of World Chess: “It has been fantastic to watch the global accumulation of chess players come together to compete in the Armageddon series. As we now head towards the Grand Finale it has been a real joy to watch the fast-paced matches between chess players of different experiences, playing styles and nationalities.
‘The series has created an atmosphere of suspense and excitement and highlighted the benefits of embracing innovative formats such as Armageddon, enabling top-level chess to entice a broader audience and ignite greater passion amongst fans.
‘We offer our best wishes to all the players and are excited to get Europe and Africa Week of the Armageddon Championship underway.’
Andrey Insarov, Chief Executive Officer at Intis Telecom (it.com Domains): ‘We are thrilled to witness the convergence of intelligence and skill in the Armageddon Series. At it.com we are excited to support this great sport within our meaningful partnership with World Chess. We eagerly await the exciting and intense battles and extend our best wishes to all the players participating in Europe & Africa Week. Good luck!’
Leading partners supporting the Armageddon Championship Series:
The it.com Domains as the Official Partner;
FIDE Online Arena as the Official Gaming Platform;
Kaspersky as the Official Cybersecurity Partner.
