After the cancellation of the Pro Chess League, Chess.com introduced a different team format, a Team Chess Battle, with 8 pairs of players placed into the knockout bracket.
They resurrected an older format from several years ago where teammates could talk to each other and consult about the moves.
The event is still in the Quarterfinals stage and it has already proven to be incredibly entertaining. The banter between the teams and inside the teams is very amusing.
In the first match GMs Fabiano Caruana & Cristian Chirila defeated GM Anish Giri & IM Danny Rensch.
In the second match GM Wesley So & IM Alice Lee defeated GMs Peter Leko & Pia Cramling.
In the third match, dubbed as the battle of the commentators, GMs Robert Hess & Daniel Naroditsky prevailed over GMs Peter Svidler & Jan Gustafsson in a beautiful armageddon game.
Enjoy below the latest episode of the C-Squared Podcast which features highlights from the first match Caruana/Chirila vs. Giri/Rensch.
