Magnus Carlsen, the reigning world chess champion and the highest-rated player of all time, has won the first-ever non-fungible token (NFT) chess trophy after finishing first in the $1.6 million Meltwater Champions Chess Tour (MCCT). An exact replica of the winner’s NFT trophy was auctioned off for 6.88 ETH, worth approximately $24,700 at current market rates.
Key takeaways:
- The organizers of MCCT have partnered with FTX digital currency exchange and guaranteed a prize pool of 2.1825 BTC for top professional chess players to compete for.
- Two identical copies of the Champion’s Trophy NFT were minted on the ETH blockchain and signed by the event winner Magnus Carlsen. One trophy belongs to Carlsen, while the other was sold to a fan for almost $25,000 worth of Ethereum. The lucky fan will get to meet Carlsen and play a match with him.
- The first NFT trophy in chess history was auctioned off on the new Chess Champs digital marketplace.
- Carlsen had this to say about the cross-section of crypto and chess: “NFTs help the chess community celebrate great moments and possibly also reward those that have already invested so much time in growing the game. With Chess Champs, this is just getting started and I look forward to seeing it evolve.”
- MCCT 2021 was an exclusive event hosted for the game’s top players, including the highest-rated American chess player Fabiano Caruana, and most successful Frenchman Maxime Vachier-Lagrave.
- In addition to blockchain-based awards, chess governing bodies are reportedly exploring ways to utilize blockchain technology as an ‘anti-cheating tool in online chess tournaments.
- Carlsen himself is no stranger to crypto. The chess star has launched his own NFT collection on the OpenSea marketplace earlier in the year, jokingly named Bongcloud.art. The chess prodigy sells 69 unique games, specifically featuring chess opening variations of the Bongcloud and the Greek openings.
- Earlier this year, the Norwegian Chess Champion had also competed for 0.6 BTC in addition to $60K in prize money at a tournament hosted by the FTX cryptocurrency exchange.
