Fortun£ Friday$ January Edition Prize Winners

Fortun£ Friday$ January Edition Ends in a Nail-Biting Finish!

Our ninth free-to-play January edition was one of the most exciting events to date, featuring a thrilling battle for first place between Mexican Super Grandmaster José Eduardo Martínez Alcántara (@KontraJaKO) and another titled player competing anonymously under the handle @BetterCollSoul. Both players had moments where they appeared to be the outright winner, but a crucial defeat for one led to the end of their arena streak—(for those unfamiliar, in arena tournaments, consecutive wins earn increasing bonus points, but a single loss or draw breaks the streak). Meanwhile, the other player maintained their winning run, keeping the competition intense.

In the final moments, José secured victory with just 20 seconds to spare! His last game concluded 20 seconds before the event ended, allowing him to narrowly edge out BetterCollSoul for first place.

This marked the 17th edition of the Fortun£ Friday$ series, attracting 178 players from 55 countries! We had some of the world’s top titled players competing in the event, including 3 GMs, 9 IMs, 7 FMs, 6 CMs, 1 NM and over 150 non-titled players.

Top 3 Finishers

First Place – Mexican Super Grandmaster José Eduardo Martínez Alcántara (@KontraJaKO), Mexico’s No. 1 player and currently ranked 22nd in the world for blitz chess as of 3/2/25. This is José's second Fortun£ Friday$ title, his first being in the Christmas Arena in December 2023. He has consistently placed in the top five of many Fortun£ Friday$ events.

Second Place – An exceptionally strong titled player competing anonymously under the handle @BetterCollSoul, who has previously won two Fortun£ Friday$ titles.

Third Place – CM Georgijs Germanovs (@evilhamburger), a highly skilled blitz player who has secured numerous top 10 finishes in our series. He remains determined to claim the No. 1 spot in the future.

Thank you to all players for your continued support of our ever-growing Coatsi Chess community. We are honoured to welcome some of the world's strongest chess players to our monthly events and to offer a tournament series that all players can join, regardless of chess rating or ability.

Following our anti-cheating scans, conducted by our world-leading FIDE International Arbiter, we are pleased to announce the prize winners listed below.

The final standings of the event can be viewed here.

Prize Winners

• 1st: £50 - GM José Eduardo Martínez Alcántara (@KontraJaKO)
• 2nd: £25 - @BetterCollSoul
• 3rd: £10 - CM Georgijs Germanovs (@evilhamburger)
• 4th: £5 - @strongbulletplayer1
• 5th: £5 - IM Renato Alfredo Terry Lujan (@AngelitoRT)
• 6th: £5 - @Guary1
• 7th: £5 - IM Alexandr Triapishko (@AlexTriapishko)
• 8th: £5 - FM @Novozhilov_Semyon
• 9th: £5 - @DrMystic
• 10th: £5 - GM Zbigniew Pakleza (@GrandByniolus)

Lucky Rank Prizes:
Simply finish in the respective ranked places to win the prize money!

• 17th: £5 - FM @drdaro
• 28th: £5 - Alejandro Saavedra Aiza (@Capitan_Tsubasa_10)
• 36th: £5 - CM @FussyKitten
• 43rd: £5 - @Kritan
• 49th: £5 - @chessgonemad
• 58th: £5 - @RemboM
• 81st: £5 - @Maks2mk
• 92nd: £5 - @livegameanalyser
• 109th: £5 - @D_A_N_I_Y_A_R
• 239th, 289th, 300th, 337th, 350th, 421st, 467th - N/A, no players finished in these positions.

Exciting Changes Ahead: Fortun£ Friday$ February Edition Unveils New Time Control!

Based on popular demand from the Coatsi Chess Community, starting from February, we are trying for the first time in the series a new time control, 3+1 rather than 3+0. This will change the way games are played massively. With berserk, the player with +1 will have a major advantage in endgames over the player with 0 increment, and the way games will be played will be different, with flagging being slightly less of a concern and a way to win.

If you have any suggestions or ideas you would like for future events, whether regarding the prizing structure or time control, please reach out to us via lichess or any of our social media platforms. We love to hear what you have to say.

We have £200 up for grabs with over 22 cash prizes available to win—what are you waiting for? Join now! All event information can be found here.

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