The Ultimate game player is a chess player!
We all know that chess is the king of games. It really doesn’t matter that poker has experienced a boom and that bridge is also on the rise among old ladies, because they are still far behind in skill level, history and fascination: Chess is the king of games! Therefore I am very pleased to be part of a bet – The Coinflip Challenge – that puts chess properly on the map as the main obstacle for an eventual challenger to become the Ultimate Game Player.
The bet is like this. A challenger will put up 10.000 dollars for the entry fee.
He will then have to play 3 matches:
Blitz chess matches against Grandmaster Sune Berg Hansen (me).
Backgammon against the 2004 world champion (in backgammon!) Peter Hallberg.
And finally he will play against Ilari ‘Ziigmund’ Sahamies in Pot Limit Omaha (that’s poker). Ziigmund is among the absolute best in this poker discipline.
The precise conditions for the three matches can be read by clicking the link at the bottom of the text.
Sune Berg Hansen
If the challenger succeeds in winning all three matches overall he receives 100.000 dollars. Not easy but it shouldn’t be if you aspire to be the ultimate game player.
Poker and Backgammon both have a big element of chance so chess is the big obstacle for almost everyone. In fact only a very strong grandmaster can have positive expected value in this bet. So who will it be? Grischuk, Nybäck, Svidler, Nakamura, Bacrot or maybe even Carlsen are obvious candidates.
The bet will be televised (chess on CNN I hope) so I think it is a certainty that the ‘right’ challenger can get a sponsorship for the bet (Betsafe takes care of hotel and food).
The Coinflip Challenge will take place in connection with a poker tournament in Riga the 7th – 8th of October. The host and bookmaker is Betsafe, usually known as the naughty boy of gambling. They thought this kind of new bet fit their profile perfectly and jumped at the chance to make it happen.
Article by GM Sune Berg Hansen
