Magnus Carlsen wins the first ever NFT trophy in online chess tournament

Norwegian Chess grandmaster Magnus Carlsen was awarded the first ever Non Fungible Token (NFT) trophy on winning the online international chess tournament on October 5. The Champion Chess tournament 2021 was a 10-month long chess tournament, played for 90 days from November 22, 2020 to on October 4, 2021. It was aimed at finding the world’s strongest online rapid player. The tournament was named as Meltwater Champions Chess Tour (MCCT) after Meltwater was chosen as the title partner of Champion Chess Tour 2021. Meltwater is a California-based media and social analytics company. In order to perpetually preserve the memories of the final game, many NFT trophies and collectibles were created in MCCT.
The Champ Chess tournament minted two identical editions of the Champion’s NFT trophy on the ethereum blockchain. The NFTs were then digitally signed by Carlsen after winning the tournament. The second NFT trophy was auctioned off to a Chess fan at 6.88 Ether (ETH) worth $24,700. Carlsen said enthusiastically about sharing the trophy with an ardent fan that he would want to meet and play chess with him during the next season’s Champions Chess Tour Final. Carlsen told Cointelegraph that he hopes online chess competitions like Champ Chess to grow and evolve.
He further added that NFTs have helped the chess community celebrate great moments and rewarded those who have dedicated themselves in growing the game. According to the Champ Chess Tour website, the tournament was the most-watched chess event ever with more than 100 million views. Carlsen exclaimed with happiness that winning the first of its kind competition despite many challenges from the opponents meant a lot.
The tournament featured the world’s top chess players who were playing for a prize money of $1.6 million. Azerbaijani grandmaster Teimour Radjabov came second, and Levon Aronia, Armenian chess grandmaster held third place in the tournament.
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