The Play Live Challenge is a unique, thrilling event that brings together our fans and the wider chess community each year.
This years’ event was co-hosted by Play Magnus, Magnus Carlsen and Die Zeit on 9 November at the Hotel Atlantic Kempinski in Hamburg, Germany.
After competing for points in the Play Magnus app throughout the year, 13 lucky winners were selected to play in this once-in-a-lifetime match against the World Champion. These challengers represented six different countries and a wide range of chess talent.
The players ranged from beginner to expert; some had FIDE rankings, ELO ratings and tournament experience, while others were quite new to chess. For some, this was their first formal game.
The challengers began their experience at the ChessBase offices in Hamburg, where they were able to participate in a pre-challenge masterclass with former World Champion, Rustam Kasimdzhanov. They were then given the opportunity to experience the city and discuss chess tactics with one another.
On the night of the event, the combined skill of the contestants was no match for the reigning World Champion, who took less than 30 minutes to win all 13 games.
Once the simul was complete, the contestants were then given a rare opportunity to receive a personal, one-one-one post-game analysis from Magnus himself. This was the highlight of the event for many of the challengers.
We’d like to thank our partners, Die Ziet and the Hotel Atlantic Kempinski for making this event so successful. We look forward to doing it all again in 2018!
You can see a video recap of the event on Magnus’ YouTube Channel.
Photo Credit: Phil Dera.