Fortun£ Friday$ May Edition Prize Winners

The £1,000 May edition attracted representatives from over 25 countries and featured some of the world's best chess players, including 9 GMs, 7 IMs, 10 FMs, 5 CMs, and 2 NMs. Several of the top players in the world streamed the event, attracting thousands of digital spectators.

The event was won by Russian Super Grandmaster Dmitry Andreikin, currently ranked as the current 16th best Blitz chess player in the world as of June 2024, scoring 98 points. This marks his second month in a row winning the series and his overall fourth victory.

We are honoured at Coatsi Chess to welcome some of the world's best chess players to our monthly events.

Second place went to another Russian Grandmaster, Nikita Matinian, who made an incredible comeback. He went from not looking like a top-three finisher to winning his last 11 games with no defeats, securing second place with 81 points!

Third place was claimed by Belarusian Super Grandmaster Sergei Zhigalko, who scored 75 points.

We had our first incident of one of the top finishers cheating in this event, which was detected and addressed very quickly thanks to our world class cheat detection team and the help of lichess. This showcases the power of our cheat detection systems and our priority to keep our events cheat-free!

Following the additional anti-cheating checks conducted by our world-leading FIDE international arbiter, we are pleased to announce the prize winners as mentioned above.

Final standings of the event can be viewed here.

Open Section (subject to Terms & Conditions as outlined below):

1st: £100 - GM @Vladimirovich9000
2nd: £50 - GM @Gannikus21
3rd: £15 - GM @Zhigalko_Sergei
4th: £15 - FM @Mirakel05
5th £10 - IM @SHAXMATNCT
6th £10 - @evilhamburger

2000-2299 FIDE, CS, or ECF Rated Section (subject to Terms & Conditions as outlined below):

1st: 30-Minute Lesson with a GM (Equivalent Value: £60) - @evilhamburger
2nd: £30 - @zanycolourfulwindow
3rd: £20 - @FlyingPawnNinja
4th: £20 - N/A - No paid players eligible to win this and subsequent prizes.
5th: £15 - N/A
6th: £15 - N/A
7th-10th: Free Paid Entry to the Next Event, Granting Eligibility to Win Prizes (Equivalent Value: £15 each) - N/A

1700-1999 FIDE, CS, or ECF Rated Section (subject to Terms & Conditions as outlined below):

1st: 30-Minute Lesson with a GM (Equivalent Value: £60) - @Tubby2010
2nd: £30 - @daryadel79
3rd: £20 - N/A - No paid players eligible to win this and subsequent prizes.
4th: £20 - N/A
5th: £15 - N/A
6th: £15 - N/A
7th-10th: Free Paid Entry to the Next Event, Granting Eligibility to Win Prizes (Equivalent Value: £15 each) - N/A

1400-1699 FIDE, CS, or ECF Rated Section (subject to Terms & Conditions as outlined below):

1st: 30-minute playing session with the Official lichess Coach, lichess Master and 11-times lichess Marathons Champion @Lance5500 (Equivalent Value: £40) - @kangaroojump
2nd: £30 - @OlegTsukanov99
3rd: £20 - @OnlyTheHurf
4th: £20 - N/A - No paid players eligible to win this and subsequent prizes.
5th: £15 - N/A
6th: £15 - N/A
7th-10th: Free Paid Entry to the Next Event, Granting Eligibility to Win Prizes (Equivalent Value: £15 each) - N/A

0-1399 CS or ECF Rated Section (subject to Terms & Conditions as outlined below):

1st: £30 - @apple7620
2nd: £20 - N/A - No paid players eligible to win this and subsequent prizes.
3rd: £20 - N/A
4th: £15 - N/A
5th: £15 - N/A
6-9th: Free Paid Entry to the Next Event, Granting Eligibility to Win Prizes (Equivalent Value: £15 each) - N/A

Looking Ahead: The June Edition is Our First Ever Free-to-Play Cash Prize Event!

Since launching our Fortun£ Friday$ tournaments, we've aimed to make our events free for all, helping players of all levels make money from the game. We are thrilled to announce that starting with the June edition, our tournaments are now free to enter. Players just need to follow the registration steps. In the future, we plan to increase cash prizes while keeping events free, and occasionally, we will host big cash prize events that will be pay-to-play. Thanks for supporting us—we are here to benefit you!

If you'd like to support our mission, consider donating here: https://www.paypal.com/donate/?hosted_button_id=KTNTBQNSV7CHS

All information on how to join can be found here: https://lichess.org/@/CoatsiChess/blog/fortun-friday-june-edition-everything-you-need-to-know/rkCDG1iT.