Format of Death Match 2.0 and COTB revealed
The death match 2.0 between Gukesh and Arjun is something that everyone is looking forward to with great excitement. Both the youngsters are very well matched. What is the format for the death match? In this article you get to know not only the format of the ChessBase India Originals Death Match 2.0, but also the format of COTB. You also get updates of the DreamHack Rapid and Blitz happening at the same venue. There are already 4 GMs and 8 IMs who have confirmed their participation for the event. Only 100 entries left. Do consider being a part of this massive chess festival taking place in Hyderabad.
Chess at DreamHack, Hyderabad from 4th to 6th November 2022
Are you excited for Chess at DreamHack in Hyderabad? We all are! With just 4 more days to go, the chess extravaganza will take place in the Hitex Exhibition Center in Hyderabad, Telangana. There's the DreamHack Rapid and Blitz with a total prize fund of Rs.10,00,000. We have the ChessBase India Originals Death Match 2.0 between Arjun Erigaisi and Gukesh. And we have the Comedians Over The Board with 8 of the best chess playing stand-up comedians fighting out each other for the honours. In this article we want to reveal the format of all these three events. Let's begin with the Death Match:
The format of the Death match 2.0:
One of the things we want to do at the ChessBase India Originals Death Matches is to indulge the players in all different formats of chess. Keeping that into consideration we have made sure that there is Blindfold chess, Chess960, No castling Chess, Rapid, Blitz and Bullet. It is the ultimate test of all the chess skills of a player. The Death Match 2.0 is between D. Gukesh and Arjun Erigaisi and this is the what the format looks like:
Segment 1: Originals segment (80-90 mins)
Game 1 - Blindfold game : The players will not be able to see their board or touch the pieces for any means during the game. They will call out the moves. There will be only one game in this round and will be played with the time control of 7 minutes + 5 seconds increment from move 1
Game 2 - Ritz (Somewhere in between Rapid and Blitz time control) Game: A normal game of rapid with the time control 7 minutes + 2 seconds increment
Game 3 - No Castle Chess: The players will not be able to castle in the game. The violation will be penalized as an illegal move. All the necessary actions and penalties for illegal moves will be applicable as per FIDE laws of Chess for Blitz Games. There will be only one game in this round and will be played with the time control of 7 minutes + 2 seconds increment from move 1.
Game 4 - Chess 960: The players are given a random position from 960 combinations of Starting positions commonly known as Fischer Random. There will be only one game in this round and will be played with the time control of 7 minutes + 2 seconds increment from move 1.
Points for Originals segment: Each game in this segment will have 3 points for the win, 1 for a draw and 0 for loss.
Segment 2 - Blitz segment (60 mins)
The players are given a total time of 60 minutes for this segment. There will be back to back games with the time control of 4 minutes + 2 seconds increment from move 1. In case the allotted time of 60 minutes gets over, the ongoing game will be continued until it ends with a valid result (Draw / Win / Loss). Most likely we will have 6 games in this segment. Each game in this segment will have 2 points for the win, 1 for a draw and 0 for loss.
Segment 3 - Bullet segment (30 mins)
The players are given a total time of 30 minutes for this round. There will be back to back games with the time control of 1 minutes + 2 seconds increment from move 1. In case the allotted time of 30 minutes gets over, the ongoing game will be continued until it ends with a valid result (Draw / Win / Loss). Most likely there will be 8 games in this segment. Each game in this segment will have 1 points for the win, 0.5 for a draw and 0 for loss.
Segment 4 : Armageddon (If needed)
If scores are tied after all the finishing all the rounds as mentioned above, the Armageddon will take place. White will have 5 minutes time and black will have 4 minutes time. The white player needs to win the game in order to win the Tournament. Draw is sufficient for a black player for winning the tournament.
Additional rules:
Colors: The colors will be decided by toss before the first game of the battle. In case of multiple games in a round, the players will have to play with alternating colors (e.g. If Gukesh plays White in Game - 1 of Round of Blitz 1, he will play with Black pieces in Game 2 of Round of Blitz 1 and so on). If the scores are tied and we go into an armageddon then a toss will be done. The winner of the toss can decide, if he wants White or Black pieces.
No draw rule: No draw offers to be made. The person who offers a draw will be penalized with a loss.
The format of Comedians Over The Board (COTB)
The format of the Comedians over the board is Round Robin followed by Knock-Out. This is how it will pan out. All the 8 players will play 7 games in all play all format (Round Robin). The time control of each game would be 10 minutes + 2 seconds increment. Once seven rounds have been completed, we have the leaderboard from which the top four players move to the semi-finals. Player 1 takes on the player who has finished 4th and the second and third placed players battle it out against each other. There will only be one game between the semi-finalist of 10 mins + 2 second increment and in case of a draw, we have the armageddon. The two winners will move to the finals where we will have two games of 10 minutes + 2 seconds increment. The player to score 1.5 or more would be judged the COTB champion. However, if the score stands at 1-1, we will have the Armageddon. The player who finished higher in the group stages gets the right to choose the colour in the Armageddon. If he chooses white, he would have 5 minutes, black would have 4 minutes but with the draw odds. The event will last for 5 hours!
DreamHack Rapid and Blitz Tournament 2022
The DreamHack Rapid and Blitz tournament will be open to all and will have a total prize fund of Rs.10,00,000. 4th and 5th of November will be the rapid event, while 6th of November will be the Blitz event. The Rapid event has a prize fund of Rs.7,50,000 and the blitz event Rs.2,50,000. The rapid event will have a time control of 15 mins + 10 seconds of increment and 9 rounds (4 rounds on day 1 and 5 rounds on day 2). The blitz event will have a time control of 3 mins + 2 seconds and will have 11 rounds on day 3.
Players List
| No. | Name | FideID | FED | Rtg | sex | Typ | ||
| 1 | GM | Harsha Bharathakoti | 5078776 | IND | 2574 | |||
| 2 | GM | Puranik Abhimanyu | 5061245 | IND | 2549 | |||
| 3 | GM | Sankalp Gupta | 5097010 | IND | 2402 | |||
| 4 | IM | Krishna C R G | 5018625 | IND | 2380 | |||
| 5 | GM | Raja Rithvik R | 35007394 | IND | 2370 | |||
| 6 | IM | Rathanvel V S | 25002112 | IND | 2363 | |||
| 7 | IM | Ravi Teja S. | 5017220 | IND | 2362 | |||
| 8 | IM | Prraneeth Vuppala | 46622373 | IND | 2351 | U15 | ||
| 9 | IM | Mohammad Nubairshah Shaikh | 5053196 | IND | 2339 | |||
| 10 | WIM | Savitha Shri B | 35061887 | IND | 2311 | w | U15 | |
| 11 | IM | Sammed Jaykumar Shete | 5073421 | IND | 2308 | |||
| 12 | CM | Kushagra Mohan | 25033638 | IND | 2295 | |||
| 13 | IM | Ajay Krishna S | 5096430 | IND | 2283 | |||
| 14 | FM | Sekar B | 5043743 | IND | 2258 | |||
| 15 | Praveen Prasad P. | 5014549 | IND | 2222 | ||||
| 16 | FM | Dixit Nikhil | 5059534 | IND | 2206 | |||
| 17 | IM | Srinath Rao S.V. | 5028876 | IND | 2196 | |||
| 18 | CM | Shaik Sumer Arsh | 45020000 | IND | 2190 | U15 | ||
| 19 | CM | Md Imran | 25748580 | IND | 2179 | U13 | ||
| 20 | Aakash Sharadchandra Dalvi | 25033220 | IND | 2164 | ||||
| 21 | CM | Gopal K.N. | 5001447 | IND | 2161 | |||
| 22 | FM | Matta Vinay Kumar | 5016649 | IND | 2154 | |||
| 23 | FM | Ramu K. | 5006171 | IND | 2133 | |||
| 24 | FM | Ramakrishna J. | 5008174 | IND | 2128 | |||
| 25 | Soham Datar | 5097169 | IND | 2122 |
The total capacity of the event is 380 players. As per our backend records, already 273 players have registered. So there is space for only 107 players left. Do think about registering soon before the spots run out.
Prize structure
The tournament boasts a huge prize fund, and the following is the Prize structure of the Rapid event:
The Blitz event will have the following prize structure:
The Rulebook
Like every other tournament, the Dreamhack Rapid and Blitz will also abide by a set of rules and regulations. Take a close look at this before playing, so that you don't have to worry about anything during the event!
How do I register for the event?
There's a 3 in 1 offer for you! With just Rs.1299, you get the opportunity to join the entire Dreamhack event. Apart from the Rapid and Blitz tournament entry, this includes viewing Comedians over the Board, ChessBase India Originals Deathmatch 2.0 between Gukesh and Arjun Erigaisi, and Life is Unfair simul.
Entries/tickets can be booked at:
1. Book my Show
2. Mera events
Venue and Schedule
The tournament will be held in Hitex exhibition Centre, Hyderabad from November 4th-6th. Here's the full schedule of events:
If you haven't booked your tickets already please do so before the 1st of November!
Important Links:
Download DreamHack Rapid and Blitz circular
