'Checkmate COVID': Viswanathan Anand, Koneru Humpy to help support coronavirus relief in India

Chess maestro Viswanathan Anand along with Koneru Humpy, Dronavalli Harika, Nihal Sarin, and Praggnanandhaa Rameshbabu, will be offering simultaneous exhibitions on Chess.com to support COVID-19 relief in India on Thursday.

According to Chess.com, a user, who wants to participate must have a Chess.com blitz or FIDE standard rating of under 2000 and will be required to make a donation of $25 during the registration process, or $150 in order to play the former world champion, Anand.

"I don't think there is a single person young or old who haven't been affected by this. I look forward to being there and hope we raise money and spirits!" Anand tweeted.

Chess.com will also accept donations on broadcast, and match all donations up to a total of $10,000. Danny Rensch and Samay Raina will host the Livestream on Chess.com/tv.

"As you all know India is struggling hard against COVID-19 we have each been affected in some way. Let's all help support COVID-19 relief in India," Anand said in a video posted by Chess.com India.

"You can play some of India's finest grandmasters and have Chess.com match your donation. So please sign up to participate in Checkmate COVID and match your donations this Thursday at 7:30 pm," he added.

With over one hundred games running concurrently across all simuls, time control of 30 minutes with a 30-second increment will be used for all games.

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