The nail-biting race for the title at 2022 FTX Crypto Cup culminated on the final day with the championship going to Magnus Carlsen, who held on to his lead despite losing against Pragg, we take a look at the final day results, winner, final standings, prize money and other details of the tournament
After fending off a determined challenge from Indian adolescent Praggnanandhaa, Magnus Carlsen won the FTX Crypto Cup for the second consecutive year. With this win, Carlsen achieved his maiden Major victory as well as his third victory of the Meltwater Champions Chess Tour season. Aside from extending his lead atop the $1.6 million Tour standings, the outcome also earns him the tournament’s exclusive NFT trophy.
2022 FTX Crypto Cup Winner, Final Day Results, Round 7 Standings, Points Table, Winners Prize Money Purse Breakdown
It's a done deal- Praggnanandhaa wins 3 games in a row and defeats Magnus Carlsen in the blitz playoffs! The boy has created history, and he finishes second in the @ChampChessTour FTX Crypto Cup. pic.twitter.com/KsWzw1TqGo
— ChessBase India (@ChessbaseIndia) August 21, 2022
Rameshbabu Praggnanandhaa defeats the reigning 5-time World Chess Champion, Magnus Carlsen at the FTX Crypto Cup.
(file pic) pic.twitter.com/KTFFJ0FiLv
— ANI (@ANI) August 22, 2022
FTX Crypto Cup 2022 Schedule, Date, Format, and Players
Some of the best chess players in the world are competing in nine online chess tournaments over a nine-month period as part of the Champions Chess Tour 2022, also known as the Meltwater Champions Chess Tour, for a US$1.6 million prize pool. The travel window will be from February 19 through November 20, 2022. The sixth leg of the $1.6 million Meltwater Champions Chess Tour was the FTX Crypto Cup, which was also the second major competition of the tour. Eight elite chess players in the world participated from August 15 to August 21 in a round-robin format chess.
Final Results, Standings, Nail-biting Race Decided, And Winner
Throughout the entire tournament, Pragg and Carlsen were evenly matched, with the teenager making a significant statement. But Pragg faced the biggest test in Round 7 of the all-play-all competition in the form of world number one Carlsen. The first two matches between Pragg and Carlsen ended in a draw but in the third game, Carlsen managed to win and confirmed at least one point from the match to win the title. However, Pragg did receive his consolation prize as he won the last match to take the match to tie-breakers, where he won.
In the tiebreak, Pragg won the opening game before putting an end to it in a thrilling second game in which Carlsen made a serious mistake. Pragg finished the competition strong by taking second place.
With a 2.5-1.5 victory over Levon Aronian, Alireza Firouzja, who was trying to pass Pragg at the very last moment, at least earned third place. Hans Niemann, a 19-year-old New Yorker, continued to struggle and placed last overall and with no points after losing against Vietnam’s Liem Quang Le 2.5-1.5. Elsewhere, Jan-Krzysztof Duda ended his competition with a 2.5-0.5 victory over Dutch No. 1 Anish Giri.
2022 FTX Crypto Cup Final Standings
| Rank | Player | Points |
| 1 | Magnus Carlsen | 16 |
| 2 | Praggnanandhaa | 15 |
| 3 | Alireza Firouzja | 15 |
| 4 | Liem Le | 12 |
| 5 | Jan-Krzysztof Duda | 11 |
| 6 | Levon Aronian | 8 |
| 7 | Anish Giri | 7 |
| 8 | Hans Niemann | 0 |
2022 FTX Crypto Cup Prize Money
Each match featured a $7,500 prize fund, and if a player won the match outright without having to go to play-offs, he collected the entire amount. In a playoff, the victor won $5,000 while the loser only received $2,500. The most popular cryptocurrency exchange FTX also provided a $100,000 bitcoin incentive as one of the sponsorship perks in 2021. Pragg received $37,500 in total prize money from the competition.
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