They think it’s all over … it is now! Click here for a new page of Checkmate Covid – The Rematch results!
The ECF’s Checkmate Covid – The Rematch chess marathon will be played from 5.00pm on Saturday June 5th to 5.00pm on Sunday June 6th (BST). Last year’s event proved a great success, raising £12,000.00 for the British Red Cross and having a great deal of fun in the process. The whole event will be played on Chess.com, and will be open to members of the English Chess Federation Open Club.
The event, once more in aid of the British Red Cross, is a 24 hour Arena tournament where you can play as many or as few 5 minute games as you want. You can join, leave and come back to the tournament at any point. Please join the club here (free of charge) if you are not already a member in order to play in the event — https://www.chess.com/club/english-chess-federation
All members of the above Club can then join the tournament at https://www.chess.com/live#r=1187013 from 4.00pm on Saturday 5th June. Chess.com only add the ‘join’ button from one hour before the start time. You can join from that point right up to the end of the tournament – it does not matter if you miss the start.
There is no charge for entry, but registration is encouraged to help gauge numbers. Entries will be accepted on the day, with the tournament open to joining for ECF Open Club members whether or not they have registered. However, only those who have registered and donated at least £5.00 will be eligible for prizes.
There will be live commentary for most of the event by a variety of streamers as well as on the ECF’s Twitch channel, which will feature a number of notable guests, including top GMs, throughout the night. You can go to https://www.twitch.tv/ecf_commentary now and click on the heart shape to follow the channel in order to get notifications of when we go on air.
We are very grateful to the growing list of prize donors which includes: Chess & Bridge – https://chess.co.uk; Forward Chess – https://forwardchess.com; Elk and Ruby – https://www.elkandruby.com; Decode Chess – https://decodechess.com; and Chess.com – https://www.chess.com
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Checkmate Covid – The Rematch prizes
Overall Donor
We would like to thank www.chess.com for their amazing generosity in donating $500 to the British Red Cross on top of the prizes mentioned below, so in effect making it a $1000 donation.
Prize for the top individual donor or fundraiser
We are very excited to announce that there is a unique prize for the top donor or fundraiser. Chess & Bridge – chess.co.uk – have very generously donated a slice of chess history: a poster from the London World Chess Championship match, signed by the challenger Fabiano Caruana.
Tournament prizes
In addition to their donation of $500 listed above, Chess.com are donating five annual Diamond memberships.
In addition to the amazing prize for the top donor or fundraiser, Chess & Bridge have donated five £10.00 vouchers and five £5.00 vouchers PLUS a year’s subscription to CHESS magazine – https://chess.co.uk/collections/subscribe-to-chess
Forward Chess – https://forwardchess.com – have donated vouchers for 15 electronic books
Elk and Ruby – https://www.elkandruby.com – have donated five copies of 1500 Forced Mates by Jakov Geller and five copies of Mikhail Tal – The Street-Fighting Years by Alexander Koblenz. Please note that only winners with UK addresses are eligible)
DecodeChess – https://decodechess.com/ – have donated six Medium memberships
Ben Graff – two signed copies of The Greenbecker Gambit
Carl Portman – a signed copy of his new book Chess Crusader plus a copy of Understanding the Marshall Attack by David Vigorito, published by Gambit
Natasha Regan – a copy of Game Changer signed by Demis Hassabis, Matthew Sadler and Natasha herself
GingerGM – https://gingergm.com/ – have donated three courses — Arkell’s Endings: The Video Course with GM Keith Arkell, The Killer Dutch with GM Simon Williams and How I Reached 2700 with GM David Howell.
Chess prizes reserved for juniors or grade specific
John Emms – signed copies of Discovering Chess Openings (aimed at 1200-1500 Elo) and First Steps: 1 e4-e5 (1200-1800 Elo)
Phil Makepeace – a one-hour online chess lesson for the top Under 1600
Checkmate Covid – The Rematch commentary schedule
Link – https://www.twitch.tv/ecf_commentary
| Date | Time | ||
| Saturday 5th June | 5pm – 6pm | GM Mickey Adams | WFM Shohreh Bayat |
| Saturday 5th June | 6pm – 7pm | FM Akshaya Kalaiyalahan | WFM Louise Head |
| Saturday 5th June | 7pm – 8pm | GM John Emms | GM Chris Ward |
| Saturday 5th June | 8pm – 9pm | WFM Sarah Longson | FM Alex Longson |
| Saturday 5th June | 9pm – 10pm | GM Gawain Jones | WIM Sue Maroroa (tbc) |
| Saturday 5th June | 10pm – 11pm | GM Luke McShane | |
| Saturday 5th June | 11pm – 12pm | WCM Zoe Varney | GM Danny Gormally |
| Saturday 5th June | Midnight | GM Matthew Sadler | WIM Natasha Regan |
| 1am | STREAMERS | Colm Buckley + Phil Crocker | |
| 2am | STREAMERS | Julio Calcina | |
| 3am | STREAMERS | Julio Calcina | |
| 4am | STREAMERS | Julio Calcina | |
| 5am | STREAMERS | Julio Calcina | |
| 6am | STREAMERS | Julio Calcina | |
| 7am | STREAMERS | Julio Calcina | |
| Sunday 6th June | 8am – 9am | Sean Marsh | Natasha + Matthew |
| Sunday 6th June | 9am – 10am | FM Peter Sowray | FM Terry Chapman |
| Sunday 6th June | 10am – 11am | WFM Kanwal Bhatia | GM Nigel Short (tbc) |
| Sunday 6th June | 11am – midday | IM Ameet Ghasi | Tristan Cox |
| Sunday 6th June | 12pm – 1pm | IM Malcolm Pein | Jonny Pein (tbc) |
| Sunday 6th June | 1pm – 2pm | STREAMERS | GM Simon Williams |
| Sunday 6th June | 2pm – 3pm | GM Daniel King | GM Julian Hodgson |
| Sunday 6th June | 3pm – 4pm | Nina Pert | IM Richard Pert |
| Sunday 6th June | 4pm – 5pm | GM Dave Norwood | Richard Farleigh |
More information on playing and donating can be found at https://tiltify.com/british-red-cross/checkmate-covid
Are you interested in streaming the event and/or fundraising for it? Then visit the British Red Cross’s page at