IM Alina Kashlinksaya will be facing IM John Bartholomew in the IM Not A GM Speed Chess Championship final. Bartholomew defeated IM Greg Shahade 15.5-6.5 in a much-anticipated match that saw great banter before and after the games.
The date and time for the IM Not A GM Speed Chess Championship final will be announced soon.
Bartholomew and Shahade provided great entertainment on and off the board, with GMs Robert Hess and Daniel Naroditsky as well as the fans in the chat enjoying themselves tremendously. There had been some banter on Twitter beforehand, and the interview just before the actual match was lengthier than usual.
Asked about his plan against his opponent's pet opening, the Scandinavian, Shahade remarked:
"Actually it's a sad day. I hate to play against the Scandinavian, it's a terrible opening, it's really boring, but still, the fact that after today, I'm gonna beat it so badly that nobody will ever play it again, that's a little sad, to see an opening just erased from chess. I don't know if that's ever happened before, so it's a bittersweet day."
