KICK Streamers Chess World Chess Championship of Chess

Have you ever wanted to be a chess world champion? Have you ever dreamed of proving yourself as the best in the chess streaming business?

Well now’s your chance to fail at both!

KICK and Hikaru cordially invite you to participate in the first ever KICK Streamers Chess World Chess Championship of Chess. 

Announcing the @KickStreaming sponsored KICK Streamers Chess World Chess Championship of Chess!!

Have you ever wanted to be a chess world champion?
Have you ever dreamed of proving yourself as the best in the chess streaming business?

Well now’s your chance to fail at both.… pic.twitter.com/AJkFrFSiwb

— Hikaru Nakamura (@GMHikaru) February 24, 2025

No need to participate in a questionably worthwhile “Circuit” of tournaments just to maybe qualify for a qualification tournament. No, no. You will go straight into the championship event—a four-hour, multi-discipline speedrun designed to demonstrate your prowess in Bullet, Blitz, Chess960 and Puzzle Battle.

When

This event will take place on Thursday 27th February starting at 9am PT / 12pm ET / 6pm CET / 10:30pm IST and will last for 4 hours.

Format

You will start with a brand new Chess.com account (important: select the ‘beginner’ option) and you’ll have four hours to race your rating up from a starting rating of 400 to as high as you can in each of the four variants. At the end of the event, if your average overall rating is higher than all your fellow competitors then congratulations - You’re a World Champion, and you’ve pocketed yourself a chunk of the $8,000 PRIZE FUND. How big a chunk? …

Prizes

Overall (peak rating in all four events)

Top Women

The highest peak rating in each of the four individual categories wins an additional prize.

Per Event 

How To Participate

Step 1: Create a new Chess.com account and DO NOT play any games on it before the event.

Step 2: Complete this Google Form with the account name you’re playing with AND your main Chess.com account for reference.

Step 3: Show up at the start of the event and stream your games to be eligible for prizes.

Prize Eligibility

To be eligible for prizes you must stream your participation with a webcam and microphone. [

Prize eligibility is also dependent on which platforms you stream. If you stream only on KICK then you will be eligible for 100% of each available prize. If you stream on KICK and any other platforms you will be eligible for 75% of each available prize. If you stream on other platforms but not KICK then you will be eligible for 50% of each available prize.

For all platforms, in order to be prize-eligible:

• "KICK WORLD CHESS CHAMPIONSHIP" must be in the stream title.
• The player must stream their games with their board and themselves visible on stream, and their video and audio must be clear.
• The player must stream at least 3 out of 4 hours of the event.
• The player must save their VODs for a minimum of 7 days publicly.
• You must play in the pool. No match play allowed at all.

We expect players to abide by the spirit of the competition and play normally at all times. A draw may be offered before time expires in your final game to, 'beat the buzzer' but only if this game was played in the authentic manner we expect throughout the whole of the tournament.

All play and final results will be subject to review by Chess.com’s Fair Play team. Players found to have violated Chess.com’s Fair Play rules will not be eligible for prizes and will be beaten.

Team Hikaru and Kick will also review the results and reserve the right to remove people from prize eligibility at their discretion.

Got questions? Or just want to follow the action? Check out Hikaru's Discord or his Kick channel.